This orange chocolate cake is super moist, decadent and easy to make! Plus, easy chocolate orange layer cake tips to make your cake look super fancy.
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I know I have a lot of stiff competition when it comes to orange chocolate cake. From Nigella Lawson to Ina Garten, I am throwing down a challenge when I say my chocolate orange cake is the BEST. My dad (a major foodie) said this is the best chocolate cake recipe he has ever had! I’m sorry but you know that is a big deal.
If you want to make orange chocolate cake with cake mix, that is an option too. Check out my Boxed Cake Mix Hacks to make your boxed cake taste like bakery! And while, you’re at it, you should probably enjoy a Cardamom Latte and relax while your cake is in the oven.
Why this recipe works
- This cake is really easy to make. From start to finish, you can make this from-scratch orange chocolate cake in less than 30 minutes!
- It is super moist and decadent. Seriously, it is just really delicious. Full stop.
- It stays moist refrigerated and even frozen! You can make your own homemade frosting for this recipe or you can use store bought frosting and your guests will think you are a culinary educated pastry chef!
Ingredients for this chocolate orange cake recipe
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Use natural unsweetened cocoa powder. Do not use Dutch processed cocoa powder as that will change the consistency of the cake.
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Oil: Canola, vegetable and olive oil all work well.
- Eggs
- Orange extract: You can use orange extract or orange flavor oil (food grade) (Note: with flavor oil, be sure to adjust the amount based on the strength of the oil you buy).
- Buttermilk: Don’t skip the buttermilk. I find that it is a critical ingredient to making this cake super moist.
- Orange juice: I used Good and Gather brand Orange Juice from Target. It is 100% juice, from concentrated, no extra sugar. You can also use fresh squeezed orange juice.
- Water
- Optional Garnish: Candied orange slices and/or fresh grated orange zest.
How to make orange chocolate cake
- Preheat oven 350 degrees.
- Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter, oil or pan spray. Line with parchment paper. grease parchment paper. Parchment paper is critical to make sure your cake doesn’t stick.
- Tip to Measure Flour: When you measure your flour, do not scoop it out directly as that can lead to using more flour than is needed. To correctly measure your flour, give the flour a stir with a fork or a whisk to loosen it. Spoon the flour into cup until it is heaping, then level with the flat side of a knife.
- In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- In large bowl, mix olive oil, eggs, orange extract, buttermilk, orange juice and water. use hand beaters or whisk to combine.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until combined.
- Divide batter and pour each half into your 9-inch round cake pan.
- Bake 22-24 minutes until cooked through. You can test with a toothpick. If it comes out clean with no batter, the cake is done.
- Place cake on cooling rack and allow to fully cool before removing from pan.
- Once fully cooled, remove from pan and frost. Bring to room temperature before serving. See notes regarding frosting.
- Optional garnish: Candied orange slices or orange zest,
What frosting do you recommend for this cake?
My favorite frosting for this cake is store-bought Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy Dark Chocolate Frosting.
If you want to make your frosting from-scratch, Sally’s Baking Addiction makes a delicious Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. If you like a cream-cheese style frosting, Erren’s Kitchen makes an awesome Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
Chocolate orange layer cake tips
If am going to get right to the point. If you want to make an amazing layer cake, let me give you my top 3 best quick layer cake tips.
- Parchment paper: Use it! Don’t skip this. I know it’s annoying and you might not have it on-hand, but trust me. It will make your life so much easier when you have a cake that slides perfectly out of the pan. The last thing you want it to spend time making a beautiful homemade cake and having it break apart when it sticks to the pan. Not allowed in my kitchen!
- Refrigerate or freeze before frosting: I know it depends on how much time you have, but if you can make your cake the night before, I HIGHLY recommend you pop it in the freezer overnight. You will thank me in the morning. It makes it so much easier to cut and frost your cake layers. If you can’t freeze, pop it in the refrigerator for the amount of time you have before frosting.
- Level and tort your cake (ie: make it flat!): If your cake isn’t perfectly flat on top (it might have a slight dome shape), you can cut to make it flat. It helps to have flat layers when frosting and stacking your cake. Check out this Wilton Cake How to Level and Tort a Cake for more specific tips on this step.
