Chocolate Orange Cake – The ultimate treat for Chocolate Orange lovers.
An easy to bake chocolate orange sponge filled with chocolate orange buttercream and topped with slices of Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
PLUS – Fancy making this cake even bigger? Take a look below the recipe to find the ingredients and instructions you need to bake this in pretty much any size of round, square or rectangular tin.
Today’s new recipe is one that I’ve been asked for many times. A full-sized version of my popular Chocolate Orange Cupcakes.
This cake comprises a chocolate orange sponge, filled and topped with smooth chocolate orange buttercream and is then finished with slices of Terry’s Chocolate Orange. It’s a Chocolate Orange lover’s dream dessert!
But I want a Chocolate Orange Birthday Cake – Can this cake be covered with fondant?
Absolutely. This cake is based on my chocolate birthday cake recipe and is perfect for covering with fondant to make a chocolate orange birthday cake.
If you’d like to do this, then instead of splitting the buttercream between the middle and top of the cake, use it instead to fill and coat the entire cake. Chill the cake (to help the buttercream to harden a little) and then cover it with fondant icing.
If you’re not sure how much fondant you’ll need, then you can use my fondant calculator to help you work out the right amount.
And if I want it really tall – Can this cake be used to make tiers?
Yes, I wouldn’t go too high (no more than three tiers) and made sure you add dowels or straws for extra support.
How long will the cake last and what’s the best way to store it?
The cake can be stored in an airtight container for 6-7 days after baking. Ideally, it should be stored in the fridge (although I’d recommend allowing your slice to come up to room temperature before eating, as it will have more flavour and the buttercream will soften a little). If you don’t have room in the fridge it should be absolutely fine stored at room temperature as long as your room isn’t too hot (that’s what I always do with mine as I have a tiny fridge).
This cake is also suitable for freezing ❄️
To freeze the chocolate orange sponge, wait for it to cool and then wrap the cake in clingfilm or store it in an airtight container before freezing. Defrost it thoroughly before decorating.
The buttercreamed cake can also be frozen in the same way (although don’t wrap it in clingfilm if you’ve made an effort with your piping as it’ll get squashed!). If you choose the freeze the
I would not recommend freezing just the buttercream to use later as the consistency becomes a little too
Other Chocolate Orange Treats for you to enjoy
If you love Chocolate Orange as much as I do (which I A LOT!) then don’t forget to give my Chocolate Orange Cheesecake a try.
Chocolate Orange Cake
INGREDIENTS
For the chocolate cake
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 100 g milk chocolate
- 40 g cocoa powder
- 230 g caster sugar
- 230 g margarine or butter - if you’re using butter it must be soft at room temperature
- 4 large eggs
- 1½ tsp orange extract
- 2 tsp milk
For the chocolate buttercream
- 250 g butter - soft at room temperature
- 250 g icing sugar
- 150 g milk chocolate
- 40 g cocoa powder
- ½ tsp orange extract
- A little milk
To finish
- 12 slices Chocolate Orange
- Orange Sprinkles - Optional
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 160°C/140°C fan.Line two 20cm round sandwich tins with greaseproof paper or re-usable baking tin liners.
- Melt your milk chocolate (100g) – You can either melt it in the microwave (heat for 30 seconds, stir and then heat for a further 30 seconds. Repeat until the chocolate has melted), over a bain marie, or in a saucepan over a very low heat. Set the chocolate aside to cool.
- Put all of the other cake ingredients into a large bowl (200g self-raising flour, 40g cocoa powder, 230g caster sugar, 230g margarine or butter, 4 large eggs, 1½ tsp orange extract and 2 tsp milk). Beat together (either using an electric mixer on a low speed or by hand) until the ingredients are combined. Add the melted chocolate and mix in (again at a low speed) until combined.
- Split the cake mixture between the two tins. Smooth the mixture using a palette knife or the back of a spoon. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Once the cakes are cooked, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool in their tins for about 10 minutes before removing them from the tins and moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate orange buttercream
- Melt your milk chocolate (150g) and set aside to cool – It is essential that the chocolate has cooled before it is combined with the other ingredients so it doesn’t melt the butter.
- Beat the butter (250g) until soft – This can either be done with an electric mixer at a low speed or by hand. Add the icing sugar (250g), cocoa powder (40g) and orange extract (½ tsp) and beat together on a low speed until combined.
