Cotswold Kitchen Mom is back again. Happy Friday to you all. Let’s share a slice of chocolate orange cake, shall we?

As promised, I am signing back on to share another recipe that utilizes leftovers. Isn’t that a lovely concept? Particularly in this day and time- where throwing away, instead of reusing- is commonplace. Not on this blog, no, no! For I am here to share another recipe that has evolved from my Banbury cakes. Banbury has been good to us this week.

This week the children and I made a delicious chocolate orange cake. While I made Banbury cakes for my husband’s “Banbury birthday”, we also made him a proper birthday cake–this is that cake.

Chocolate and orange are a favorite flavor combination around here…so we hope you like that combo too. Come join my family and I as we utilize leftover citrus syrup, and candied oranges to create a celebratory treat.

~My Helpers~

If you are a frequent reader, you know that I am a homeschool educator.

On one hand, I take my role very seriously (striving to do the best I can for my children every day). On the other hand, I do not take my role too seriously (in that I want to think outside the box and have fun with my children while I teach them).

Sometimes this looks like a dance party in the living room (when we are all getting a bit stressed with our math lesson). Or sometimes this translates into a nature walk to stretch our legs- or a cooking lesson to exercise our creativity.

The most important thing to me is the time spent together. (Especially while my children are all still so young- each moment is a gift).

This week I was happy to have my littlest helper beside me in the kitchen.

Now, this “help” did mean a bit more mess… and a bit more time… but the cheeky tastes, and the “Mmm, mommy, mmm’s!”, made it all worthwhile.

And trust me, she was in agreement with my ideas of “learning” in the kitchen- as chocolate and orange are two of her favorite flavors. There is no complaining from my Happy Hawks pupils when mom says, “Guys…come into the kitchen… it’s time for your lesson!”

~The Kitchen: Where Memories are Made and Lessons are Learned!

Right, let’s get to the bake.

This current post piggybacks off of my Banbury cakes post- as well as my Banbury bread post. So do check those out if you have not already.

The idea of utilizing leftovers reminds me of Amish friendship bread. Do you know this bread? Basically, a bread starter is allowed to ferment. Friends then share this starter with other friends. And it is in this way that the original recipe is allowed to continue “living and giving.” One recipe gives birth to the next.

My Banbury cakes used candied peel. The process of making candied peel created a simple citrus syrup. This syrup is too good to be discarded, hence, my last post… and my current post… showing you guys how I utilized the leftovers. (Much like Amish friendship bread).

I won’t bore you with those details again, but instead, show you how my leftover ingredients evolved into another new creation: My orange chocolate cake.

But wait, there is a little more to the story…

~The Inspiration's Backstory~

Obviously, the inspiration for my chocolate orange cake is my leftover ingredient: citrus syrup. However, there is more to it than just that. When I lived in England with my husband, we enjoyed sampling many of the lush English chocolates. We often frequented The Co-op, Morrisons, Tesco, and Aldi. Once there, we would almost always take a little venture down the candy and chocolate isle.

One of our favorite chocolates was Terry’s chocolate orange. In fact, you can purchase these quite easily in America. Originally, Terry’s chocolate oranges were produced by a man named Joseph Terry in York, England.

Terry’s chocolate oranges are a staple in our home during the Christmas period. Wanting to utilize the citrus syrup and candied peel idea, I thought- why not make a chocolate orange cake to celebrate my English husband? And this is exactly what we did- we had our cake and ate it too.

~Our Chocolate Orange Cake~

While I do love a beautiful handwritten recipe for nostalgia and practicality, I am also learning to write my own recipes in an easy to share (and more modern) format (which I will share below). However, I am still keeping up with my handwritten recipes too- as I want to be able to pass those down to my children…who knows…maybe even my grandchildren.

So here “she” is (my modern recipe to share):

Elizabeth

Chocolate Orange Cake

A moist chocolate cake, infused with citrus flavor. This cake recipe uses boxed cake mix (with some simple adaptations) to make the cake even more special.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings: 20

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

2 boxes Chocolate fudge cake mix
3/4 cup Freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/4 cup Water
1 cup Salted butter
1 Tbsp Orange zest
6 Large Eggs
1/2 cup Milk chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and line four cake tins with parchment paper and set aside.
Pour the cake mixture into a large mixing bowl. (This recipe uses two boxes of cake mix but you can also half it for a smaller serving).
In a liquid measuring cup, melt one cup of butter. (The butter replaces the oil that is suggested on the back of the cake box).
Thoroughly wash the fresh oranges. Zest the oranges- until you have approximately one tablespoon of orange zest. Add this to the mixing bowl.
Use approximately 3 fresh oranges to collect 3/4 cup of orange juice. Add the orange juice to the mixing bowl, alongside, the cake mix and the butter. Stir to combine.
Add your eggs, one at a time, making sure they are evenly incorporated into the cake batter.
Add the chocolate chips to the cake batter bowl and stir. Thoroughly stir the ingredients together quickly- for about two minutes- or until the batter is smooth and can be easily poured.
Evenly pour the cake batter into your prepared cake pans.
Place cakes into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes- or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the cakes to completely cool before adding citrus syrup or frosting.

