There are so many times in my life when I need a small chocolate cake–is that true for you, too? We should be able to have chocolate cake without making a layer cake! While I do have plenty of small 6-inch cake recipes on this site that are very adorable, I’m sharing a variation of a slightly bigger cake today. The best news about this recipe is that you can use an 8-inch square pan or an 8-inch round pan! Whatever you have will work for this forgiving, simple chocolate cake. If you only have a 9-inch round pan, that works, but check the cake a few minutes before the suggested time, as it might cook faster.
Tips for Perfect Chocolate Orange Cake
Cake Pans - I don’t mean to be so picky, but I notice a big difference between baking with light metal pans versus dark metal pans. I have found that in my electric oven, dark metal pans cook things too quickly! To prevent burning and promote even baking, I reach for these thin aluminum light-metal pans. Microplane - This chocolate orange cake relies on lots of orange zest for its flavor. The best way to get zest off of an orange is to use this microplane grater.
The Ingredients
Butter. We need 6 tablespoons (85 grams) of butter softened at room temperature for the chocolate cake part, and an additional stick of butter (113 grams) for the chocolate orange frosting. Brown Sugar. Light or dark brown sugar work equally well here. Granulated Sugar. A small amount of white granulated sugar. Eggs. We need one whole egg plus one egg yolk for the chocolate orange cake. Reserve the egg white for another recipe (or your morning omelette). Orange. One large navel orange is enough for this recipe. We’ll use half of the zest in the cake and the other half in the frosting. We’ll use 1 tablespoon of the juice in the frosting, too. Flour. Standard all-purpose flour that has bee fluffed, scooped into a measuring cup with a spoon and then leveled off with a knife. (Or, use a scale to measure 130 grams of flour). Cocoa Powder. Unsweetened, natural cocoa powder that does not contain any sugar. Baking Powder and Baking Soda. The leaveners for our cake are baking powder, baking soda and salt. Milk. For baking, I prefer whole milk. I wouldn’t substitute a dairy-alternative here, because we need the protein from the milk to make a tender cake. Nut milks lack the same levels of protein as cow’s milk. If you have a dairy allergy, check out my vegan chocolate birthday cake. Vinegar. Do not skip this! The small amount of vinegar (½ teaspoon) reacts with the baking powder and baking soda to make the cake rise. You can use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar. When you stir the vinegar into the milk, it will slightly curdle the milk, and this is fine! Powdered Sugar. For the fluffy orange chocolate buttercream frosting. Semisweet Chocolate. Entirely optional, but if you want to make the frosting super rich, stir in 2 ounces of melted semisweet chocolate. However, this is optional, and the frosting is delicious even if you don’t add it because of the cocoa powder.
The Instructions
Whether you use an 8-inch round cake pan or an 8-inch square pan, you will get about 9 slices of cake out of this recipe. While this serves more than 2 people, it’s still much smaller than a traditional 3-layer chocolate birthday cake! Speaking of birthday cakes, don’t miss these:
First Birthday Cake Mini Chocolate Cake Red Velvet Cake
Cake Pans: You can use an 8-inch round or 8-inch square pan for this recipe. If you only have a 9-inch round pan, it will work, but it will bake a few minutes faster. Brown Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar work equally well here.Eggs: We need one whole egg plus one egg yolk for the chocolate orange cake. Reserve the remaining egg white for another recipe.Orange: One large navel orange is enough for this recipe. We’ll use half of the zest in the cake and the other half in the frosting. We’ll use about 1 tablespoon of the juice in the frosting, too.Milk: For baking, I prefer whole milk. I wouldn’t substitute a dairy-alternative here, because we need the protein from the milk to make a tender cake. Nut milks lack the same levels of protein as cow’s milk. If you have a dairy allergy, check out my vegan chocolate birthday cake.Vinegar: Do not skip this! The small amount of vinegar (½ teaspoon) reacts with the baking powder and baking soda to make the cake rise. You can use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar.Semisweet Chocolate: To make the frosting super rich, stir in 2 ounces of semisweet chocolate that has been melted and cooled slightly. However, this is entirely optional, and the frosting is delicious even if you don’t add it!
