Everyday dinners
Chocolate orange cake, gluten-free
A cocoa sponge with fresh orange zest and a simple chocolate orange buttercream.
Fresh orange zest flavours both the cocoa sponge and its buttercream. There is no need for orange chocolate or sweets: a fork swirled through the topping makes a simple finish.
This recipe is in development and has not been kitchen-tested. Allow time for the sponges to cool completely before filling them.
The recipe
Chocolate orange cake, gluten-free
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total*
- 60 min
- Makes
- 10 servings
*Estimated development timings. Allow 10 minutes standing in the tins and approximately 60 minutes cooling on a rack, beyond the preparation and cooking total. Baking may take up to 35 minutes.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
For the sponge
For the buttercream
Equipment
- Use two round 20 cm sandwich tins at least 4 cm deep.
- Use baking paper to line the tins.
- Use digital scales, a measuring jug and measuring spoons.
- Use mixing bowls, a sieve, an electric hand mixer and a spatula.
- Use a fine grater and a citrus juicer.
- Use a skewer, a cooling rack and a palette knife.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare the tins and oranges
Heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas 4. Line the bases and sides of both tins with baking paper. Finely grate only the coloured orange peel, stopping before the bitter white pith. Divide the zest equally between two small bowls. Squeeze and measure 45 ml juice, reserving 30 ml for the sponge and 15 ml for the buttercream.
- 02
Mix the dry ingredients
Sift the flour, 40 g cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Add the xanthan gum and stir thoroughly until the mixture is an even brown with no visible pockets of flour or gum.
- 03
Beat the butter and sugar
Beat the 200 g butter and caster sugar for 3–5 minutes until noticeably paler and fluffy. Beat in half the orange zest. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. If the mixture starts to look curdled, beat in a spoonful of the measured dry mixture; it should become more evenly combined.
- 04
Finish the batter
Fold in the remaining dry mixture, the milk and 30 ml orange juice. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl so no dry flour remains. The batter should fall from the spatula in soft dollops. Divide evenly between the tins and level the tops. Do not taste the raw batter, and wash hands and utensils after handling raw eggs.
- 05
Bake the sponges
Bake on the middle shelf for 25–35 minutes, checking first at 25 minutes. Both centres should spring back when lightly pressed, and a skewer inserted into each centre should come out without wet batter. If either centre is still wet, bake for another 3–5 minutes and check again. The cakes must be cooked through before cooling.
- 06
Cool the cakes
Stand the cakes in their tins for 10 minutes, then carefully turn them onto a rack and remove the paper. Leave for approximately 60 minutes, until the centres and undersides feel completely cool. Do not fill while warm, as the buttercream will melt.
- 07
Make the orange buttercream
Beat the 125 g butter until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar and 25 g cocoa in two additions, mixing slowly at first. Add the reserved zest and 15 ml orange juice, then beat for 3–4 minutes until the buttercream is evenly coloured and holds a soft ridge when lifted with a spoon.
- 08
Fill and finish
Place one cooled sponge on a plate and spread half the buttercream over it. Set the second sponge on top and spread the rest over the surface. Draw a fork through the topping to make shallow swirls. Check that the layers sit level and the filling stays in place, then cut into 10 slices.
Ingredient checks
For someone with coeliac disease, use gluten-free flour, cocoa and baking powder, and check the xanthan gum, icing sugar and any substitutes for gluten-free suitability. A single flour such as coconut or almond flour is not a direct replacement for the specified blend. Check all labels for other allergens. Use clean tins, utensils, sieves and work surfaces, and keep the ingredients and finished cake away from wheat flour and crumbs.
Allergens: Contains eggs and milk.; Check the flour blend and all other packaged ingredients for additional allergens, including soya or lupin, and relevant precautionary warnings.; Celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, fish, lupin, molluscs, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, soya and sulphites are not deliberately included in the specified ingredients; individual product labels may change this assessment..
Make it work for you
If your gluten-free plain flour blend already contains xanthan gum, omit the separate ½ tsp; blends vary, so the crumb may differ.
For a dairy-free version, use a firm dairy-free baking block in place of both butter quantities and an unsweetened gluten-free plant drink in place of the milk; check for any newly introduced allergens.
Golden caster sugar can replace white caster sugar in the same quantity.
These substitutions have not been kitchen-tested with this recipe.
For another day
Once fully cool and assembled, cover and refrigerate at 0–5°C; aim to refrigerate within two hours of the cakes leaving the oven and eat within 48 hours.
Freeze cooled portions promptly in an airtight container, separated with baking paper; freezing quality has not been tested for this recipe.
Defrost covered in the fridge and eat within 24 hours of fully thawing.
Serve cold or let only the portions needed stand briefly before eating; reheating is unnecessary.
Exploding food
What goes in.
The ingredients, seen a little differently. This image is an illustration of the main ingredients; use the written recipe for the full list and quantities.
See the collection
The miniature kitchen
Tiny chefs.
Big ideas.
A playful look at the same familiar favourite. Meet the little team behind our food illustrations.
Explore the tiny kitchen
