October 26, 2018
Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cake!
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A three-layer chocolate orange cake with Terry’s chocolate orange buttercream frosting!
Terrys chocolate orange cake
So… this beauty HAS HAPPENED. Yes, that’s right… this is a DELICIOUS three-layer moist and scrumptious chocolate and orange cake, with Terry’s chocolate orange buttercream frosting sandwiched between. Basically, my idea of heaven in a cake. Every bite is the most delicious thing I can imagine.
Recipe inspiration
This does basically look like a carbon copy of my Nutella cake, my lemon & blueberry cake, my neapolitan cake and so on… let’s just say that my style of decorating has changed this year and I love the ‘buttercream poop’ style as my roommate says. I say little round dollops or similar, but he says poops. Either way, I think it looks very satisfying.
The sponges for this beauty are a chocolate Victoria sponge style, with a little more cocoa powder in comparison to other chocolate cakes on my blog because I wanted it to be a really deep flavour. This deep flavour contrasts SO well with the orange zest and makes it such a wonderful flavour! Orange extract is a good alternative if you don’t want to use fresh oranges, use two teaspoons worth!
Buttercream
The Terry’s chocolate orange buttercream is a bit of an odd one because its utterly delightful, but can be damn difficult to make sometimes. If you use a milk Terry’s chocolate orange, it can work, but it’s much more likely to split in comparison to the dark Terry’s. The thing about using the dark Terry’s is by the time you’ve put it in the buttercream, it tastes like you’ve used the milk Terry’s anyway!
I would completely and wholeheartedly recommend using the DARK Terry’s chocolate orange, or use plain dark chocolate orange and a good quality orange extract. For all those people who are going to whine and moan that they don’t like dark chocolate… give me a break. Trust me, it tastes AMAZING once in the buttercream frosting.
I am obsessed!
Recently, as most people in the UK will know, Tesco was doing a sale on Terry’s chocolate orange at 75p each which is practically unheard of… so I invested in quite a few. TWENTY FIVE of the beauties to be precise, but as I say, it was an investment. I figured as its coming up to Christmas, I would get through a fair few of them!
More recipes
I do have FIFTEEN or so Terry’s chocolate orange recipes on here already, which might seem a smidge over the top. However, my Terry’s chocolate orange cheesecake, my Terry’s chocolate orange cookies, and my Terry’s chocolate orange tart are genuinely all some of my favourites. All in the top ten recipes on my blog!
Chocolate orange heaven!
I would say that maybe the photos on this page aren’t my favourites, but you can see the pure Terry’s chocolate orange joy in the photos with the insane amount of segments on top. I realise having 21 segments on top of a cake is a bit much, but I thought it made it look funky! Plus, more than one segment per slice then.
I love this cake best on the day its made, but later on, its nice to microwave a slice for 10-15 seconds and have it slightly warm. Or, to keep it fresh and moist for longer, you can even add an orange drizzle on top! Use the juice of 2 oranges, and 75g of caster sugar mixed together and drizzled between the three sponges!
Terry's Chocolate Orange Cake!
Ingredients
For the Cake!
- 400 g unsalted butter
- 400 g light brown sugar
- 325 g self raising flour
- 75 g cocoa powder
- 8 medium eggs
- Zest of 2 oranges
For the Frosting!
- 350 g unsalted butter (not stork)
- 700 g icing sugar
- 250 g DARK Terry's chocolate orange
For the Decoration!
- Terry's chocolate orange
- Sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cake!
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line three 8"/20cm cake tins with parchment paper. Leave to the side for now!
- Beat your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy!
- Add in the flour, cocoa powder, eggs, and orange zest and beat until smooth!
- Split evenly between the three tins, and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Check its cooked by using a skewer, it should be clean! Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, and then on a wire rack to cool fully.
For the Frosting!
- Make sure your unsalted butter is at room temperature.
- Beat the butter until its smooth and supple, and gradually add in your icing sugar.
- Whilst doing this, melt your DARK Terry's chocolate orange carefully until smooth!
- Beat the butter and icing sugar for a few minutes until its really lovely and smooth.
