Did you see Bakingdom’s Halloween Chocolate Orange Layer Cake from last year? It was amazing and I did my best to recreate it.
This is half an orange cake and half a chocolate cake.
Nobody will be able to tell that this is whole grain. Or made with olive oil. I know because I made the same cake last year, but using white flour and butter. It tastes the same. :)
I’m not good at cake decorating, but I tried. I really tried. I even forgot to make sure the frosting and pumpkins were the same shade of orange. Oh well.
The orange icing is really, really good. So is the chocolate filling. And both types of cake. It’s just a bit of a pain to put together, so make sure you have an entire day free to work on this thing.
Whatever you do, don’t put the pumpkins on until just before serving! Or if you want to put them on a few hours before serving, that’d be okay. I put my little pumpkins on in the evening, and in the morning, they had fallen all over the place. And they were oozing. It wasn’t pretty.
Chocolate Cake
2/3 cup (135 grams) unrefined sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (115 grams) whole spelt, whole wheat pastry, or whole wheat flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (42 grams) cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1/2 cup (118ml) milk
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (118ml) boiling water
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Grease two 6-inch pans. You could use 8-inch pans, but the layers will be thinner and you need to reduce the baking time.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed with a hand mixer. Then stir in the boiling water. Batter will be very thin, almost as watery as water.
3. Pour evenly into the prepared pans. I use a scale to make sure that they’re even. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. This cake is super super moist. Don’t overbake! Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto a wire rack. Clean the pans so you can start with the orange cake.
Source: adapted from the best chocolate cake recipe ever, One Bowl Chocolate Cake
Orange Cake
Please, if you have a scale, drag it out and use it. That way you don’t have to deal with these weird measurements.
92 grams (that’s 6.8 tablespoons or .42 cup) olive oil
125 grams unrefined or granulated sugar (1/2 cup + 2.5 tablespoons)
2 eggs
zest of 2 oranges
125 grams (1 1/4 cup) whole spelt, whole wheat pastry, or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
43ml (a tiny bit less than 3 tablespoons) orange juice
1. Preheat the oven to 340°F / 170°C. Grease two 6-inch pans.
2. Combine the olive oil and sugar. Add the eggs and orange zest. Beat well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and then slowly mix in the orange juice. If you want the layers to be orange, you’ll have to use a little dye. It doesn’t take much (definitely waaay less than red velvet cake), at least when using icing gel.
3. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan.
Source: adapted from Sicilian Orange Cake
Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling (or frosting)
1 8-ounce package (225 grams) cream cheese
1/4 cup (56 grams) butter, room temperature
2 – 3 cups (260 – 390 grams) powdered sugar, sifted (I prefer 2 cups)
1/2 cup (55 grams) cocoa powder
1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy.
2. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
3. Add the cocoa powder. Beat until fluffy! And try not to eat it all. You’ll need some for the cake.
Germans: I used a 300 gram package and drained it a bit. It turned out to be around 225 grams. It’s just too runny if you don’t drain it at all.
Source: Cupcake Project
Orange Buttercream
6 tablespoon (85 grams) butter, room temperature
5 – 6 cups (650 – 780 grams) powdered sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
zest of 2 oranges
2 tablespoons milk, as needed
5 – 6 cups (650 – 780 grams) powdered sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
zest of 2 oranges
2 tablespoons milk, as needed
Cream together the butter and 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Stir in the orange zest and then the juice, and mix thoroughly. Beat in another 2 cups of powdered sugar and then the vanilla. Add the remaining sugar and beat very well. It should be fluffy. If you need a little milk, add it. If you want it orange, use a little icing gel.
There was quite a bit leftover, but I’m worried that 2/3 of the recipe might not be enough.
Source: Bakingdom
Chocolate Ganache:
4.5 ounces (125 grams) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1/2 cup (118ml) cream
Place the chocolate in heatproof bowl. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until melted.
To assemble the cake:
Once your layers are completely cool, cut each layer horizontally in half so you have a total of eight layers. I used a cake leveler, but use whatever way you’re used to. You can start with either orange or chocolate on the bottom. I used about 2 tablespoons of filling on each layer, but I ended up with quite a bit leftover. I’d suggest using about 3 tablespoons of filling per layer.
Apply a crumb coat using the orange icing. It can be messy. Look at mine. Notice all the crumbs and how crooked my cake is. I’m just not good at this decorating thing.
I let mine sit in the fridge for a few hours until it was hard. And I mean hard.
Add more orange icing. Make it pretty this time and then let it sit in the fridge again for another hour or so, or until it’s hard or almost hard.