- Slowly add the melted milk chocolate and beat until combined. Your buttercream needs to be a spreadable consistency. If it is a little too thick, beat in a little milk (no more than 1 tsp at a time) until it reaches your desired consistency.
Build the cake
- Place the bottom layer of your chocolate orange sponge onto your serving dish. Spread about ⅓ of the chocolate orange buttercream evenly across the sponge (I like to use a palette knife, but you could use a regular knife or the back of a spoon).
- Add the top layer of sponge. Again spread ⅓ of the chocolate orange buttercream on top.
- Put the remaining buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (I use a JEM 1B nozzle). Pipe 12 swirls of buttercream evenly spaced around the edge of the cake. I give the piping bag a little wiggle as I squeeze so that the buttercream looks slightly ruffled.
- Place a slice of Chocolate Orange on top of each buttercream swirl and then add some orange sprinkles. If you don't fancy piping, simply split the buttercream evenly between the middle and top of the cake and arrange the Chocolate Orange slices around the edge.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR A DIFFERENT SIZE OF TIN?
The main recipe is for a two-layer 20cm round cake (this serves 12 people). However, this recipe is easily adapted to use other sizes of round, square or rectangular tins.
To find the ingredients needed to make this cake in a different size, simply add the dimensions of your tin and the number of layers into the boxes below and hit “Calculate”.
Round Cake
Cake Diameter (cm) Number of LayersCake Ingredients
- 0 g self-raising flour
- 0 egg(s)
- 0 g soft margarine or butter
- 0 g caster sugar
- 0 tsp orange extract
- 0 tsp milk
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 g milk chocolate
- 0 g butter
- 0 g icing sugar
- 0 g milk chocolate
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 tsp orange extract
Square or rectangular cake
Cake Size (cm) x Number of layersCake Ingredients
- 0 g self-raising flour
- 0 egg(s)
- 0 g soft margarine or butter
- 0 g caster sugar
- 0 tsp orange extract
- 0 tsp milk
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 g milk chocolate
- 0 g butter
- 0 g icing sugar
- 0 g milk chocolate
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 tsp orange extract
To keep this calculator from becoming too complicated I've only included metric measurements. If you would like US cups measurements for a different size of tin then simply calculate the metric measurements here and then pop the results into my grams to cups calculator and it'll tell you what you need.
The US cups/ounces measurements for the original two-layer 20cm round cake recipe can be found by clicking the big green button just above the ingredients in the main recipe.
If you have both scales and cups and you're not sure which to use, then go for the scales - it's a far more accurate way of baking 🙂
WHAT IS THE COOKING TIME FOR A DIFFERENT SIZE OF CAKE AND WHAT OVEN TEMPERATURE SHOULD I USE?
The ingredients are calculated so that the depth of each cake is the same as in the original recipe. This means that the cooking time and temperature don't need to change.
CAN THIS CAKE BE COOKED IN ONE DEEP TIN?
Theoretically yes, but I find I get the best results from using sandwich tins and this is what I would recommend.
If you would like to bake the cake in a deep tin then the cooking time will need to increase to 45-50 minutes.
Free From/Suitable For
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary, and product recipes can change over time.- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
Kim Hunt says
Great recipe but my cake has cracked on the top… temp was 140
Even put wet strips around my cake tins… what have i done wrong?
Charlotte Oates says
Hi, I sorry to hear that your cake cracked, that’s not something that’s ever happened with this sponge for me before. My guess would be that you may have beaten the mixture on too high a speed. That would add extra air which would cause the cake to rise and the drop which could cause cracking. Another possibility is that it’s down to using wet strips. These aren’t something I use as I design the sponges to be level without them. Wet strips affect the rise of a cake and so may have been the cause of the problem.
B says
Made the cake to the recipe and the cake fell apart as I was trying to get it out of the tin.
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that. I always fine this cake is very sturdy for me so I was surprised to read you comment. What type of tins did you use and how did you line them?
Elisabeth says
It is a delicious cake recipe, but I made the big mistake of using ‘
Spreadable Butter Blended With Vegetable Oil’ for the butter cream instead of the proper butter which you had specified. And it was disastrous! It made far too soft a filling and topping for the cake, which never hardened up as butter would have done. It all oozed down out of the middle of the cake and was impossible to cut into slices. It had to be kept for family consumption instead of being presented to our friend for his birthday. An important lesson learnt!
