Chocolate Orange Cake

This chocolate Orange Cake is seriously rich and moist.  Both cake and frosting are naturally sweetened with no sugar added. This cake has the perfect crumb texture, is light and fluffy with luscious thick frosting. Make this cake in 10 minutes, in one bowl and enjoy eating it for the next 7 days... if it lasts that long.

Chocolate and orange are such a classic flavour combination (like in my Chocolate Orange Cheesecake), yet it can be hard to find a cake with these flavours that is on the healthier side as many tend to be laden with processed sugars and are overly sweet. 

Most store bought Chocolate Orange Cakes taste great at first, but often don’t fill you up and I don;t know about you, but I always felt like I needed to eat half the cake to feel like I'd satisfied my sugar cravings!

I created this cake, because I wanted a chocolate cake that was more filling than a regular chocolate cake, was going to stay moist for days, and that most importantly was sugar free.

I had over a dozen attempts at making the perfect healthy chocolate orange cake and this cake is one of my best.

It can be difficult to get the perfect flavour balance of chocolate and orange, the right crumb texture, a cake that stays moist for days, that is easy to make all in one bowl in just 5 steps. That is this cake!

Why Make This Recipe

• Its all made in one bowl with just 10 minutes of prep
• Its extremely chocolatey, without being overly sweet – perfectly balanced
• The cake and the frosting are both naturally sweetened and totally sugar free.
• The cake is soft and light with creamy dairy free frosting
• Makes 10 servings and perfect for a dinner party, christmas gathering or BBQ

Cake Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: I used all purpose plain flour, but equally you could use spelt flour, or almond flour. I wouldn't use a wholemeal flour in this recipe as you want a fine light crumb and I find this can be hard to ahceive with some wholemeal flour
• Granulated Sweetener: I used Monkfruit Sweetener in this recipe which is a granulated sweetener that measures like sugar. There's no weird after taste and it adds just the right amount of sweetness. Alternatively you could use granulated stevia.
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: this gives the cake its delicious chocolate flavour. Note: unsweetened cocoa powder is different to the chocolate powder you drink which tends to be very sweet.
• Milk: any type of regular milk (full fat or low fat), or nut milk would be fine to use. I wouldn't recommend coconut milk as it would impact the chocolate orange flavour too much
• Vegetable oil: this helps to add moistness to the cake and is one of the reasons that the cake does;t dry out after a few days. Extra virgin olive oil can also be used.
• Oranges: I love to use navel oranges in baking as they have lots of flavour, are juicy and they zest easily. When choosing oranges, pick ones that are ripe and go for ones with more texture on the skin as they zest better and that is where all the orange flavour comes from.
• Salt: don;t skip the salt. even though its only a small amount, it helps to bring out the orange and chocolate flavours and to balance the sweetness of the cake
• Baking powder/Baking soda: this is what helps the cake to rise and gives the cake its lightness. If you haven't used your baking powder or baking soda in over a year, you may want buy some new ones as it looses its effectiveness as it ages and can mean your cake won't properly rise.

Frosting Ingredients

How To Make

1. Preheat Oven: Preheat Fan oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.  Line a 22cm/8 inch round springform cake tin with baking paper/parchment paper on the base and lightly spray with oil on the inside walls of the tin to prevent sticking
2. Chocolate Slurry: In a large bowl, add the boiling water and cocoa powder.  Whisk together until smooth.
3. Add Wet Ingredients: Add egg, oil and milk and whisk until smooth and velvety

4. Add Dry Ingredients: Add flour, sweetener, baking soda, baking powder, salt and orange zest.  Whisk together until smooth.  (Batter will be very runny)

5. Pour and Bake: Pour batter into cake tin and bake on middle shelf of oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. 

Making the Frosting

1. Deseed the avocados and scoop out the flesh. Add to food processor, along with cocoa powder, orange juice and powdered sweetener
2. Blitz until smooth and silky
3. Spread generously onto cake using the back of a spoon

Recipe Tips

• Make this cake Dairy Free: Use almond milk instead of regular milk. Its that easy. The frosting is already dairy free.
• Cake Tin size: I used a 22cm /8 inch round springform cake tin however you could also use a square tin, just make sure to line with parchment paper on base and sides so that is it easier to get out.
• Frosting Flavourings: Add a little orange liqueur to the frosting.
• Double Up: Double the recipe to make a double layer cake with frosting in the middle and on top. You'll need two round springform cake tins the same size for this.
• Cupcakes: Turn this recipe into cupcakes using two regular sized muffin trays that hold 6 cupcakes each. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes and test with a skewer for doneness.

Your Questions Answered

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This cake is perfect if you don’t like overly sweet cakes, yet love the indulgence of a dense and decadent chocolate treat.  While this is definitely a chocolate orange cake, it could almost equally be a dessert. My preference though is to enjoy a slice with my morning coffee.

Serving Options:

• With a scoop of sugar free vanilla ice cream
• With a spoon of double cream
• With a helping of rich and creamy Greek yoghurt

More No Added Sugar Chocolate Cakes:

• Chocolate Avocado Cake with luscious Chocolate Frosting
• Moist Chocolate Date Cake with Frosting
• Chocolate Earl Grek Cupcakes
• Low Carb/Low Cal Chocolate Blackbean Cake
• Flourless Almond Meal Chocolate Cake with Thick Cream Cheese Frosting