We love chocolate orange and we adore cake and so here is a quick and easy chocolate orange cake, it is vegan and gluten-free.
We are often asked for a quick, uncomplicated chocolate sponge cake recipe and here it is, we’ve made it that deliciously classic flavour combination of a chocolate orange cake. We absolutely love chocolate orange cake and so it made complete sense to make it into a cake.
This is a super easy chocolate orange cake that can be pulled together quickly and without fuss – for when a mid-week cake needs to materialise out of nowhere or you just want chocolate cake.
This chocolate orange cake recipe is vegan and gluten-free, but you can use dairy butter or flour containing gluten.
Which cake tin to use?
To bake the sponge we decided to use a brownie tin and then, once the sponge was cooked slice the sponge along the centre to create the 2 sponge layers – so this isn’t a big cake.
But if you wished to create more layers and give the cake more height and impact, double the mix and use 2 brownie tins or use loose-bottomed 20cm cake tins. You will need to add another 1/2 of the icing mix too.
Can I use oranges or other orange citrus fruit?
We have made the cake using clementines and oranges, choose whichever you enjoy or have to hand, both will create a delicious cake.
To bake the sponge we decided to use a brownie tin and then, once the sponge was cooked slice the sponge along the centre to create the 2 sponge layers – so this isn’t a big cake.
How to decorate the Chocolate Orange Cake
Do not decorate the cake until it has completely cooled.
You could keep the chocolate orange as a square sponge, like a traybake and cover the top in the icing. But we prefer to slice the sponge in half and fill the middle with chocolate orange icing and then spread more icing over the top of the cake. To finish off scatter either dark chocolate or white chocolate shards over the icing.
Tantalising chocolate orange sponge filled and covered with rich chocolate orange icing.
Ingredients
Scale
For the cake
200ml unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
60g dairy-free butter softened
100g golden caster sugar
80g dark soft brown sugar
200g gluten-free plain flour sifted
4 tablespoon cacao powder, sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ xanthan gum
Zest of 1 orange or 2 clementine’s
30ml orange or clementine juice
½ teaspoon orange extract
65g dark chocolate, melted
For the icing
125g dairy-free butter softened
250g icing sugar sifted
2 tablespoon cacao powder, sifted
100ml dairy-free single cream
100g dairy-free dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
½ teaspoon orange extract
20g white chocolate flaked
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan. Line a 21cm square tin with baking paper.
Pour the almond milk into a bowl or jug, add the apple cider vinegar, stir and set to one side for at least 10 minutes to allow it to curdle.
Add the softened dairy-free butter to a large mixing bowl with the sugar and beat together until fully combined. Sift in the flour, cacao powder, baking powder and xanthan gum and carefully stir. Finally add the orange zest and juice, orange extract and the melted dark chocolate. Mix into the cake batter until smooth.
Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Take the cake from the oven and leave on a cooling rack for a few minutes before removing from the tin.
To make the icing, add the dark chocolate pieces and dairy-free cream to a small saucepan. Place on a low heat and gently melt together. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
Add the softened butter and orange extract to a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer) and sift in the icing sugar and cacao powder, gradually beating together until combined and creamy. Finally pour in the melted chocolate and cream and stir.
To assemble, cut the chocolate orange cake in half and spread one half generously with the icing. Place the other half of the cake on top of the iced layer and finish by adding more chocolate orange icing.
Sprinkle over the white chocolate.
Notes
Store the chocolate orange cake in an airtight container and eat within 2 days.
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