A Chocolate Orange Cake made with a WHOLE ORANGE and lots of lovely dark chocolate. This is a deep, dark and moist cake that oozes fruity orange flavour; the depth of which can only be achieved when using a complete orange.
Chocolate Orange Cake Web Story
I was intrigued by whole orange cakes. The idea of boiling the ass off an orange, chopping it all up, mushing it into a pulp and then mixing it all into cake batter is, after all, an interesting concept if nothing else.
So, taking that idea and adding the whole orange pump to a chocolate cake, in order to create a chocolate and orange cake, seemed like a very good plan.
And boy, does this make a wonderful cake!
How to describe the flavour 🤔...well think along the lines of a Terry's Chocolate Orange transformed into cake. That is how my husband described it.
Most cakes flavoured with orange, whether it be zest, juice or flavouring, have a hint of orange throughout. And that works fine. This cake, however, basically, tastes like an orange. A proper orange. Dipped in chocolate.
And it is amazingly moist.
I totally love this Chocolate Orange Cake and will be obsessively baking it again and again!
If you make it do leave me some feedback lovely people xx
Love a chocolate cake? Try my Sunken Chocolate Cake with Amaretti Cream. Absolute heaven
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Why make this Chocolate and Orange Cake?
Full of orangey flavour ✔️
Full of dark chocolate flavour ✔️
Deep, moist cake ✔️
Silky, ganache icing ✔️
Equipment
- Deep saucepan
- Hand blender or food processor
- 23cm (9") springform tin (or loose bottomed tin)
- Greaseproof (parchment) paper
- Stand or hand mixer
- Large bowl
- Spatula
- Fine mesh sieve
- Cooling rack
- Zester
Ingredients and Substitutions
Orange: try to use a Seville orange if you can as they tend to be larger and sweeter. You will also need the zest of another orange for your decoration.
Dark chocolate: always best to use a good brand as it really makes a difference to the quality of the cake, I used Lindt 70% cocoa (affiliate link). You will need 2 bars, one for your cake and one for your silky chocolate icing.
Eggs: used to bind your Chocolate and Orange Cake together. Your eggs must be at room temperature.
Unsalted butter: your butter needs to be softened so that it can be beaten in with your sugars. A little butter is also added to your chocolate icing to give it softness and shine.
Golden caster sugar (superfine sugar): you can use white caster sugar if you prefer.
Light soft brown sugar: I love to add at least some brown sugar to chocolate cakes as it adds a bit of a nutty, caramel flavour.
Vegetable oil: or you can use sunflower oil or any other flavourless oil. We use oil to ensure the cake stays moist as butter alone does not achieve this.
Cocoa powder: only three tablespoons are needed because we add dark chocolate for the main chocolate flavour. Too much cocoa will make your cake dry, hence why we use mostly melted dark chocolate.
Plain (all-purpose) flour: I have tried making this cake with ground almonds, but it was a little too oily and crumbly. Using flour gives this Chocolate Orange Cake structure and creates a crumb that binds together and does not fall apart.
Baking powder: baking powder helps to give your cake some rise, however, this is quite a dense cake to will not rise greatly.
Golden syrup: we add golden syrup to our chocolate icing to sweeten it and give it a lovely shine. Two tablespoons are enough for me, but add enough to reach the level of sweetness you prefer. I find this icing far easier than chocolate ganache to make!
Instructions
See end of post RECIPE CARD for precise quantities and instructions.
First of all, prepare your orange but pricking it with a fork about 4 or 5 times at equal spacings.
Place your orange in your saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a rolling boil. Simmer on quite a fast boil so that your orange is rolled about by the water, this will ensure it cooks throughout.
Then leave your orange to cool a little before chopping it up into rough segments.
Finally, reduce the orange to a pulp with a hand blender (or food processor) and then leave to cool.
Next, beat together your softened butter and sugars for about 5 minutes on a medium-low setting until a light, airy and spreadable consistency is formed.
Melt your chocolate and leave it to cool.
Sift your flour, cocoa and baking powder together.
Add one egg at a time to your butter mixture along with some of your flour mixture and beat until incorporated.
Add your cooled chocolate, oil and pulped orange mixture to your cake batter and beat together on a low setting until combined. Then turn up the setting to medium-high and beat for about 15 seconds.
Tip your batter into your lined cake tin and bake for about 55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Remove from your oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack.