- Cake Turntable: If you plan on making cakes on a regular basis, I find that a cake turntable is a great investment. It makes frosting the cake much easier and can also double for a beautiful presentation.
Convert this cake to cupcakes
This orange chocolate cake recipe can easily be converted to cupcakes. Follow the cake instructions to make the batter and then prepare as follows:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place 24 cupcake liners in cupcake pan.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for about 15-20 minutes. You can test with a toothpick and it should come out clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to cooking rack
How to make candied orange slices for garnish
You will be amazed how easy it is to make candied orange slices! This candied fruit garnish is not only beautiful but super delicious. To make candied orange slices, simmer your orange slices with equal parts water and sugar until they become slightly translucent. I like to dip them in sugar when they are done cooking for that extra shimmer of sugar. Lay them on parchment paper to cool.
FAQ and expert tips
The key to great orange chocolate cake is a cake recipe that yields cake with cook moisture, texture and great orange flavor!
I typically recommend a simple buttercream, french buttercream or cream cheese style frosting. I recommend dark chocolate frosting for this recipe as it balances well with the orange flavor.
The beauty of orange chocolate cake is that there are so many fun variations such as chocolate orange marble cake, chocolate orange loaf cake, boiled orange chocolate cake, orange chocolate cake with ganache, eggless orange chocolate cake and dark chocolate orange cake! The sky is the limit!
Looking for other delicious desserts?
- Try my Boxed Cake Mix Hacks to make your box cake taste like bakery!
- Enjoy the taste of fall with my Cast Iron Skillet Apple Crisp drizzled with decadent Demerara Syrup.
- Feeling like some cheesecake but don’t feel like baking? You will love my Oreo Cheesecake Bites (no bake!).
- If you love Starbucks cake pops but want something healthier, you will love my healthy version of Starbucks Cake Pops.
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Orange Chocolate Cake
Equipment
- Two (2) 9 inch round cake pans, 2 large bowls, hand mixer or whisk.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (see notes to measure flour)
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural not dutch)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup canola, vegetable oil or olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp orange extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup orange juice (no added sugar, 100% juice)
- 1/2 cup water
- Optional Garnish: Candied oranges.
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350 degrees.
- Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with butter, oil or pan spray. Line with parchment paper. grease parchment paper. Parchment paper is critical to make sure your cake doesn't stick. See parchment paper notes.
- In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- In large bowl, mix olive oil, eggs, orange extract, buttermilk, orange juice and water. use hand beaters or whisk to combine.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until combined.
- Divide batter and pour each half into your 9-inch round cake pan.
- Bake 22-24 minutes until cooked through. You can test with a toothpick. If it comes out clean with no batter, the cake is done.
- Place cake on cooling rack and allow to fully cool before removing from pan.
- Once fully cooled, remove from pan and frost. See notes regarding frosting.
Notes
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place 24 cupcake liners in cupcake pan.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for about 15-20 minutes. You can test with a toothpick and it should come out clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes and transfer to cooking rack.
Nagham
Hands down the best cake recipe i’ve tried so far, you killed it! I mixed some coffee with the water and i added lemon zest and orange zest instead of the orange extract, it was heavenly. Thank you so much!
Aubrey
Thank you Nagham! You made my day! I am so happy you enjoyed! The orange zest and lemon zest addition also sounds fabulous.
Alice
The most delicious cake I have ever made and eaten! So moist and flavorful, yet sill firm and spongy. The orange flavor comes through beautifully. I did it for a friend’s birthday party, the combination of orange and chocolate was new to the crowd and thy loved it. I actually made it with reduced fat buttermilk because I bought it by accident and it still turned out great. I used a homemade chocolate and cream cheese frosting that was the perfect complement, as it was chocolatey (the birthday girl is a chocolate lover 🙂 without overpowering the sponge. Thanks, Aubrey!
