Chocolate and orange are like a dream to me. Although my dream last night had nothing to do with chocolate and orange, and everything to do with watching some bizarre alley cat trying to eat giant hissing grasshoppers, or something. I woke up wanting a thick slice of this cake for breakfast. You know, to make everything right in the world again. It’s that simple.
Another reason I think this cake is dreamy is that it’s one moist cake batter, divided into two, flavored, then dumped in a bundt pan. It’s great for those last minute, in a pinch desserts.
The cake is loaded with sour cream, and is incredibly moist. The orange zest adds brightness and chocolate and chocolate chips add richness. It’s absolutely delicious, and perfect if you wake up from bad dreams.
Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake
adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter at room temprature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, left at room temperature for 30 minutes
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
zest of 1 large orange
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Put rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan and set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add half of flour mixture, and mix until just blended. Add sour cream, mixing until just combined, then add remaining flour mixture and mix until smooth.
Divide the batter evenly into two bowls. In one bowl add the orange zest and orange extract and stir to combine. In the other bowl add sifted cocoa powder and chocolate chips and stir to combine.
First pour the orange batter into the buttered Bundt pan, spreading it evenly around the bottom of the pan. Next, simply add the chocolate batter on top of the orange to cover. No swirling is necessary, although you can swirl the batters together if you like.
Bake until cake is springy to the touch and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove from oven and cool cake in the pan for 30 minutes. Invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Firdous
Made this lovely cake today. Replaced the orange extract with juice. Mmmmm………..deliciousness
Renee @ Awesome on $20
I actually dreamed about chocolate orange scones recently. Is there something wrong with my brain? There’s nothing wrong with this cake.
fflambeau
Two of my favorite flavors, orange and chocolate, which supplement each other so beautifully. A great recipe. I cut back on the sugar and used half canola oil instead of all the butter and it came out beautifully. I also added a bit of orange juice to the orange batter. Terrific!
Jill
Found this recipe when searching for “chocolate orange cake” and just finished baking it for my husband’s birthday. It smells amazing – can’t wait to cut into it at the party tonight. Thanks!
Gloria
The recipe calls for chocolate chips, is it semi-sweet chips or milk chocolate chips? Can’t wait to try. Thank you.
joythebaker
whichever you prefer.
Mary
Made this recipe and it is delicious. I only added a teaspoon of baking powder though because I had never heard of adding a tablespoon – seemed like too much. I used the juice from half the orange instead of the extract. It turned out great! Thanks for sharing!
jason
hi would it work to use fat free yoghurt in place of sour cream and milk chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate chips,thanks very much
Rachael
Just made this on friday night and it all went by Monday! delish! and not bad as my first attempt at bundt cake! YUM!!!
Lacey
I made this cake a few days ago for my friend’s birthday. It turned out great; it was so delicious. I did a not very good job of dividing the batter, so there was more orange cake than chocolate, but it still tasted great!