This Chocolate Orange Cake is rich, flavorful and simply beautiful! This cake would be an elegant and delicious finale to any holiday meal!
After I shared the recipe for Candied Orange Peel earlier this week, I wanted to follow up with an idea for using that delicious candied peel. This Chocolate Orange Cake balances rich chocolate with the sweet, bright notes of orange.
I thought the elegant pairing of chocolate and orange deserved a special presentation too, so I turned a 9″x 9″ cake into a rectangle, just for something a bit different. The smaller scale of this cake is perfect for a small dinner party, or anytime you don’t need a huge cake.
This cake starts with my favorite Chocolate Cake Recipe, simply scaled down. The cake is fluffy and moist, with a rich chocolate flavor. As the cake cools, I brushed the top of the cake with Grand Marnier orange liqueur. This step is optional, but adds a nice depth of flavor. The filling is where the orange flavor comes in again, with a simple, creamy, orange buttercream. Finally, the cake is covered in a classic chocolate ganache and gets dressed up with the pretty Candied Orange Peel.
If you’d like to give this recipe a try without the additional steps of making the candied orange peel, I might suggest adding a bit of Grand Marnier (1-2 teaspoons) or orange extract (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) to the chocolate ganache. For a pretty garnish you could add some chocolate curls or a thin piece of fresh orange peel.
Happy baking!
How to Make Chocolate Orange Cake
Chocolate Orange Cake
Ingredients
- Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons flour additional
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup hot water or hot coffee
- 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier optional, but delicious
Orange Frosting
- 3 tablespoons butter salted or unsalted, at room temperature
- 2 oz cream cheese 1/4 of a package, or use an additional 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- orange food coloring - optional
Chocolate Ganache
- 4 oz semi sweet chocolate or 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- Candied Orange Peel - for garnish
Instructions
Make the cake
- Pre-heat oven to 350*F. Â Line a 9"x 9" cake pan with a piece of parchment paper, leaving a bit of an overhang (so you can pull out the cake after it's baked). Lightly butter the two sides of the pan not covered by parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add egg and whisk to combine, then add milk, oil and vanilla and stir well.
- Add hot water (or hot coffee) and blend until fully incorporated. Â The batter will be very thin, this is right.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 22-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake come out clean.
- While the cake cools, use a pastry brush to brush the top of the cake with the Grand Marnier.
Make the frosting
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the soften butter until smooth. Â Add cream cheese and blend until fully combined.
- While mixing, slowly add powdered sugar, then extracts. Â Add a drop of orange food coloring, if desired. Â Blend until smooth. Â You may need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides.
Make the ganache
- Chop chocolate, or use good quality chocolate chips, and add to a medium bowl.
- Heat cream in the microwave until hot, but do not let it boil.
- Pour hot cream over chocolate and allow it to sit, undisturbed 1-2 minutes.
- Stir until smooth, then move to the fridge to firm up a bit.
Assemble the cake
- Remove (fully) cooled cake from the pan by pulling up on the exposed parchment paper. Â Place cake on a cutting board. Â Cut cake in half, so that you have two 4.5" x 9" rectangle pieces.
- Move one of the pieces of cake to a wire cooling rack with a baking sheet under it (this will be needed shortly, when frosting with ganache).
- Spread the orange frosting onto the cake (on the cooling rack), using an offset spatula. Â Top with the second piece of cake.
- Check on the ganache, it should be thickened slightly, but still pour-able. Â Pour some of the ganache onto the cake and use an offset spatula to spread it down the sides of the cake. Â Once the cake is covered with a thin layer of ganache, move the entire cake (on the rack) to the freezer for 5-10 minutes to allow the ganache to set up a bit.
- Once the first layer of ganache has set, use 2 large spatulas to move the cake to a serving platter of your choice. Â Pour a second layer of ganache over the cake. Â You will need to experiment with how thick or thin you want the ganache. Â You can chill it in the fridge to thicken, or microwave (on 50% power) for short periods to thin it. Â For my cake the top layer of ganache was thick enough that I was able to add some texture to the very top of the cake with an offset spatula (spreading from side to side).
- Garish generously with Candied Orange Peel.
Connie says
I don’t see how the chocolate cake fits in the recipe, do you bake it first or add the ingredients to the chocolate cake batter?
This sounds like a perfect cake for my son!
Thank you!
Eileen says
If I am using round baking pan what dimension should I use?Â
Thank you.
Glory says
You could likely use a 8″ or 9″ pan as long as it has 3″ tall sides. Feel free to use most any sized pan you have, but just be sure to only fill the pan about 1/2 full with batter so it doesn’t overflow. Also, you’ll need to adjust the baking time. Happy baking!