Herlima says
This is the first time where I’ve tried a new recipe and it came out perfect! So much so my mom actually asked ME for a recipe (makes a change seeing as she’s so good at baking) – this truly was divine! Will be making it again next week 😀
Linda serle says
My cake sunk in the middle. What did I do wrong
Charlotte Oates says
Did you bake the cake in one deep tin rather than sandwich tins? I always recommend splitting the cake into sandwich tins as I find it gets a better rise and is more stable that way.
Maria Howlett says
I followed your step by step instructions as i was baking it for my Father-in-laws 70th.The smell alone is beautiful. I cannot wait to present it to the family tomorrow.
Thank you!
Chantel says
Can I use this recipe but to make cupcakes instead? I made the cake the other week and was amazing but want to make it in cupcake form for people at work
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. I actually developed it as cupcakes and then turned it into a cake. You can find the cupcake recipe here:
Chocolate Orange Cupcakes with Chocolate Orange Buttercream
Jane Hunt says
Made this for my Dad’s 80th birthday party this weekend and it was brilliant – we dosed the cake with a little Grand Marnier for a grown up treat too, a big success thank you for the recipe, and greetings from Yorkshire!
Radhika Patel says
Hi, can you please advise on how to make this into a 9″ x 13″ traybake for a dinner party for about 20 people. I would like to do a Terry’s Chocolate Orange version. Is it best to keep it as one layer with buttercream on top or do you think it would work with two layers with buttercream middle and on top. thank you so much for your help! 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
It does depend a little on how large a slice they’re all hoping for, if you’ve got a very hungry bunch then double it up, but I’d be happy with the size of slice you get from a single layer.
Lucy says
When is the best day to eat the cake on the day it was baked or 24hrs after ?
Charlotte Oates says
Either is fine with this one.
Liz says
Could I use this recipe as the base for the Terry’s chocolate orange cheesecake
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t see why not. I suspect it’ll be pretty epic!
The cake is made in a 20cm tin and the cheesecake in an 18cm tin so make sure you adjust the relevant recipe to fit the tin you choose to use. Also make sure you use a deep tin as the cake is much deeper than the biscuit base.
Dave Howsam says
Winner every time. This is the third birthday in a row that this cake has been requested. What’s also great is that it’s so easy to tweak to make other flavours like coffee. Thank you Charlotte.
Howard Winton says
I have made loads of your cakes and they are AAA+++ fantastic. For the choc orange cake how can I get it as moist like the carrot? Would I add oil instead of butter or would it not work out?
Charlotte Oates says
I wouldn’t make the substitution as they’re designed to be completely different and adding oil instead of butter in the cake may result in your cake being claggy rather than moister. If you’re after a moister chocolate cake then I’d specifically search for something that makes that claim. Many US recipes tend to be designed with oil so you may find they give you the type of sponge you’re looking for.
stephanie says
Can you use whipped cream instead of buttercream as kids don’t like the buttercream?
Charlotte Oates says
Absolutely. You can decorate it with whatever you like
Paul says
Could you use chocolate orange instead of the milk chocolate for either the cake or the buttercream???
Charlotte Oates says
You can. I prefer to use milk chocolate and orange extract as I find chocolate orange can be a little unpredictable when melting. However, if you melt it over a very gentle heat it should be fine.
Neda says
I’ve been trying to up my baking game from March at the start of the UK lockdown and always found my cakes turned out quite stuff but I followed this recipe word for word and the cake has turned out just perfect ! Highly recommend this to anyone ! Super easy to follow and perfect. Thank you !!
kate says
i haven’t made this yet but I used the converter to make the recipe fit a 9-inch, 3 layer, round cake. The amount of butter it said I was supposed to use for the frosting is crazy. It said 495 g, which is about 4 1/2 sticks of butter. I usually use this much butter in the frosting and cake combined?? I am very confused and was hoping you could help me figure this out???
Charlotte Oates says
The calculator simply scales up the icing according to the size of the cake. A 3-layer, 9″ cake has a surface area almost double that of the 2-layer, 8″ cake pictured, which explains the high amount of buttercream. The amount of buttercream you use is really a matter of your own preference and it sounds like you might prefer a smaller amount than that pictures. If you do, then simply scale it down to what you think might be better for your tastes.
Shifali says
Is the cake batter supposed to be thick? Mine was really really thick.
Charlotte Oates says
It shouldn’t be runny, but if you were to tip the bowl I would expect it to come out in dollops.
Laura says
This is such a delicious and amazing recipe!! Everyone loves it!
Katy says
Amazing recipe! Everyone loved this cake. Was delicious. So moist and the flavour was out of this world