Chocolate Orange Bundt cake

Chocolate Orange Bundt cake with a super moist and flavourful Orange cake and delicious silky chocolate glaze can be the star of Christmas dinner. This easy yet festive cake features a melt-in-your-mouth Orange Bundt loaded with candied orange zest, topped with a super easy chocolate glaze, and decorated with homemade candied orange slices and lovely Christmas spices like cinnamon and star anise.

Jump to:

• 💡 What is the difference between bundt cake and regular cake
• 🌟 Why this is the best recipe
• 📝 Ingredient notes
• 👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe
• 🥣 Equipment notes
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 🎂 More Bundt cake recipes
• Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake

💡 What is the difference between bundt cake and regular cake

A Bundt cake is a type of dessert that is baked in a Bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive design. The shape is inspired by a traditional European cake known as Gugelhupf, but Bundt cakes nowadays can appear in many different shapes and sizes.

The Bundt cake pan I am using for this Chocolate Orange Bundt cake recipe has a modern, simplistic design but often Bundt pans have fluted or grooved sides. Bundt cakes are generally not associated with a single recipe, in fact, some Bundt cakes are made using similar ingredients to a regular cake, while others are more similar to a brioche or sweet bread made with yeast.

Make sure to read my article about how to get bundt cakes out of the pan!

🌟 Why this is the best recipe

1. It is extremely easy – You won´t need any fancy ingredients to make this Orange Chocolate Bundt cake. The recipe comes together really easily, totally doable from scratch. Both the mixing process of the batter as well as the baking process is very simple, even for beginners
2. It is super quick – I do not overcomplicate anything in this recipe! My Orange Bundt cake with chocolate glaze is not just easy, but quick as well, all you need to do is mix the ingredients, bake, and enjoy. The recipe is the perfect choice if you want something quick and impressive that is literally ready in an hour
3. It is super delicious – I never compromise on taste! Imagine a super moist Orange bundt cake with chocolate ganache. Deep citrusy notes with lovely chocolate flavor are match made in heaven, the perfect refreshing Chocolate Orange cake for your Christmas dinner
4. No special equipment is needed – All you need is a Bundt tin that you probably already have at home and you are good to go! Having said that, if you do not own a Bundt cake tin, this cake can be made in a loaf tin or any cake tin
5. It is super versatile – The Bundt cake can be made using different spices eg. ginger, pumpkin spice, etc. You can even use alcohol eg. rum in the glaze. Feel free to experiment!

📝 Ingredient notes

For the Bundt cake

1. Butter: Use always unsalted as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. Butter will need to be creamed with sugar so make sure it is at room temp and soft enough (but not melted)
2. Egg: Room temperature always. In fact, all the ingredients have to be at room temp to perfectly emulsify
3. Heavy cream: Also known as whipping cream or double cream, has a fat content of between 36% and 40%, in my recipes, I use 36%. Avoid substitutes like vegetable-based “whipping cream”
4. Sugar: I am using simple white sugar in this Chocolate Orange Bundt cake recipe, potentially you can replace a small amount of granulated sugar with brown sugar
5. Flour: I am using Cotswold self raising flour for this recipe that I can warmly recommend, it contains just the right amount of baking powder for the perfect rise! If it is not available in your country, use All purpose flour with medium protein content + add baking powder. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my flour guide
6. Baking powder and baking soda: Have two functions: increase the volume and lighten the texture, use both, and they have slightly different functions. Do not use them with self-raising flour
7. Salt: An essential ingredient in most dessert recipes. It balances flavor and enhances other ingredients, especially in a chocolate-flavored cake like this Chocolate Orange Bundt cake, it is an absolute must
8. Orange: I am using orange in two forms in this Chocolate Orange Bundt cake recipe: candied orange zest (store bought) and freshly grated orange zest. These two ingredients will provide a super delicious natural orange flavor without using orange extract or freshly squeezed orange juice which would be an acid-liquid ingredient I rather wanted to avoid. Make sure you buy organic oranges because you will need the skin part and pay attention to grate only the yellow part of the orange
9. Vanilla bean paste: Please please avoid using artificial vanilla. There are several great brands for fine, pure vanilla, I use Nielsen massey which I love and really recommend. I use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract which has lovely vanilla bits in there too

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

For the chocolate glaze

1. Chocolate: Use semi-sweet chocolate, the best quality you can access that does not size during melting and leave a beautiful shine. In general, avoid cheap "baking chocolates" with low cocoa butter content when you bake
2. Oil: vegetable oil works well here

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

For the decoration

1. Orange: You will need some oranges to make the decoration for this Chocolate Orange Bundt cake. Slice one orange to make the candied orange slices. Grate another orange to make the orange curl, you can use these on any cakes as decoration or in even cocktails
2. Cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg: I loved decorating this Chocolate Orange cake with spices! It smells amazing and looks like a beautiful Christmas table decoration!

