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Divine layers of moist chocolate sponge cake, sandwiched with chocolate orange buttercream and decorated with chocolate orange segments… It’s not Terry’s, it’s MINE! (But this Chocolate Orange Cake could also be yours with this easy recipe 😉)
Growing up, Terry’s Chocolate Orange always meant that the festive season had really arrived.
There was nothing quite like cracking one of those blue boxes open, and if you got the orange core in the centre? Amazing.
As the years went on, I made it my mission to extend our enjoyment of that amazing confectionery into homemade bakes, which means we get to enjoy the taste sensation for dessert or just as a treat.
(I’ve got cheesecakes, brownies, puddings, you name it – see below for the links.)
Lucky for us, Terry’s Chocolate Oranges are now available all year round, so this Chocolate Orange Cake can be perfect as a celebration cake, birthday cake – or just because it’s Wednesday!
Wouldn’t this be fantastic as an alternative to a traditional Christmas Cake too?
If you want to make a show stopping but easy cake for as part of your Christmas food plans, go ahead!
Why you’ll love this Chocolate Orange Cake recipe
⭐️ Moist and heavenly flavour
⭐️ Looks impressive and a bit special
⭐️ Not too difficult to make
How we came up with this recipe
I created this cake recipe many years ago, and it’s still one of my favourites.
It came about as a way of using leftover Christmas chocolate oranges (leftover chocolate happened?!) And I carried on making it for lots of other occasions.
I knew I wanted it to be simple to make as a basic chocolate orange sponge cake, but with a few additional tweaks and heavenly orange buttercream, plus some pretty decoration and we’re good to go!
More Terry’s Chocolate Orange treats
⭐️ Chocolate Orange Cheesecake {No Bake} ⭐️
⭐️ Slow Cooker Chocolate Orange Pudding ⭐️
⭐️ Chocolate Orange Brownies ⭐️
⭐️ Chocolate Orange Fudge ⭐️
⭐️ Chocolate Orange Rocky Road ⭐️
Chocolate Orange Cake Ingredients
- Butter – Room temperature, unsalted
- Caster sugar
- Eggs – I use free-range medium
- Cocoa – Try use a good quality one
- Self-raising flour
- Melted dark chocolate– This is my favourite brand
- Orange extract – You’ll notice a difference if you use a good quality one like this: Steenberg’s Orange Extract
For the icing
- Butter – Again, room temperature, unsalted
- Icing sugar
- Dark chocolate
- Orange extract
To decorate
- Food colouring – I use this quality one
- Terry’s Chocolate Orange
How to make this Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cake
1. Start by greasing and lining your cake tins well. Next, start to make your cake batter by taking your butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the eggs, cocoa, flour, melted chocolate and orange extract. Spoon evenly between your buttered cake tins.
3. Smooth them out using a spatula or the back of a spoon.
4. Bake until the orange chocolate cakes are just pulling away from the edges of the tin and springy to the touch.
Hint: Smooth them almost to a slight dip in the middle so that when they rise they don’t get a big peak in the middle. You can then trim them slightly to be even when cooled.
Icing the sponge cake
- When the cakes are cooled, trim off the tops if they do have domes to make them nice and flat and even.
- Make the chocolate orange buttercream icing by creaming the butter, icing sugar and orange extract.
- Split the icing into two bowls, add the melted chocolate to one half and the orange gel food colouring to the other.
- Pipe onto the cake, sandwiching the layers and, of course, decorate with your Terry’s Chocolate Orange pieces!
Storing
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days.
Top tips
Type of tin to use
As always, it really helps to use good tins for baking. I use and recommend something like these Masterclass 7″ deep round tins, which you can get on Amazon. They are a great investment.
Trimming the cakes
Don’t trim and ice the cakes until they are completely cold otherwise they may break apart.
Piping bags
Disposable piping bags are a must buy if you’re planning on some cake decorating. They are so easy to use. I buy them in bulk from Amazon and you can find them here: Disposable Piping Bag Roll.
I know it’s not ideal to use single use plastic, but I’ve yet to find an alternative for this job that works!
Food colouring
Please ONLY use a good quality gel (or paste as it’s sometimes called) for the orange colouring. The supermarket brands really don’t live up to a professional paste.
I promise, using this will make your life SO much easier as you only need a tiny dot to get the colour you want.
The difference is unbelievable! This is the brand of Tangerine Gel Food Colour I use and recommend.
