This moist chocolate orange cake recipe is made even easier thanks to boxed cake mix, orange extracts, and zest working to create an aromatic and flavorful cake worthy of licking the plate clean after.
Place chocolate in a large mixing bowl and in a saucepan heat your cream until just barely boiling. There should be skin forming at the top of the cream and bubbles around the edge, or the pan, this is a good sign it's warm enough.
Pour the hot cream over the top of the chocolate in the bowl. Place a lid or plate over the top of the bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes without touching.
Remove lid/plate and whisk ganache until thick, creamy, and wonderful. It wil look like runny chocolate milk at first but it gets darker and thicker as you whisk.
Once ganache is made, place in fridge to chill while you prep the cake.
Cake
Prehat the oven to 325 degrees F and line two 8 inch cake rounds with parchment paper. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients for the cake. The cake mix, eggs, oil, water, extracts, zest, and sour cream.
Beat for 2 minutes with an electric mixer until well combined and fluffy.
Divide between two cake pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.
Let cool for 10 minutes in pan before flipping onto wire cooling racks and finish cooling completely.
Assembly
Remove one cup of chilled ganache and place it in a mixing bowl with one teaspoon of orange zest. Leave remaining ganache in fridge.
Beat the orange and ganache mixture until stiff peaks form.
Fill a plastic bag with snipped corner with the whipped ganache filling and spread it on top of one cooled cake layer. Spread it out evenly and then top with the other cake layer.
Fill another baggie with snipped corner with half of the remaining ganache and spread it around the top and sides of the stacked cake, spreading it around to frost the entire thing evenly.
Now grab a piping bag with fitted tip and fill it with the last half of chilled ganache. Pipe a border around the top and bottom of the cake.
Top with orange slices, zest, or other garnishes and serve or place in fridge and let chill before serving. The ganache will continue to set as the cake chills.
Notes
Consider using semi-sweet chocolate for a balanced flavor, but you can use milk chocolate if you prefer.Making the ganache in advance can save time, and storing it in the fridge is recommended.Use cold ganache for the whipped ganache frosting to help it whip faster.To chill the ganache quickly for frosting, use an ice bath, but avoid getting water into the chocolate.Bake the cake at 325°F instead of 350°F for a flatter result, reducing the need for leveling.The cake and ganache can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!