- Add in your melted dark Terry's chocolate orange and beat again. If the mix is a bit hard, or way too thick, add in 1-2tbsp of boiling water. Don't do this straight away, make sure you beat the buttercream first as it might not need it.
- Once all together, don't beat for too long or it might split.
For the Decoration!
- Get your first layer of cake, and pipe little dollops of buttercream onto it. I do this with a large round nozzle, piping directly downwards!
- Do this all over, and then add the second layer, and repeat. Add the third layer of cake, and pipe the rest of the buttercream on top! I do it all over, then add another ring to sandwich the slices between.
- I put 21 segments on top and alternated two milk chocolate slices and one dark chocolate slice all the way around to use up the rest of the second dark Terry's chocolate orange, but you can do what you want.
- Sprinkle over your fave sprinkles, and enjoy!
Notes
- The dark Terry's chocolate orange is much better to use for the buttercream compared to the milk!
- As mentioned in my Terry's chocolate orange cupcakes, normal milk Terry's is more likely to split in buttercream.
- If you can't find dark chocolate orange, use 250g of dark chocolate and 2tsp orange extract instead!
- Decoration wise, you can use milk, or dark, or anything else chocolate orange themed like Lindt!
- You can make a smaller version of this cake using
- 300g butter, 300g sugar, 250g self flour, 50g cocoa powder, 6 medium eggs and baking for 30-35 minutes in to 8"tins.
- This cake will last for 3 days at room temperature!
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J x
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I made this for a friends farewell at work and it came together surprisingly easily. The cakes were very firm and baked well. If I make this again I will definitely need the hot water in the icing as it was very firm but still delicious. The smell of the orange zest in the cakes was just amazing. I was shocked by how tall it was so couldn’t finish it at home and had to bring icing and decorations to work to do the top layer but everyone really enjoyed it.
I was going to make this came in one deep tin now long should I bake it for. Thanks
Hi I am making my granddaughters wedding cake next year and would like to use this recipe as one of the tiers. Will this recipe last for 1 week.
Hi, can you tell me if I can use margarine instead of butter please? xx
Hiya! For the sponges yes, though I recommend real block butter for the buttercream! Hope this helps! x
Hi I’m making this cake tomorrow as a celebration cake to be covered in fondant.
Is the cake sturdy enough to take the weight of the fondant please?
Hiya! I personally have not tried this, but it should be fine! Hope this helps x
Is there a way of converting this recipe to make cupcakes instead?
Hiya! Take a look at my Terry’s chocolate orange cupcake recipe. Hope this helps! x
Hi Jane, at the start of the blog you mention a chocolate orange drip cake and when i click on link its says oops something went wrong . Is there anyway i could get this recipe as it would be the perfect kind of cake to make for my friend for her 40th.
Thanks
Hiya! Take a look at my 28th Birthday Cake! Hope this helps! x
Hi probably a silly question, can the sponges be stored in freezer or fridge for a later date? How long will they keep?
Yes absolutely! You can freeze them for up to 3 months! Hope this helps x
Hi Jane,
You said for a 2 layer cake you should bake it for 30-35 minutes but that is longer than the 3 layer cake which you say to bake for 20-25 minutes. I thought a 2 layer cake would take less time to bake than 3 layers because there is less mixture?
Thanks x
Oh no sorry I got that the wrong way round! Never mind haha x
Hi Jane,
If I made this as a 2 layer cake and covered the sides and top with buttercream and piped swirls on the top, what quantities of ingredients for the buttercream would I need?
Thanks x
Hi Jane,
I want to make this recipe using 9″ cake tins and was just wondering if I can follow it as normal, or if it would be better to increase it x1.3? If so, how many eggs would you think it is best to use, as x1.3 would suggest 10.4!
Thanks 🙂
Hi Jane, want to bake this for my sisters birthday next week and going to make it the 2 tier like you said in the notes. Should I reduce the amount of buttercream as the cake wont have as many layers? If so, how much would you recommend? thanks
Hi Jane
Can I freeze any left over buttercream. And how long will it last.
