This recipe stands the test of time as one of the most delicious marble cakes I ever made, with that wonderful combination that is orange and chocolate. I made a few tweaks to the original recipe (posted in 2012!), so now it has more orange flavor and a decadent chocolate ganache glaze. It keeps well and freezes wonderfully, so you can make it ahead.
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Fantastic flavors
Orange and chocolate are a fabulous pair, and if made into a cake, let's just say it's even better. It works for a special occasion or as a snack cake if you eat it plain or dusted with powdered sugar.
The cake has a hint of cocoa with the right amount of orange tartness, which I improved on the original recipe, increasing the orange flavor, as I wanted a layer of chocolate glaze on top to amp up the chocolate flavor. Let me confirm that it worked very well.
The marbling is beautiful and makes for a stunning presentation, similar to the chocolate cheesecake swirl cake.
This is a solid chocolate orange bundt cake with wonderful flavors that took me a long time to get to. It's my go-to recipe when it comes to citrus and chocolate. The crumb is moist and slightly dense, a beautiful merge of this chocolate cake with sour cream, with one of my favorites, this bright orange bundt cake recipe.
Testing notes
Sift the cocoa powder and baking soda: this is important because they can clump during storage and will not dissolve during baking.
Alternate dry and wet ingredients: this is an important step when making cakes because we always want to level temperatures and densities. By adding part of the flour mixture, then part of the milk, and repeating it until we add it all, we make sure it's all well incorporated. Important: always start and end with the dry ingredients.
It's a large cake, so use an electric mixer and a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. If the bowl is not the right size, you'll have trouble mixing the cake batter well.
Flavoring: I use orange zest quite a lot, as I believe it's the most natural and best way of achieving a good orange flavor. But you can use pure orange extract if fresh oranges are not available. It wouldn't be my first choice, but it works if you don't have fresh fruit available.
Ingredients
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Orange: the main ingredient we use is orange zest. And an interesting amount, about two whole oranges. You can also use blood oranges.
- Orange liqueur or juice: I use Grand Marnier or Cointreau, but opt for juice if you don't want to use alcohol, though it evaporates during baking.
- Cocoa powder: always use unsweetened.
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or cake flour.
- Baking soda: Make sure it's not expired.
- Milk: I always use whole milk for a richer cake, but low-fat milk also works.
Preparing the bundt pan
If you bake bundt cakes often, you've likely had one stick to the pan. It's frustrating, but preventable. Here are three reliable methods:
- Shortening and flour: Coat the pan thoroughly with soft shortening using your fingers or a brush, making sure to reach every corner, including the center tube. Dust with flour, rotating the pan to cover evenly, then tap out the excess over the sink.
- Cake goop (pan-release paste): Mix equal parts shortening, flour, and oil into a paste. Brush it onto the pan. Store leftovers in a jar, 1 month at room temp or up to 3 months in the fridge. This is one of my favorite methods.
- Baking spray with flour: Only use baking spray that includes flour. Regular cooking spray isn't enough and often leads to sticking. I rarely use this anymore.
The recipe matters too: When I find a bundt cake that releases cleanly, even without perfect prep, I hold onto it; it's a keeper.
Make the cake batter
Creaming
The softened butter needs to be beaten for several minutes with the sugar to achieve a light and fluffy consistency. So add the sugar gradually while beating and use a large bowl where you can mix all the ingredients comfortably, without them spilling.
Then add the eggs and incorporate them well, one at a time.
Flour mixture
Also called dry ingredients, are sifted before adding them to the batter, as it will help to have a light crumb and remove clumps and impurities.
Final batter
Use a spatula to manually give it a few last stirs, making sure there are no dry spots, especially at the bottom of the bowl.
Cocoa powder
Sifting cocoa is very important as it clumps during storage and is hard to dissolve when mixing. You don't want those dry spots, as they won't incorporate during baking.
How to marble a cake
- Chocolate batter: A portion of the vanilla orange mix is transferred to a small or medium bowl, and cocoa powder is added to create the chocolate part of this cake.
Marbling
Make sure the chocolate batter is added in mounds and then lightly swirled with the tip of a knife. It's important to distinguish both colors; don't marble them so much that they almost become one.
Ready to be baked
Stop when the marble is noticeably, and before the colors are too muddied.
The beauty of marbled cakes is that the pattern is always different after they're baked.
Chocolate glaze
We'll be using a luscious ganache glaze that will drip down the sides, not covering the cake completely. You can use different types of chocolate depending on how sweet you want it to be.
- Dark chocolate ganache: my favorite, the one I use for our perfect chocolate bundt cake. It's semisweet with just the right amount of sweetness that comes from the addition of some brown sugar and a touch of corn syrup.
- Sweet chocolate ganache: Use half milk chocolate instead of all semisweet. It will just be as smooth and wonderful, but that bittersweet edge will not be there. It's the one we use for my favorite cake ever, the hot chocolate bourbon cake.
