Heavenly 9-Inch Chocolate Orange Cake Experience

This easy chocolate orange cake is made with the yummy taste of orange and dark chocolate. The orange cake is soaked in orange syrup, and it has a dark chocolate topping that everyone will love!

“Give these delicious bran muffins a try—you’ll love their hearty, wholesome flavor!”

I really like orange chocolate. The mix of sweet orange and chocolate is super tasty. My favorite is the orange creme chocolate in a box of Quality Street, and I also really like the Green Triangle.

When I was thinking about what kind of cake to make for this recipe, I wanted a simple and pretty cake with one layer that could be baked in a 23cm/9 inch springform cake pan.

I wanted it to be quick to make, with just a little frosting or decoration. I decided to use my orange loaf cake recipe as a starting point.

This orange chocolate cake is the perfect dessert for any dinner party.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• This Chocolate Orange Cake recipe is super easy and is flavored with orange zest and orange juice. 
• The dark chocolate ganache is the perfect chocolate frosting to be paired with the orange sponge. 
• This is a super simple cake that comes together fairly quickly.

Ingredients

Here are some notes on the ingredients used to prepare Chocolate Orange Cake. Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Dark Chocolate (Bittersweet chocolate)
I used 62% Whittaker’s dark chocolate for the chocolate topping. I think dark chocolate goes best with orange. I suggest using a dark chocolate you like to eat. You can also use milk chocolate, but make sure to choose a good-quality one.

Butter
Butter adds flavor, makes the cake soft, and keeps it moist. Sometimes, it even helps the cake rise. I use New Zealand butter, which has about 82% butterfat and is very yellow, like European or Irish butter.

You can’t replace butter with margarine spreads, but you can use baking margarine. If you use salted butter, you can skip adding extra salt to the recipe.

White Sugar
White sugar, also called caster sugar, sweetens the cake and the orange syrup. It also helps the cake rise when you mix it with butter.

Plain Flour
Plain flour, also known as all-purpose or standard grade flour, has a protein content of about 9.5-12%.

Eggs
I use New Zealand size 6 eggs, which are about the same size as Australian and South African large eggs, and similar to US/Europe medium-sized eggs.

Salt
Salt is important in all baked goods. I use table salt in my recipes. One teaspoon of table salt is equal to 1.5 teaspoons of Morton Kosher Salt or 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal salt.

Vanilla Extract
Vanilla extract makes the other flavors in the recipe taste even better. It’s an important ingredient in recipes with eggs.

Orange Zest and Fresh Orange Juice
These give the cake its orange flavor. I didn’t use orange extract because I couldn’t find it easily in stores, so I relied completely on natural orange flavor.

Orange Slices for Decoration
These are optional but can be used to make the cake look nice.

Cream
Use heavy cream or whipping cream with about 35-37% milk fat for the dark chocolate ganache.

Baking Powder
Make sure your baking powder is fresh. If you haven’t used it in a while, test it by putting ½ teaspoon in a cup or bowl, then pour ¼ cup of boiling water over it. If it foams and bubbles, it’s still fresh.

Room Temperature Ingredients

Use ingredients at room temperature! This helps everything mix together better in your batter or dough. Room temperature is about 20°C/68°F.

To quickly warm up eggs, place them in warm water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
To soften butter fast, cut it into cubes and microwave it at 20% power for 10 seconds at a time. Or, put the cubes in a bowl over warm water (like a double boiler) for 1 minute.

You can warm milk, buttermilk, and cream by microwaving at 20% power for 10-second intervals or heating them on low for a minute or two, swirling every 10-15 seconds.
If the butter gets too soft, put it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Weighing and Measuring Ingredients

Weighing ingredients with a kitchen scale is more accurate than using measuring cups. All my recipes are developed and tested using grams only.

However, check out the recipe card for cup measurements. For these conversions, cups are equal to 240 millilitres/8 fluid ounces, tablespoons are 15 milliliters and teaspoons are 5mL

Reduced-Sugar Variation

If you want to lower the sugar in this cake, you can use less sugar in the orange drizzle/syrup.

For the ganache, use a smaller amount of chocolate and cream.

Small-Batch

You can cut this recipe in half (use the “½” button above the ingredients) and bake it in a 6-inch round cake pan. Follow the same instructions, but check the cake about 10 minutes before the usual baking time.

Step-by-Step Instructions

This Chocolate Orange Cake is so easy to make…so, let’s begin…!

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease a 9-inch or 23-cm round springform cake tin with non-stick cooking spray and baking/parchment paper.

NOTE – I usually scrunch up a piece of baking/parchment paper, then press it onto the bottom of the cake pan before clipping the spring in place.

Step 2
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar and finely chopped orange zest. Run the mixer on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes, or rub the zest into the sugar for 3 to 5 minutes.

NOTE – Rubbing the zest into the sugar releases the oils and flavors in the orange zest, making the orange flavor stronger.

Step 3
Add the room-temperature butter to the sugar-zest mixture and cream on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

Step 4
Add the vanilla extract and room-temperature eggs. Beat on medium-high speed until well mixed, light, and fluffy.

Step 5
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). Whisk or stir them together.

Step 6
Add the orange juice to the mixture and stir until combined. Then add half of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the rest and mix until everything is combined.

Step 7
Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes. The cake is done when a cake tester or toothpick comes out mostly clean from the center of the cake.

Step 8
While the cake is baking, combine the orange juice and sugar in a small pot. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the syrup thickens slightly.

Step 9
While the cake is still hot or warm, poke it all over with a cake tester or toothpick. Pour the syrup over the cake. Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the springform pan and placing it on a cake stand or plate.

Step 10
To make the chocolate ganache, heat the cream over medium heat in a small saucepan or in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Once the cream is hot and bubbling at the edges, add the chocolate and orange zest.

Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, then whisk until the ganache is smooth and creamy.

Step 11
Allow the ganache to cool, stirring every 15 minutes to check the consistency. The ganache is ready when it is thick but still spreadable.

Step 12
Spread the ganache over the top of the cake using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, swirling it over the top. Decorate the cake with thin slices of orange if you like.

If you prefer, you can pour a more liquid ganache over the top and let it drip down the sides of the cake.

Step 13
Let the ganache set before serving. To slice the cake evenly, run a knife under hot water before cutting.

Expert Tips for this Recipe

Ovens & Air Fryers

The temperatures given are for regular ovens. If you’re using a convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted oven, or air fryer, lower the temperature by 20°C/25°F.

Make sure your oven is fully preheated, and place the rack in the middle of the oven for baking. Try not to open the oven door too much. For the best results, use an oven thermometer.

Keep in mind that all ovens are a bit different, so you might need to adjust the baking time for your specific oven.

Bakeware

Metal bakeware (preferably light-colored for an even bake) is the best choice for baking things like biscuits, cookies, brownies, muffins, quick bread, scones, and cakes.

Metal heats up and cools down faster than glass. Glassware is heavier, heats up and cools down more slowly, and works better for dishes like bread puddings, pies, crisps, crumbles, and cobblers.

Cake Pan Variations

This recipe makes about 4½ cups of cake batter. This is perfect for a 9″ or 8″ (23cm or 20cm) round cake pan, but you can also use a 9″ square pan.

If you want to make cupcakes, this recipe will give you about 18 regular-sized cupcakes. Use ¼ cup of batter for each cupcake liner and bake for 18-22 minutes.

Storage and Freezing

You can store this cake in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature and then refrigerate it for up to a week.

Slices of the cake can be frozen in an airtight container for up to a month. When you’re ready to eat, defrost the slices and bring them to room temperature before serving.