Notes

*You can make this recipe with a stand mixer, hand mixer, or simply by hand.

*Dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips may be used instead of milk chocolate chips.

*You can make the cake with a light oil, but I prefer the rich flavor of melted butter.

*Once my cake layers have cooled, I like to use a cake leveler to slice off the top of the cakes (so that the cakes stack nicely). I also like to add some of my homemade citrus syrup in between each layer of cake (before adding the frosting). You can find that recipe on my Banbury Cake blog post.

~How the Chocolate Orange Cake is Made~

~The Citrus Syrup~

I used the above recipe to make a second batch of candied fruit, only this time, I only used oranges and omitted the lemons.

After boiling the orange slices in the sugar water, I removed the oranges from the syrup (this is the bit to save for future recipes), and I preheated my oven to 200 degrees F. I allowed the orange slices to bake for one hour. This short baking time helps to speed up the drying process.

After drying (when the oranges where still a bit tacky), I then dipped each orange slice into granulated sugar. This “dip” adds a bit of texture and extra sparkle.

~Upgrades to a Box Cake~

In a previous post I have shared my birthday cake confession, a secret of sorts. You can read more about that in my son’s birthday post right here.

In all seriousness, birthdays can be hectic times for a mom. While I certainly enjoy baking and creating things from scratch, sometimes I appreciate a little help. That is why I often choose to use store bought cake mixes to make my birthday cakes. Just because a cake is made from a box does not mean that a few easy upgrades cannot be done. Supplementing a few ingredients can make a world of difference.

When using a cake mix, I like to replace vegetable oil with butter…every time. I also like to add extra vanilla, cinnamon, golden syrup, chocolate chips, etc. to add a special homemade taste.

For my chocolate orange cake, I added, orange juice, and orange zest to really change things up a bit. I also added milk chocolate chips…because…why not?

~From Box Mix to Chocolate Orange Cake~

~Leveling the Chocolate Orange Cake~

Using a cake leveler is a handy tool indeed. Sometimes I do not bother with this step as it can be a bit of a waste- just to make the cake look more uniform. However, for my chocolate and orange cake I did.

What better place to do this task than sitting in front of a toasty fire. Of course, my job could not be completed without the help of my littlest helping hands. What a joy!

Sidenote here: If you do decide to slice off a thin top layer of each cake (to help your cake to stack in a more even and attractive way), fear not. For you do not have to throw the sliced layers away. No, No. You can save them.

Remember at the beginning of this post when I mentioned the Amish friendship bread that keeps on giving. Well, the sliced layers of the cake can keep on giving too. If you save them, you can use them to make adorable cake pops. If you have the energy after baking a cake. Phew, after all, baking can be exhausting.

A Ziplock bag of leftover cake tops- perfect for making cake pops. — *The sliced (leveled off) cake layers and some extra frosting...ready to be made into cake pops. Waste not, want not. Cake pops can be an adorable, individual gift. One will do. Just place a plastic candy wrapper over the top (after coating in chocolate) and tie a sweet little ribbon to seal. One by one, you can drop a cake pop off at a neighbor's house, pack one in a lunch box (as an extra special treat), or leave one on a deserving teacher's desk. Just a little idea to tuck in a corner of your mind.

~Cue the Citrus Syrup~

A lollipop stick is a great tool for baking. I used this handy-dandy helper to gently make little holes in each layer of my cakes. The holes are not necessary, but I find they allow more of the citrus syrup to soak into the cake.

Using a simple sugar syrup between the cake layers ensures that the cake stays moist. This is a simple trick that can really make your cake stand out in a crowd.

~The Chocolate Orange Cake Gets its Frosting~

Naturally, my chocolate orange cake would not be complete without getting dressed in its fine chocolate and orange covering. Now, cue the chocolate orange frosting:

Candied oranges being used to decorate the rim of the chocolate orange cake.

Elizabeth