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Glazed Chocolate Orange Marbled Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons shortening, softened, to grease the pan
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, to dust the pan
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 5 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons orange zest, 2-3 oranges
- 3 tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier, or orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose , or cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
For the chocolate glaze:
- 1 cup heavy cream, or heavy whipping cream
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- ¼ cup brown sugar, dark
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup, or runny honey
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350º F (180ºC).
- Grease a 10 or 12-cup bundt cake pan (26cm) with 2 tablespoons shortening, covering every angle, nook and cranny. Dust with 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, shaking off excess. Reserve.
- Beat softened 1 ½ cups unsalted butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer, or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, slowly adding 3 cups sugar and beating for 2 to 3 minutes after all is added.
- Add 5 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add 2 tablespoons orange zest, 3 tablespoon orange liqueur or orange juice, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Sift 3 cups all-purpose , 1 teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt together in a small bowl or have them measured and sift directly over the butter mixture, as I do.
- Add the dry ingredients (also called the flour mixture) in three additions alternating with ¾ cup milk in two additions. Don't overbeat after adding flour, simply beat just until incorporated.
- Transfer 1 cup of this mixture to a small bowl and mix into it the sifted ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Gently mix until you have a smooth batter.
- Add half the orange batter into the prepared bundt pan, spreading evenly. Drop half of the cocoa mixture over it, and swirl a few times with the tip of a knife. Repeat with the remaining batters. You will have to layers of marbled cake mix.
- Bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. It might take several more minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 20 minutes.
- Remove from the bundt pan; it will still be quite hot, so be careful. Place on the cooling rack and let cool completely before glazing. If you know your pan (they differ a lot depending on the material and use), remove it the way you always do.
- Pour the chocolate glaze on top of the cake and let it drip down the sides. You can scoop the drippings and pour them over again. Do this quickly before it sets. You can decorate with orange slices, orange peel, or rind.m
For the ganache glaze:
- Finely chop 8 ounces semisweet chocolate and put it in a bowl, preferably glass.
- In a small saucepan heat 1 cup heavy cream with ¼ cup brown sugar. Remove just when it's about to boil. It should have small bubbles in the outer rim.
- Immediately cover the chopped chocolate with the hot cream. Let stand 1 minute to soften.
- With a wire whisk start mixing from the middle out. The chocolate will mix with the cream and create a smooth and shiny chocolate mixture.
- Add 1 tablespoon corn syrup, mix well and it's ready to use.
Lidia Henshaw says
Hi, 3 cups of sugar is to much for 3 cups of flowers. I used only 1/ 1/2 cup of sugar for 3 cups of flour
Lynn Cote says
Very easy to make and the taste is delicious. I prepared the pan using shortening and flour but the cake got stuck in the pan.
ALVARO says
fue un desastre, se me quedó pegado en el molde de bundt. Yo uso nordic ware 🙁
ALVARO says
y una ultima pregunta jajajaja. Esta torta es para un molde de qué medida?
ALVARO says
Hola Paula. vuelvo a molestarte, lo siento. Me pregunto que equivalencia en gramos puede ser 3/4 cup milk. Es que en español no se usa la medida Cup. gracias.
ALVARO says
me encanta tu blog. Lo peor que el traductor de google me traduce al español fatal jajajajaja, pero no te preocupes que ya veo que hablas mi idioma y si tengo alguna duda te pregunto. Esta receta me la llevo. ¿está rica? un saludo desde España.
Cocoa and Lavender says
Paula - your baking prowess never fails to amaze and impress me! Everything you make looks and, I am sure, tastes flawless. I have a fear of bundts... That they won't release from the pan. Did you ever have this fear? ~ David
Cocoa and Lavender says
Thanks for the vegetable spray and breadcrumbs advice! I will definitely try that. And I will trust your well-tested recipes. This is one I will make soon, as we are overwhelmed with fresh oranges right now.
I had planned on making the pandoro today but slept late, so it will happen tomorrow. I am a little nervous about it unmolding, too! The mold came compressed and I am not sure how much to pull it out before filling. We shall see. Maybe the bundt will win out over the pandoro tomorrow.
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
Chocolate and orange is a winning combo. This bundt looks amazing!
Ann@Anncoo Journal says
Love the swirl inside the cake. So pretty!
Nancy @ gottagetbaked says
Paula, there ain't nothing ordinary or boring about this cake. If I came over to your house and this stunning beauty was lying around, I'd sneak it out under my jacket so that I could eat it all myself. I adore the combination of chocolate and orange. This cake looks so dense, moist and flavourful. The chocolate swirl is so pretty - I don't think I could get a cake to marble this well. Onto my 2013 bucket list this goes!
Patty says
I love this cake too Paula! I am a huge fan of marble cakes and your flavors are just spot on! Great post with beautiful photos;-)
Laura says
The cake is gorgeous! I am not a fan of fruit and chocolate, but that cake is enough to convince me otherwise!