Butter
Make sure your butter is at room temperature before you start to cream it.
This should ideally be unsalted. Also, use your butter at room temperature, or if it has come straight from the fridge, microwave for a few seconds until slightly softened.
FAQs
Do you have any other cake recipes?
Yes! Check out my cake collection here. If you want something easy, try my Lemon Drizzle Cake!
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
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4.47 from 178 votes
Chocolate Orange Cake {Easy Recipe!}
By Sarah Rossi
This Terry's Chocolate Orange Cake recipe has lovely layers of chocolate sponge cake, sandwiched with chocolate orange buttercream frosting icing. A delicious and impressive cake that's easy to make.
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes minutes
Servings: 16 People
Ingredients
- 350 g Unsalted butter
- 350 g Caster sugar
- 6 Free range eggs
- 50 g Good quality cocoa
- 270 g Self raising flour
- 90 g Melted dark chocolate, See notes
- 3 tsp Orange extract, See notes
For the icing:
- 300 g Unsalted butter
- 600 g Icing sugar
- 150 g Dark chocolate
- 3 tsp Orange extract
To decorate (if you fancy):
- Gel Food Colour, See notes
- 1 Terry’s Chocolate Orange
Instructions
Grease 3 x 7″ round sandwich tins (or 2 x 8″).
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Cream your room temperature butter with your sugar until it’s pale, light and fluffy.
Next, mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating really well after each egg. Don’t worry if it starts to look a bit curdled, it’ll all come good.
After this, mix in your flour and cocoa. If you’ve been using a mixer, do this bit by hand. It helps to keep the sponge light.
Stir in the melted and slightly cooled chocolate and the orange extract.
Spoon into a your tins, smooth out with the back of a spoon. Make a bit of a dip in the middle to account for rising.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. You might need to adjust the time by 5 minutes either way depending on your oven.
Meanwhile make your icing. Beat your butter until it’s pale, light and fluffy.
Beat in your icing sugar and orange extract.
Now split your icing into two bowls, weigh out 675g into one and there should be about 225g left in the other.
Add 150g melted and cooled dark chocolate to the 675g bowl of buttercream. Mix in completely.
Colour the other bowl of 225g of buttercream orange using Sugarflair Tangerine Gel Colour. Use a very very small amount at a time, just a tip of a knife or so, until you get the colour you fancy.
If either batch of buttercream is too stiff, beat in a teaspoon or two of boiling water to soften and lighten the texture of the icing.
When your cakes are completely cold, use a carving knife to level them. Just trim the top crust off. Remember, this is important, it’s not a waste of cake. If you don’t do this, with a cake this size it will be wonky.
Top each layer with a spread of your chocolate buttercream. Then snip the top off of two disposable piping bags, fill one with the rest of your chocolate buttercream and the other with the orange buttercream.
Pipe a circle around the outside of two of the layers, sit each on the one before.
On the top layer, pipe small dollops all over and top with your segments of chocolate orange.
Notes
Orange extract: Invest in good quality Orange Extract for this cake. I really like this one – Steenberg’s Orange Extract.
Cake tins: As always, it really helps to use good tins for baking. I use and recommend something like these Masterclass 7″ deep round tins. They are a great investment.
Trimming the cakes: Don’t trim and ice the cakes until they are completely cold.
Butter: Make sure your butter is at room temperature before you start to cream it.
Food colouring: Please ONLY use a good quality gel. The difference is unbelievable! This is the brand I use and recommend – Tangerine Gel Food Colour.
Piping bags: Disposable piping bags are a must buy if you’re planning on some cake decorating. I buy them in bulk from Amazon and you can find them here: Disposable Piping Bag Roll.
Dark chocolate: This brand is my favourite for baking. I use it all the time and buying in bulk works out really well budget-wise.
Nutrition
Calories: 708kcalCarbohydrates: 82gProtein: 6gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 149mgSodium: 38mgPotassium: 204mgFiber: 2gSugar: 63gVitamin A: 1110IUCalcium: 49mgIron: 2.1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Additional Info
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Family Food
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Categorized as:
Bake Sale Makes, Cakes, Celebration Cakes, Christmas Recipes, Collections, Recipes, Sweet Things
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Hi, I'm Sarah. I help busy people decide 'What's for Dinner?' Find hundreds of recipes here, and also in my bestselling recipe book. Hope my recipes make your life easier ❤️
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