Aubrey
Thank you Alice! I so appreciate your thoughtful comment and I am so happy that you enjoyed!!! 😁
Cheryl
Can you use Grande Marnier in place of orange extract
Aubrey
Hello Cheryl, I have not tried but I think Grand Marnier would probably be delicious. You could also add some orange zest to make sure you have the intense orange flavor. Let me know how it turns out! 😁
Anitha
Can I use sour cream in place of buttermilk
Aubrey
Hello Anitha, I have not made this chocolate orange cake recipe using sour cream instead of buttermilk. However, if you are feeling brave and want to try, I would suggest thinning the sour cream with milk (preferable) or water so you have a more similar consistency to buttermilk. Let me know if you try it! 😁
Sylwia
Absolutely delicious and so moist! You can really taste the orange flavour. I have done the cake and the cupcakes. Cupcakes I filled with orange curd. I wonder if this recipe would work with cherry juice and cherries to make a black forest gatou?
Aubrey
Thank you Sylwia! Your cherry chocolate cake idea sounds delicious. Please let me know if you try it!
Taylor
This recipe was delicious! So moist and rich! Do you have a suggestion of how to make a similar cake without the orange juice? I have a feeling if I just take out the cup of wets, it won’t come out quite right. Thanks!
Aubrey
Thank you Taylor! I am so happy you enjoyed! If you substitute coffee for orange juice you should have a more traditional chocolate cake. Let me know how it turns out! 😁
Juju
Love the cake. My family enjoyed it. Thanks
Aubrey
Thanks! I am so happy you and your family enjoyed the cake! 😁
Momi
This cake is moist and tasty. I reduced the sugar but added a little chocolate chips and also added orange zest. Such a delicious cake. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Aubrey
Hello Momi! I am so happy you enjoyed. The chocolate chips and orange zest sound delicious! 😁
Priyanka
Loved it. My first attempt at making cake. This recipe is a keeper. Agree 200% with buttermilk. So moist and decadent.
Aubrey
Hello Priyanka! I am so happy that your first experience baking a cake was a good one! I am so happy that you enjoyed. 😁
Jaina
If I don’t have orange extract, can I sub the water for more orange juice? I want to be able to taste the orange but I don’t have the time to go get the extract. Thanks!
Aubrey
Hey Jaina! More orange juice probably won’t give you the same intensity that orange extract will. In a pinch you can try orange zest. You can also take orange juice and boil it down until it is more syrup like but be sure to wait for the syrup to cool. Hope that helps and let me know how it turns out! 😁
Nat
Hi Aubrey, I only have 8 inch cake pans! Will it still work or do I have to scale down the recipe somehow?
Aubrey
Hey Nat!
Are you really making me do math? Jk! 😂
A 9×2 cake pan holds 8 cups and a 8×2 cake pan holds 6 cups. 16 cups vs 12 cups is 25% difference. So, you could decrease the recipe accordingly… OR! You could use the extra batter and make a few cupcakes.
Because of the size difference in pans, be sure to check your cake with toothpicks (should come out dry) and adjust cook time as needed.
Let me know how it turns out!!!
Aubrey ❤️😁
Nat
The cake was a hit! I ended up pouring most of the batter into the cake pans and then making a couple cupcakes with the rest which worked out well. I made the cake for my brother’s birthday and my whole family thought it was great, and appreciated the orangey flavor. I got tons of compliments on it, thanks for a great recipe!
Aubrey
Thank you so much Nat! I am so happy you enjoyed! 😁
Nancy
I just made this and it’s amazing. So fluffy and moist! I added orange zest and used coffee instead of water. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Aubrey
Thank you Nancy!!! I am so happy you enjoyed and that is an awesome tip about the orange zest and coffee! 😁
Dulcie Kellett
Hiya Aubrey,
If I’m using Self Raising flour should I not add the Baking soda?
Many thanks,
Dulcie
Aubrey
Hey Dulcie! Self rising flour is generally all purpose flour with the addition of baking powder and salt. However, some brands vary slightly in terms of ratio and will have a conversion calculator on the package. That is usually your best bet to determine omission of baking powder and extra salt. I recommend leaving the baking *soda* in the recipe. I hope that helps!!! Let me know how it turns out! 😁
Emma S.
My husband made this cake and asked me to try it. I am not a sweets lover, but after one bit of this decadent dessert I LOVED it! It is now my favorite cake. I can’t wait to have it for my upcoming birthday. Thanks a million Aubrey!
Aubrey
Oh wow! Thanks Emma! That means the world to me. 😁 happy upcoming birthday too!