Yes you can! And 3+ months! x
Hi Jane, could this be turned into a celebration cake and would it taste ok with vanilla buttercream maybe on the outside to give it some colour? Thanks
Where do you buy your ingredients from. Can you bulk buy. X
Hey, any supermarket x
Hi Jane, could this be turned into a celebration cake and would it taste ok with vanilla buttercream maybe on the outside to give it some colour? Thanks
Love this recipe
Hi, Jane. I’m hoping to make this for my mums birthday, but the smaller version. Is the quantity of ingredients for the smaller version to split between 2 or 3 8” tins? I’m just wanting to do a two layer 8” cake – will this change the amounts?
The smaller version is two layers!
Hi Jane. How would I make a Terry’s milk chocolate drip? Would it be 100mls of cream & 100 grams terry’s chocolate? Thanks
No it wouldn’t – terry’s works different as the cocoa percentage is completely different! So it would more likely be 200g chocolate to 100g of cream, but still not 100% the same! x
Hi Jane,
I’m looking to do this recipe as a drip cake, how much would you suggest increasing the buttercream by if I’m going to cover the outside of the cake and swirls on top
Thank you x
To do a decent crumb coat and then a decent layer I would just say double to be easier, and freeze any leftover, but at least another half would be needed!
Hi Jane,
I’m planning on making the smaller version, but only have one 8inch tin. Would it be okay to bake the first half of the mixture and then bake the second half after? x
So usually I would say no because cake mixture shouldn’t be sat for too long. You could mix half and bake it, and then mix the other half and bake it though x
What could I do for the frosting, looked in so many shops and there are no dark chocolate oranges so really struggling is there a substitute?
You can use a dark chocolate and and orange extract in, or use the milk chocolate orange and just be aware the taste will be lighter and sweeter x
Hi Jane,
I am planning on making this for a friend and I noticed that yourself and a few other people are having a problem finding Terry’s dark orange chocolate, I don’t know if all the stores are doing them but my Asda in Bridgwater had loads,so would recommend trying Asda.
Hello Jane,
I am hoping to make this in a few days however I would not like to do the blobs and I’d rather cover the whole outside and top with frosting would the quantities be the same?
I would maybe use at least 1.5x so there is enough for the layers and outside x
Hi Jane, how much orange extract should be used if baking as a two layer cake? And I saw you say in the comments to bake for 40-45 minutes as a two layer cake, but your notes say 30-35 minutes – which one is it please ? Xx
I believe the other comment is because they wanted to bake the full mixture into two tins, rather than the smaller amount. And maybe 1/2-1tsp.
Delicious as always! So easy to make and everyone loved it!!
Made this recently. The cake was delicious but the buttercream was a bit sweet for myself and my family. Will definitely make again but modify the amount of sugar in the buttercream.
Fantastic recipe, I had this made for me for my birthday and now I’m making it for my uncles birthday. I’m sure I read the other day if I wanted to keep the sponge moist to keep the cake a few more days to make a drizzle for the sponge with the juice from 2 oranges and caster sugar. Now I can not find it anywhere in the notes and thinking maybe I dreamt it. I have to make it on Wednesday it’s been collected thursday but won’t be cut until Friday. Any ideas would be greatly received please.
Yes you can – just like a lemon drizzle cake!
How do you do the chocolate orange frosting, or were do you get it from please.
Carol Wright
Hi Jane,
Is it possible to use the milk chocolate orange for the buttercream instead of the dark chocolate- struggling to get ahold of them on my end! If so would you recommend using less of it? Thanks.
It will be sweeter and I find the milk chocolate terry’s is more likely to split, but otherwise it’s a straight swap!
Hi Jane. I was just wondering, what container do you use to store your taller cakes in?
Hi, could this be used for a 7” cake of 4 layers?
I don’t bake 7″ cakes so I am not certain, but I would imagine it would be fine!
