Orange Chocolate Cake with Blood Orange Buttercream Frosting

If you’re someone who loves those foil-wrapped chocolate oranges in your Christmas stocking, you’re going to fall hard in love with this tasty dessert recipe. My Orange Chocolate Cake with Blood Orange Buttercream frosting is moist and deeply chocolatey with a swoosh of brightly acidic, decadent icing for a treat that just might be better than the candy it was based on.

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

If you have been following the blog for a while now, you already know that I have an affinity for playful flavor pairings - Vanilla Bean & Rose, Banana & Brown Butter, Black Sesame & Matcha to name a few. This Blood Orange Chocolate Cake recipe is yet another fun twist on a classic combination.

To start, I took inspiration from my One-Pan Double Chocolate Cake recipe. This simple chocolate cake is my go-to base recipe because it is super moist, perfectly tender, easy to execute, and extra chocolatey. I also love having single-layer cake recipes in my back pocket since ours is just a two-person household.

From there, I wanted to impart the sweet citrus flavor of blood oranges. Adding orange zest to the sugar included in the cake batter was merely the beginning. I then created an extravagant blood orange swiss meringue buttercream to pile onto the moist orange chocolate cake base.

Using dried citrus slices or chocolate covered oranges alongside edible flowers as my garnish atop the pillowy frosting gives the final cake an air of sophistication. And while this show-stopper may look like it took all day to create, the reality is you only need about 2 hours before you have it ready to eat.

Looking to create delicious and homemade garnishes to elevate your creations? Try adding Sugared Flowers, Candied Rose Petals, Dried Orange Slices or Sugared berries!

🍴Ingredients 

Most of the ingredients you’ll need for this blood orange chocolate cake are probably already in your pantry. Here are a few notes to keep in mind:

• Brown Sugar - Either light or dark will work well here. Dark will lend more caramel and burnt toffee notes to the final flavor.
• Cocoa Powder - I almost always prefer to reach for Dutch-processed cocoa powder because it is less bitter than other alternatives.
• Buttermilk - This ingredient can do some wondrous things in the kitchen, especially when it comes to baking. Want to make your own buttermilk from scratch? Check out my guide for making homemade buttermilk or vegan buttermilk!
• Egg & Egg Whites - You’ll need whole eggs for the cake and just egg whites for the blood orange buttercream. Eggs are easiest to separate when they are still cold from the fridge, but you should let the whites come to room temperature before using them in the recipe.
• Dark Chocolate - Be sure to use high quality chocolate here; Lindt, Scharffen Berger, Guittard, or Valrhona are all excellent brands.
• Espresso - For whatever reason, the addition of espresso (or coffee) to chocolate desserts makes them taste more chocolatey. I usually keep instant espresso in my pantry for such occasions, but feel free to use any coffee (instant or otherwise). If you are sensitive to caffeine, be sure to use a decaf option.
• Fresh Oranges and Blood Oranges - Whenever possible, reach for fresh citrus; the flavor is always superior to bottled juices. I also love that fresh fruit opens up the opportunity for using the essential oil-packed zest for an added boost of bright, sunshiney flavor which will be added to both the buttercream and chocolate cake base!

⚒️ Equipment

This simple single-layer orange chocolate cake recipe doesn’t require a whole lot of kitchen equipment to create. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Stand Mixer with Paddle and Whisk Attachment - This blood orange chocolate cake recipe requires a lot of mixing. Do your arms a favor and invest in a stand mixer; you’ll be so happy you did!
• 8-inch Cake Pan - This is an incredibly versatile recipe - instead of using a single 8-inch cake pan, you could turn this chocolate cake into two 6-inch cakes or cupcakes! Due to the different vessel sizes, you’ll need to adjust the times depending on the type of pan that you use. Here are some tested bake times and pan sizes:

2 6-inch cake pans: Bake for 35-40 minutes

Cupcake Tins: Bake for 25-30 minutes

• Parchment Paper -The easiest, most foolproof way I know to get a professional looking cake every single time is to line my baking tins with parchment. It takes just a few extra seconds and will save you from a whole lot of heartache.

📖 Step-by-Step Instructions

This single layer blood orange chocolate cake is pretty straightforward. Simply make the cake, make the blood orange buttercream frosting while it cools, then assemble! Here’s how it’s done:

Make the Dark Chocolate Orange Cake

Make Cake Batter: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together the dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, orange zest brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate large bowl whisk together the buttermilk, oil and egg until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Add the melted dark chocolate and coffee - then mix to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 

Bake & Cool: Pour batter into a greased 8-inch cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Make sure to check that the cake is fully baked with a toothpick before removing it from the oven. Allow it to cool for about 5-10 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack or a wire rack and allowing it to cool completely. 

Make Blood Orange Buttercream

Heat the eggs and sugar. Add the granulated sugar and egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Move the bowl back to the stand mixer and whisk until medium peaks form.

Add the butter and eggs. Mix in one butter knob at a time before slowly incorporating each egg.

Add the flavor. Once the buttercream turns glossy and smooth, add the vanilla extract, blood orange juice, and blood orange zest.

Assemble

Once your orange chocolate tender cake is fully cooled, dollop the blood orange buttercream frosting on top of the cake. Using the back of a spoon or an offset spatula, swoosh and swoop it into a pretty design. Top with edible flowers and dried citrus slices for a stunning garnish. Now tuck in and enjoy your blood orange cake!

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Remember to preheat your oven before making your batter. Both baking soda and baking powder begin to react as soon as they touch liquid. If you wait too long before putting the cake in the oven, you’ll lose out on some of their lifting powers, resulting in a denser, chewier cake.
• Layer on the garnish. Just because the cake itself isn’t layered doesn’t mean your decorations can’t be. I added a couple of different layers of toppings, starting with some finely chopped dark chocolate sprinkled around the edge. Then I added some dried orange slices of different colors and decorate with edible flowers for visual interest.
• Roll your citrus before cutting. To ensure you get the most blood orange juice from your fruit, first give it a firm roll on the countertop for about 10-15 seconds before cutting into it.

💭 Recipe FAQs

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