Dark chocolate & orange cake

Dark chocolate & orange cake

A dense, dark and devilishly delicious cake, this will be gone before you know it

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 10 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 30 mins

Plus cooling time

Method

  1. Pierce the orange with a skewer (right through). Cook in boiling water for 30 minutes until soft. Whizz the whole orange in a food processor until smooth; let cool.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C.Grease and line the base of a 23cm/9in round cake tin. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave for 2 minutes on High, stirring after 1 minute. Let cool.
  3. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs, sugar and oil. Gradually beat in the puréed orange, discarding any pips, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate. Sift in the cocoa, flour and baking powder. Mix well and pour into the tin. Bake in the centre of the oven for 55 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the middle. (Check after 45 minutes and cover with foil if it is browning too much.) Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. Make the chocolate ganache: put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate. Leave for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Set aside until firm enough to spread over the cake - up to 1½ hours.
  5. Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Using a palette knife, swirl the ganache over the top. Decorate with strips of candied orange peel.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, January 2003.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 81-97

  • Binder photo Declan

    28 July 2012

    Declan commented on this recipe

    I put this cake mix into muffin tins and cooked for just over 30mins. Delicious.

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  • Binder photo Xa_gen

    03 August 2012

    Xa_gen rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Lovely cake and had fun making it. Both family and friends enjoyed this delicious cake!! Avoided the ganache thought it was too sweet, swapped it with melted chocolate! Delicious!!

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  • Binder photo Xa_gen

    03 August 2012

    Xa_gen commented on this recipe

    Lovely cake and had fun making it. Both family and friends enjoyed this delicious cake!! Avoided the ganache thought it was too sweet, swapped it with melted chocolate! Delicious!!

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  • Binder photo Mary*

    05 August 2012

    Mary* rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was made as a friends Birthday Cake and is truly delicious.

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  • Binder photo Chris

    06 September 2012

    Chris rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    It was almost really good, but too dry at 50 minutes (yes, I had an oven thermometer) and it needs 80% dark chocolate, not plain. Also, I would add the zest of an orange to the mix to boost the orange flavour!

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  • Binder photo Ruby

    29 September 2012

    Ruby rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Pretty easy to make and tastes devine! Be careful to blend the orange really well though as there might be some hidden lumps. If you make it in a fan oven it will bake a lot faster than 55 minutes so keep an eye on it. It says 55 minutes but I was able to take mine out after just 35. I will definitely make it again!

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  • Binder photo Milly

    01 November 2012

    Milly rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Made a trial run of this cake for a friend's birthday coming up. I wasn't to happy with it as the cake was too dense. But on the up side had I had happy colleagues!

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  • Binder photo IsabelMai

    11 December 2012

    IsabelMai commented on this recipe

    Delicious! The orange flavour carried through amazingly to add a fresh tang to a very rich cake. The cake rose well and both times I've made it I found it was better without the overwhelming frosting. I found that by substituting half the flour for almond meal and a quarter of the caster sugar for brown sugar the cake was even more rich and had a darker and deeper flavor.

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  • Binder photo Mrs Stone

    20 December 2012

    Mrs Stone commented on this recipe

    Please be aware you don't have to boil the orange, you can use a normal one but you can just microwave it for 10 minutes then leave it to cool before blitzing it. I make the other version that is wheat free but i'm going to try this one tonight instead without the ganache!!

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  • Binder photo Kirsty

    27 January 2013

    Kirsty commented on this recipe

    This is so yummy! I have made it a few times now and it's always a hit... Making it today for my father in laws birthday and putting Terry's chocolate orange segments on top (his favourite) :) Thank you for sharing!

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  • Binder photo Kirsty

    27 January 2013

    Kirsty rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Debbie

    16 February 2013

    Debbie commented on this recipe

    Absolutely lovely, a bit like eating a chocolate orange in cake form! I made a little less topping which came out just right

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  • Binder photo clairuss

    27 February 2013

    clairuss commented on this recipe

    I am going to make this tomorrow evening so I may have left this message for help too late but - does anybody know how this would affect the baking time if I made these as cup cakes please? Very many thanks!

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  • Binder photo vons

    08 March 2013

    vons commented on this recipe

    it does seem quite a lot of oil, but that aside this is the best cake ever! i also had problems with the ganache being too runny so when making for the second time whipped the cream lightly then added the chocolate. everyone who has tasted this has said its the best cake they have had!

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  • Binder photo Bluebell

    01 April 2013

    Bluebell rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Lovely cake, subtle taste of orange. Made half the amount of ganache and reduced the proportion of cream and set perfectly.

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  • Binder photo Loraine-MG

    08 April 2013

    Loraine-MG rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo rachel4500

    15 April 2013

    rachel4500 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Lovely cake, everyone enjoyed it. However, I found baking it in one tin resulted in the edges being a bit dry... so next time I will bake in two tins :) The combination of flavours were great though!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 10 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 30 mins

Plus cooling time

Ingredients

  • 1 Seville orange
  • a little melted butter , for greasing
  • 100g plain chocolate , broken into pieces
  • 3 eggs
  • 280g caster sugar
  • 240ml sunflower oil
  • 25g cocoa powder
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • orange candied peel , to decorate

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

  • 200g plain chocolate , broken into pieces
  • 225ml double cream
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