Hey! If I made this cake and did a crumb coat instead , would I need to make more buttercream or would the amount in the recipe be enough? Thank you x
It depends on how thick a crumb coat you want, and how much buttercream you like. I personally would increase it slightly so I still have enough for the topping, but it’s up to you! X
Loved making this cake, but did you trim the edges to look so neat? Did you line the sides of the tins?
No – I only line the bottom of my tins usually and don’t trim them! x
Can you freeze this cake please?
Yes you can!! x
Hi Jane,
I wanted to make this cake exactly as it is but eggless, how would I amend the recipe?
I wouldn’t recommend it – I would follow my vegan sponge recipe x
Hi Jane I was just wondering why this recipe doesn’t have baking powder like
All your other cake recipes
All of my recipes are written how I have made them at that time and show different examples of how you can bake a cake – not all of my cakes use baking powder x
Lovely cake made it this weekend. I wonder if anyone else had problems with the frosting. When I put it in the piping bag it was very oily. Do you think my chocolate was not cool enough? Didnt make any difference to the taste. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes xx
That means it’s split – you can sometimes bring it back by adding in a little boiled water or whole milk when mixing xx
Hi Jane! I’m planning on making this cake for my partners birthday, is it possible to make it as a 4 layer cake ? If so how much more extra ingredients would I need for the cake?
Also another question I have is if I can make this as a 4 layer cake, how much more cream/chocolate will I need to cover the cake in ganache ? X
I would use a 500g mix, split between two tins and baked for longer or four tins – use 500g sugar/eggs/butter and 400g flour, 100g cocoa. And this one doesn’t have a ganache covering so you need to look at a different recipe for that x
Hi Jane
Instead of using stork butter which other brand of butter works best for cakes?
For cake sponges I only ever use stork, or block unsalted butter x
Hi Jane!
What type of nozzle do you use for the buttercream frosting to make the ‘poops’ so perfect? 🤣
Thanks x
Just a round nozzle, or just snip the end off a disposable piping bag!
Hi,
Loved this recipe 😋
I would like to try this using white chocolate orange, what would u recommend?
So the best frosting definitely comes from using the dark terry’s as mentioned – but it should still work okay! You may need less though so about 175-200g x
Hi Jane,
I wanted to make this cake using 6” tins so it’s not as big but still keeping 3 layers. What would you reduce the recipe and cooking time down by?
Thanks!
A 6″ cake is roughly 2/3 of the recipe, but I’m unsure on the baking times – maybe check at about 20 minutes?!
Hi Jane. I plan to make this cake for my daughters birthday party – a week today! Think it will go down well with both adults and children. But I wanted to cover it in white fondant. Would you recommend a vanilla buttercream under the fondant? I just don’t want the chcolate showing through until we cut into it! Thank you.
If you don’t want to see chocolate buttercream between the cake and fondant then definitely use a different one x
Hi Jane. I’m planning on baking this cake this week but I can’t find Dark Terry’s Chocolate Orange in any of the shops. Would the buttercream work if I used dark chocolate orange Lindy instead?
Xxx
Yes that should work well! x
hi, could you use the sponge recipe for a full 9 inch cake?
That should be okay!
Yet another great recipe! I’ve made quite a few of your recipes in lock down and they are all so so nice. I made this two tier cause I didn’t want to go as big, but again I couldn’t stop eating it. Also made the syrup to moisten the sponges and this made it extra moist and delish!! Love chocolate cake, and this is one of the best I’ve tasted.
Hi Jane,
I was wondering what your thoughts are on using oil instead of butter to get a really moist chocolate cake mine have a tendency to be dry and I tried a recipe with oil a while ago and it worked great and didn’t dry out in the fridge but really want to try out this recipe for my dad’s 70th (the drip version in your ebook) but don’t want to ruin it swapping in oil if you think it won’t work?
Look forward to your thoughts and love your recipes!
Many thanks x
I tend to find dry cakes are purely from over baking – and chocolate cakes often just bake a smidge quicker! You could try oil, but for this sort of sponge I don’t usually do that so I have never tried it! Typically I believe you use 3/4 of the amount of butter in oil! xx
hiya jane! this might be a silly question… but do i need to wait for the chocolate to cool before adding to the buttercream? and can i use caster sugar if its the only type i have? thankyou!
