Carob,once very popular in Southern and Eastern Europe for making hot drinks, tray bakes and cakes is, to my delight, making a comeback and bringing with it a pleasant nostalgia for places and people from my childhood that I am very fond of.  

It's most commonly used as coarse or fine ground powder, very often as a chocolate substitute, and in baking combined with apples to balance out it's powerful taste. When Tara, from Noshing With The Nolandsour, our #BundtBakers host for November, set us with a challenge of baking with hot chocolate, I thought that it would be a great opportunity to try to bake with those "two chocolates". I also wanted to add a balancing flavour, but since the apples didn't seem to be the right choice, I opted for oranges thinking that they would compliment well both the carob and chocolate.  Good! Everything blended just the way we like it.

Carob and Hot Chocolate Bundt Cake

Recipe adapted from Vali Voli Torte

Carob tree - Picture courtesy of Holidays in Komiza 

please visit  the page if you would like to find out more about this amazing fruit