Dark Chocolate Orange Cake

This is a delicious two-layer cake, full of chocolate and orange goodness. It is very fluffy and moist, with a nice kick of flavour from the orange, which goes really well with the dark chocolate.

For the dark chocolate cake of this recipe, we have used Pillsbury Moist Supreme Cake Mix (Dark Chocolate) provided to us by one of partners, Sosun Fihaara. This dark chocolate mix has a rich chocolate flavour and is easy and quick to prepare, saving you the usual time and effort it takes to bake a good chocolate cake.

Makes: one 7-inch double layer cake

Ingredients:

For the cake

• 2 tsp unsalted butter (to grease the trays)
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 3-4 oranges)
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 packet (485g) Pillsbury Moist Supreme Cake Mix (Dark Chocolate)
• 80g dark chocolate chunks

For the ganache

• 150g dark cooking chocolate
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• ½ tsp orange zest
• 1 ½ tbsp sugar

Instructions:

1. First off, line two 7-inch round trays with baking paper. For this, first grease each tray with around 1 tsp unsalted butter. Then, cut the baking paper to the size of the bottom of the tray and place it inside.
2. After that, preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
3. To make the cake batter, add 3 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and ½ cup water to a large bowl. Using a whisk, mix everything together for 3 minutes or until it gets foamy. Then, add in ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice and 1 tsp orange zest and whisk until combined.
4. Once the wet ingredients are combined, add 1 packet Pillsbury Moist Supreme Cake Mix (Dark Chocolate) and whisk for around 2-3 minutes or until fully combined. After that, add in 80g dark chocolate chunks and fold it in using a spatula.
5. Divide the cake batter equally between the two lined baking trays and pour it in.  Place the trays in the middle rack of the oven and bake the cake at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes – as instructed in the package. Once baked, a toothpick inserted 1-inch into the centre of each cake will come out clean.
6. While the cake is baking, make the ganache for the topping. To do this, first roughly chop 150g dark cooking chocolate into small, thin pieces and set aside in a bowl.
7. Then, in a small pot, stir together 1/3 cup whipping cream and ½ tsp orange zest in at medium-low heat for 2 minutes (the cream will be simmering at this point, but not boiling).
8. Increase the heat to medium-high (the cream will start boiling then) and add in 1 ½ tbsp sugar. Stir for 1 minute or until the sugar completely dissolves into the cream. At this point, the cream will be a pale yellow in colour.
9. Stir the cream for another 30 seconds, then immediately remove from heat and pour over the chopped dark cooking chocolate. Cover the bowl with plastic food wrap and let it sit for 5 minutes.
10. Then, using a whisk or spatula, mix the chocolate and cream together until it becomes a smooth, thick sauce (the chocolate should be fully melted at this point). Once mixed, set aside. The chocolate ganache is now done.
11. Once the cakes are baked, take them out of the oven and leave on the countertop for 15 minutes to cool down, while still in the cake trays. Then, place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
12. To assemble the cake, first trim the top of the cakes to even them out – this will make them easier to stack on top of one another.
13. Then, spread one-third of the chocolate ganache on top of one cake and spread it out (the ganache may harden a bit, if so, just whisk it vigorously for a couple of minutes so it is easier to spread).
14. Next, place the second cake on top of this one. Pour the rest of the chocolate ganache on top of the second cake and spread it out evenly on top and the sides, covering both layers completely. As an optional topping, you can garnish the top of the cake with some orange zest or slices, but it is great to enjoy as it is too!