The icing for this Chocolate and Orange Cake is very simple and much easier than making a ganache with double cream.
Simply melt your dark chocolate, mix in your butter and golden syrup, spread over your cake and leave to set.
Then sprinkle over your orange zest.
Told you it was super simple!
Top Tips
- When boiling, push a skewer through the orange rather than pricking it if you prefer.
- If you don't have a hand blender or food processor, chop your orange up finely and push it through a sieve to turn it into a pulp.
- This cake is quite dense and moist, so do not expect it rise hugely.
- If you want your ganache topping to be sweeter just add a little more golden syrup and stir through.
Variations
Omit the chocolate and cocoa from your cake if you want to just create just a whole orange cake on its own.
You may want to either keep the ganache topping as it is or simply make an orange icing with icing sugar and orange juice instead.
Storage
This Chocolate Orange Cake will keep for 3-5 days in an airtight container It will store for a week if kept refridgerated.
It will freeze well, however, wrap it in clingfilm first.
Did you try this recipe?
Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the Recipe Card below.
FAQ
Does whole orange cake taste bitter?
Why is this cake baked at quite a low temperature for so long?
Linked Recipes
You may also like to try these similar recipes on Ella's Better Bakes:
Sunken Chocolate Cake with Amaretti Cream
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Orange Cake
Here's what you'll need...
- Large saucepan
- Cooling rack
- Zester
Ingredients you'll need...
Chocolate and Orange Cake
- 1 orange preferably Seville, any stalk base removed
- 100 g dark chocolate minimum 70% cocoa (1 bar of Lindt 70% cocoa)
- 255 g plain flour (all-purpose flour) (US = 1.6 Cups)
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder (level)
- 120 g unsalted butter softened (US -= ½ cup)
- 200 g golden caster sugar (US = 1 Cup superfine sugar)
- 85 g light soft brown sugar (US = ⅓ Cup packed)
- 3 large eggs (US = extra large)
- 100 ml vegetable oil or other flavourless oil (US = ¼ Cup)
Chocolate Orange Cake Icing
- 100 g dark chocolate minimum 70% cocoa broken into chunks - 1 bar Lindt 70%
- 2 tablespoon golden syrup (light syrup)
- 25 g unsalted butter softened and cut into chunks (US = 2 tbsp)
- zest of 1 orange
Here's what we do...
Chocolate Orange Cake
- Prick your orange 4-5 times with a fork at equal spacings, then place it into your large saucepan and fill with water so that the orange floats on top. You need to add enough water to allow for some to evaporate during the simmering process.
- Bring to a rolling boil and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Remove your orange and leave until cool enough to handle, then roughly chop up and blend with your hand blender (or food processor) until it has a pulp like consistency.
- Leave to cool completely.
- Preheat your oven to 150°C Fan/170°C/Gas Mark 3/325°F.
- Grease your baking tin with some softened butter and line the base with greaseproof (parchment) paper.
- Melt your chocolate either in your microwave in short bursts of 10 seconds, stirring in-between, or in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Leave to cool.
- Sift your flour, baking powder and cocoa and set aside.
- Beat your softened butter and sugars until they form a soft, paste-like and airy consistency, this can take several minutes on a medium setting.
- On a low setting, beat in 1 egg at a time along with a heaped dessertspoonful of your flour mixture. Make sure each egg is mixed in completely before adding another.
- Beat in the rest of your flour mixture until combined.
- Add your cooled orange pulp, cooled chocolate and your oil and beat on a low setting until combined.
- Scrape your bowl down with your spatula to ensure all mixture from the sides and base are mixed in.
- Beat on medium-high for 15 seconds.
- Pour your cake batter into your prepared tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to continue to cool fully.
Chocolate Orange Cake Icing
- Melt your chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (bain-marie method).
- Add your butter and sugar and mix thoroughly until melted and combined.
- Pour your chocolate mixture onto the centre of your cake and then use your spatula to gently ease it out towards the edge of the cake.
- Sprinkle over orange zest to decorate.
Supporting Notes
- When boiling, push a skewer through the orange rather than pricking it if you prefer.
- If you don't have a hand blender or food processor, chop your orange up finely and push it through a sieve to turn it into a pulp.
- This cake is quite dense and moist, so do not expect it rise hugely.
- If you want your ganache topping to be sweeter just add a little more golden syrup and stir through.
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