Pour on the chocolate ganache. I just poured all the chocolate in the middle of the cake and hoped it would run down nicely.
Shortly before serving, put on the fondant pumpkins. The tutorial for them is coming tomorrow! This post is already too long.
41 comments on "100% Whole Grain Chocolate Orange Halloween Cake" — Add one!
OK, I am a stay at home dad in the UK and needed something to bake for Halloween – I love the look of this and am off to the supermarket to get the ingredients – I have great faith in this recipe, not least becuase it is a rare and thoughtful person that actually converts cups into grams – I always mess up with cups on account of the large variety of cup sizes in our kitchen.
I'll let you know how I get on – may not reach the fondant pumkins though, I warn you now
Hi there! I hope the cake turned out to your liking. I have to admit that it's quite a bit of work but I think it's worth it. People rave every time I make it. :) Thanks for letting me know you appreciate the grams – very few people have mentioned that so it makes me happy to learn that someone is using them! Even without the pumpkins, I'm sure people were / will be very impressed. :)
Gorgeous! I am going to link to this in my upcoming Halloween Recipes post.
Thanks! And thanks for linking to it. Going to go check out what else you have!
Laura – Thank you. And I think your English is good from the two comments. :) And much much better than my Italian!
haha! well! when you wont came in Italy just tell!!! very good in two weeks, my compliments, my english is very "rustic", but for sure we'll understand each other! you know how italians say: if not with word… gesticulates! hahaha
lauramontagni – Prego! Io studio italiana, ma solo due settimane e parlo solo un po' d'italiano. Thanks for the comment. :)
thank you to specificate the grams and centigrads!!! here in Ilaty is very hard to convert the measure. I found the measured cups and teaspoon..but it makes the difference! grazie!
Laura
Lise – I'm delighted to hear that you and your husband enjoyed the cake! It's the same with us – mine really dislikes whole grain baked goods but he doesn't really even notice that this cake is whole grain.
To be honest, I prefer the chocolate cake alone. The orange cake is good, but it's not as good as the chocolate cake. Nothing beats chocolate cake in my opinion. Thanks so much for the feedback! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to get such comments. :)
Erin, thanks for a fabulous cake recipe! My husband, who is not a bug whole-grain fan, raved about this cake, before I told him it was made with 100% whole wheat and olive oil! He said he would be delighted if this was his annual birthday cake :). I just made the chocolate cake (doubled the recipe for two 9" layers), with a cherry jam filling and cream cheese frosting. So moist and tender! I'll have to try the chocolate/orange combo next time.
Gretchen – Thanks! I love tall cakes too. It's actually not such a huge cake, but it looks like it because it's so tall.
Bear – Thank you! I hope your family enjoys it. I like the contrast too. :)
Lovely cake. I really love layered cakes. It gives me joy having different flavors on the cake. Thanks a lot for the recipe. I am pretty sure my family will love the combination of chocolate and orange.
so pretty… i love a ridiculously tall cake. and your pumpkins are perfect!
Sorry for the slow response – I haven't had internet access for the last several days.
Diane and Soma – Thanks! :)
Lisa – Aww, thanks. That's really nice of you to say! I can't tell you how happy that makes me. This orange cake is really good in combination with the orange frosting and chocolate cake, but if you want to make a plain orange cake, I suggest using the original recipe (the link's at the bottom of the orange cake section). It has butter and all-purpose flour and is just perect. And very orange-y! I'd double or triple the amount of orange zest, though. Thanks again for the very kind comment and good luck with whatever version you make!
Anon – I'm so happy that you enjoyed it! My colleagues couldn't tell that it was whole grain either. :) Thanks for the super nice feedback. You've made my day!
Oh my God, this is cake from heaven! I swear I have never tasted anything so good! Incredibly moist and an incredible flavour combination. It was the most exquisite orange and chocolate icing I have ever had. ! I am amazed that you can get a 100% wholegrain-cake to taste so spectacular. I would never have known that it was the "healthy" version, it tasted so sinfully good.
I cannot believe you say you aren't good at cake decorating! I clicked on this from Tastespotting because it has got to be one of the cutest cakes ever- I only hope I can recreate it! Also, I'm excited to try your orange cake– I tried desperately to create a "dreamsicle" cake (but all natural, no jello or whatever people put in it usually) earlier this year to no avail- the cake ended up dry and bitter and my homemade orange marmalade was pretty much the grossest thing ever. Thanks for the wonderful post! Excited to see how to make those adorable pumpkins…