A delicious chocolate orange cake which combines the rich flavours of chocolate and the citrusy zest of oranges. When lightly spiced with cardamom, this cake takes on a warm and exotic aroma that is sure to delight the senses. Sour cream is added to give the cake a moist and tender crumb. To make it even more indulgent, it's sandwiched together and then topped with a luscious chocolate orange buttercream.
Extract the seeds from the cardamom pods and grind them with a pestle and mortar. Keep the pods and infuse them in the hot water whilst you get on with the cake.
17 cardamom pods, 120 ml hot water
Set the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
Cream the softened butter with the sugar, orange zest, salt and the ground cardamom until pale and fluffy. Then cream it some more. You can do this by hand, as I do, or with an electric cake mixer.
200 g unsalted butter, 200 g soft brown sugar, 2 oranges, ¼ tsp Himalayan pink rock salt
Beat in the eggs one by one, alternating with the cocoa powder to prevent curdling.
4 large eggs, 50 g cocoa powder
Sift in the flours, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and stir until just combined.
250 g flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Whilst the water is still warm, strain it through a sieve to remove the cardamom pods, then stir to combine.
Gently mix in the sour cream.
175 ml sour cream
Divide the mixture between 2 x 23cm (9 inch) round silicone cake pans or lined tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is firm to the touch and an inserted skewer comes out more or less clean.
Leave the cakes in the tins to cool for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Buttercream
Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot water. Then leave to cool slightly.
200 g milk chocolate
Cream the softened butter with the icing sugar until light and fluffy.
100 g unsalted butter, 100 g icing sugar
Mix in the melted chocolate together with the orange liqueur. Beat the mixture well.
2 tbsp orange liqueur
Use half of the buttercream to sandwich the cooled cakes together, then spread the remainder over the top.
Decorate as you wish (I used chocolate Minstrels).
Notes
If you'd rather not use alcohol, just swap the orange liqueur for orange juice.You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.