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe

1. How to make moist Orange Bundt cake

This is a super easy Orange cake recipe, you can use it with any frosting of your liking at any season. It is very moist with velvety crumbs and extremely delicious! Candied orange zest makes this cake wonderfully flavourful and aromatic, do not leave it out!

1. Prepare your baking pan (Silicone Ring Cake tin is what I am using)
2. The Baking temp will be 175 C / 347 F (no fan) but preheat oven +20C / 68F as oven temp will drops when you open the door and place the baking tins in
3. Use Digital oven thermometer to understand your real oven temp
4. Ingredients must be all measured with a Digital scale
5. All ingredients must be at room temperature, they won´t properly emulsify if eg. butter or cream is too cold, the batter might even break
6. Cream room temp butter and granulated sugar with an Electric hand mixer for 5 minutes until creamy and pale
7. Add in egg, one at a time, and mix with a hand whisk after each addition
8. Fold in room temp cream and vanilla bean paste
9. Sift in dry ingredients: self-raising flour and salt
10. Fold the mixture with a rubber spatula just until fully combined, do not over mix
11. Fold in orange zest and candied orange zest
12. Pour batter into your Bundt mold (Silicone Ring Cake tin )
13. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
14. Chill the cake in the fridge before glazing

💡 Top Tip: Cool the cake upside down on a wire rack then carefully remove the tin. See more tips below on how to get bundt cake out of the tin.

2. How to make chocolate ganache glaze

Making the chocolate glaze for this Christmas Bundt cake is super easy. Place finely chopped chocolate into a bowl, and melt in the microwave (on low heat) or over a double boiler (on low heat) stirring every 30 seconds. Once the chocolate is melted, mix in vegetable oil.

Glazing this Chocolate Orange Bundt cake is all about finding the right (temperature) moment to pour the chocolate glaze over the cake. Once the chocolate glaze cooled to the right temperature, its consistency will thicken.

Once you are happy with the consistency of the glaze, it is not too runny, but still runny enough to glaze the cake, move it into a piping bag and start glazing the cold Bundt cake. It should be set in less than a minute.

💡 Top Tip: Make sure that your cake is cold (5C / 41F fridge temp) so the glaze can quickly set instead of running it through. The glaze must be not too thin and not too thick, about 25C / 77F is the ideal temperature.

3. How to make candied orange slices and orange curls

The decoration is what makes Chocolate Orange Bundt cakes into showstopper Christmas celebration cakes! Feel free to use your favorite seasonal ingredients from cinnamon sticks to candied orange, chocolate or orange twist, etc.

How to make candied orange slices?

1. Make a simple syrup by boiling an equal amount of water and sugar
2. Slice the orange into thin, even slices and boil in syrup for 5-10 minutes, until syrup thickens
3. Pre-heat oven to 100C / 212F
4. Place the pre-cooked orange slices onto parchment paper and dry them for 30 minutes
5. Let the orange slices cool to room temp before using them

How to make orange curls?

1. Peel the orange carefully in a thin, even layer. Try to peel off relatively long, even slices
2. Trim the side of the peels with a sharp knife if want to achieve neat curls
3. Twist the peels into a curly shape with your fingers. First, the peel might not stay in that shape however as you twist it a few more times, it should naturally hold its shape. In fact, it will loosen its humidity in about half a day and will dry out for the next day
4. Decorate the cake once the chocolate glaze sets.

Voila, your Orange bundt cake with chocolate ganache is ready to enjoy!

🥣 Equipment notes

First and foremost make sure you measure the ingredients with the help of a Digital scale. Cup measurement in this recipe is an indicative figure only. Baking cups are not just inaccurate, but also makes way too many dirty dishes, it is just not worth it.

If you are baking regularly and often struggle with your oven, also recommend purchasing an inexpensive Digital oven thermometer. Most home ovens over or under run and inaccurate oven temperature can cause several issues during baking and wasting time and ingredients.

For whipping the wet ingredients you won´t need a stand mixer however an Electric hand mixer is super handy. Then, once you proceed with the dry ingredients, make sure to don´t use your mixer but a Rubber spatula instead, as we do not want to over mix this cake batter.

As for the bundt tin itself a Silicone Ring Cake tin  or Steel Bundt cake pan both work fine.

❓ Recipe FAQs

🎂 More Bundt cake recipes