Hiya – yes you will want the chocolate cooled somewhat! And I wouldn’t use caster for buttercream – that can be quite unpleasant! x
Hiii, how much orange extract would you recommend using if I was making this as a two tier cake rather than a three? 🙂 x
Could I use orange extract instead of orange zest and if so how much would you recommend please?
Thanks
Yes for sure! I usually use 1.5tsps for my ideal taste!
Good morning, how can I make this as a two layer rather than 3? Xx
That’s mentioned in the notes! x
Ahh apologies, thank you Jane! 🙂 can’t wait to bake it
! Xx
Would this recipe work as a drip cake like some of your others? xx
It can do if you want to – my terry’s drip cake recipe is in my first ebook though. x
Jane’s recipes have been recommend to my by a friend. With very little experience of cook these recipes are super easy and have had some amazing outcome!!! Love the results and love the unique recipes!! Amazing
Made this for my daughter’s 18th birthday, in lockdown so we didn’t have to share it! Just as well, it was delicious! If you like chocolate orange, you must try it!
OMG the flavour of this cake is awesome I’m making my daughters wedding cake next year and trying out different recipes to decide what cakes to make this one is a winner and will definitely be one of the tiers ot eas so easy to make my kitchen smelt amazing and the taste of this cake is unbelievable, give it a go
Hi Jane!
I’m looking at using this recipe over the weekend for a cake I’ve got to do. I plan on using a deep 6” tin and doing 3 layers, but I only have 1 tin – can I make the whole mix and bake 1/3 at a time and leave the remaining mix to wait or should I use the smaller quantity and divide that by 3 and make each mix separately (I hope this makes sense)
Thank you!
Toni
I also would like to know the answer on this. Did Kane come back to you? Xx
Hi Jane, in the cake recipe instead of using zest from two oranges could I just use orange flavouring?
Yes definitely! I would use 1.5-2tsps! X
I would recommend buying more tins, the cake mix could change, it can be done but I don’t recommend.
Jane mentions this on on of her blogs on this website
Also can you put chopped up Terry’s chocolate orange in this one? I would love to use the exact recipe of the loaf cake with the extract and chopped up choc in a three layer version of this cake?
Yes you can! x
Can I use orange extract instead of orange zest like in your loaf version of this cake?
Yes you can!
Hi Jane! It it possible to make this cake ,or even any cake, into a gluten cake just by swapping the flour for gluten free flour? Xx
Generally yes – but sometimes I think xantham gum can be good – check out my GF/DF chocolate cake for tips!
Hi Jane,
I’m making this for my son’s birthday party. What kind of container do you use to store it? Last time I trialled it I had to cut it up to fit it into what I had at home. I’m really struggling to find anything that will fit!
Thank you
The best thing to do is to buy a cake box online, or from amazon! They’re usually a thin card material, and at least 6″ tall which usually fits! x
If I divide the mix into 2 layers instead of 3 how long should I bake each layer for?
I’m not 100% sure I’m afraid, but at least 45-50 minutes I would say?
Hi Jane!
I hope you are well. Thank you for sharing! Love all your recipes. I was just wondering, which sugar did you use for this cake? Is it brown cane sugar or packed?
Thank you!
In the UK we just have Light Brown Sugar that comes in soft/muscovado and I use either of those.
Hi, can you please advise if I do the cake in 2 x 9 inch tins, what ratio of ingredients shall I use? Thanks in advance! X
Technically for a straight increase from an 8″ to a 9″ you use 1.3x the recipe, but that’s for three layers, so theoretically you can leave the recipe as is, and just bake it into the 2x 9″ tins, but obviously, it wouldn’t be as high, and the timings might be slightly different x
Hey,
Can you use the frosting recipe to cover the cake rather than just being inbetween the layers?
Thanks
I am planning on making this cake using the smaller quantities, to have 2 sponges rather than 3.
What quantities would you use for the frosting for 2 sponges?
Use 2/3 of the recipe for the frosting x
Thank you so much x