Terry's Chocolate Orange Cake 🍫🍊

Sez
Jan 21, 2019
4 min read

Updated: Apr 23, 2020

If you love Terry's Chocolate Orange or love the flav combo of chocolate and orange then this cake is perfect for ya.

I had my best friend's birthday followed by a Christmas dinner where this cake was expected so I made 2 of these cakes over Christmas. It was lit. TBH it doesn't have to be Christmas, you can have this for any occasion and everyone will love you.

I looked up recipes online and had to combine two recipes from two different bloggers (Bigger and Bolder Baking and Charlotte's Lively Kitchen) and change it to the way I want it, to make this cake.

I've written everything down but feel free to do your own changes. I will divide them into phases again but hopefully it all makes sense. Good luck!

Serves: 8 or 9 people depending on how generous you are

Difficulty: Level 2

Wow factor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you have buttermilk then skip Phase 1 and go right ahead to Phase 2.

Buttermilk is so important as it helps make the cake super luscious. It might not be the easiest thing to find so if you can't find it at your local supermarket, here is how you can make it:

Phase 1: The Buttermilk (Ingredients and Instructions)

1 cup of milk (whole or skim, I used whole)
2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice or vinegar

Mix them all together in a bowl and leave it to sit in your kitchen for 30 minutes or more.
If it starts to look weird then you are on the right track!
Once it has curdled, it is ready to go.

Phase 2: The Chocolate Cake - Dry (Ingredients)

250gr all purpose flour
160gr soft light brown sugar
160gr caster sugar
3tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
60gr cocoa powder
1.5tsp salt

Phase 2: The Chocolate Cake - Dry (Instructions)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
In a big bowl, sift all the ingredients from phase 2 and use a handheld whisk to combine well.
Set aside.

Phase 3: The Chocolate Cake - Wet (Ingredients)

1 cup buttermilk (from phase 1 or store-bought)
1 cup of freshly brewed hot coffee (I used Nescafe Azera Americano and followed the instructions on how to brew the coffee from the tin)
1/2 cup flavourless oil (castor, canola, vegetable, or sunflower)
2 large eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
3 cake tins buttered and lined, 8-inch x 2-inch round cake tins (I used 2 cake tins so whatever rocks your boat but trust me you want to line the tins as this mix can come out quite liquid-y and it might leak so have another tray in the oven to catch it when it happens)

Phase 3: The Chocolate Cake - Wet (Instructions)

In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients from phase 3.
Now add the wet mixture into bowl full of dry ingredients from phase 2.
Do this 1/3 at a time so that it helps you not to overmix as you are incorporating it in slowly.
Do a number 8 motion when mixing as it is really effective in making sure everything is properly combined without overmixing.
Pour the batter into the cake tins equally and bake for 25 minutes. Check with a cake tester and if it isn't ready then pop it back in for another 5 or 10 minutes until your cake tester comes out clean.
Once it is ready, take it out of the oven and out of their cake tins and let it cool on a cooling rack.

Phase 4: The Chocolate Orange Buttercream Frosting (Ingredients)

200gr unsalted butter, soften
200gr icing sugar
150gr baking milk chocolate, broken into small pieces
50gr cocoa powder
½ tsp orange extract
A dash of milk

Phase 4: The Chocolate Orange Buttercream Frosting (Instructions)

Take a big pyrex bowl, and put the broken chocolate pieces and melt in in the microwave (for 3 minutes, checking and stirring it every 1 minute). You can also use a saucepan or in a bain marie but ain't nobody got time for that.
Once melted, remove from microwave/heat and leave it to cool. It needs to return to room temp.
In a separate big bowl, beat the butter until soft then add the orange extract, cocoa powder and icing sugar. Do this little by little so you're not covered in powder.
Beat this all until fully combined.
Make sure that your chocolate is room temperature. Don't try to use it when it's not completely cool as it will be a disaster.
If it is room-temp-cool, pour in the chocolate to the buttercream bowl and beat it again until it is all nicely combined.
Now if it is a bit too stiff, add a dash of milk until you feel like it is soft enough for spreading/piping.
Set aside.

Phase 5: Decor and Assembling (Ingredients and Instructions)

Orange zest from 2 oranges
Golden balls from Sainsbury's cake decorations range
1 Terry's Chocolate Orange (duh)

Grate those oranges and get that zest.
If your cakes have completely cooled, they are ready to get in formation.
Place the cake in the middle of your cake stand/plate, then take your phase 4 buttercream and slather it on like jam on toast. Do this until you have done all your layers.
You will have enough frosting for the top and the sides so go crazy. Do whatever feels right. I spread it all over the sides and the top and then took a small spatula and created this up and down pattern on the side.
Now take your orange zest and sprinkle it on top.
Take your golden balls/cake decor topping and do the same.
This will start looking really pretty but it's not time to stop. Go over the top and take your Terry's Chocolate Orange and 'peel' off those orange segments and stab the sides of the cake like how I did it in the picture. You will need around 8 but it could be more, it could be less. You decide.
Congrats, you have your Terry's Chocolate Orange Cake!!