"Roses upon roses, a personal favourite in the piping department ??? Soft Chocolate Orange sponge layers, filled with Homemade Orange Curd and Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream - Topped with Almond Swiss Meringue Buttercream piped Flowers ?"
Chocolate Orange Layer Cake
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Prep time 2hrs
Cook time 1hr
Recipe Card
For the Orange Curd
ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 large oranges, zested, only 1 juiced
- 1/4 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons castor sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1-2 tablespoons Cointreau, optional
To Make the Orange Curd
Method
Step 1
Add all ingredients to a heatproof bowl over a double boiler and stir until combined. Don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water.
Step 2
Whisk for 15-20 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. It will start to feel thicker around the 10 minute mark.
Step 3
Once thickened enough, pour into another bowl and cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
Step 4
The orange curd can be made in advance and will produce more than needed for the cake.
For the Cake
ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups castor sugar
- 3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (heaped) baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2-1 teaspoon finely ground salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil, or other neutral oil
- 3/4 cup minus 1 teaspoon buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon Cointreau, or more buttermilk
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large orange, zested
- 3/4 cup coffee, strongly brewed, left to cool for 5 minutes
To Make the Cake
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350ºF, or 325ºF if using convection. Grease and line 3 6-inch round cake tins.
Step 2
Sift together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together oil, buttermilk, Cointreau, eggs, extracts, and orange zest. Once thoroughly mixed, slowly pour in the coffee while mixing, so that the eggs don't cook. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
Step 3
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
Step 4
Cool for 10 minutes before running a spatula around each pan and turning the cake out. Leave to cool completely before leveling the cakes to achieve 3 level layers.
For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream
ingredients
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 scant cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups plus 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon almond extract
- Red food coloring, optional
- Edible glitter, optional
To Make the Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Step 1
Clean a heatproof bowl, whisk and electric whisk with lemon juice (or acidic food-safe substance like vinegar) to remove any grease from your equipment. This could prevent your egg whites from thickening.
Step 2
Place the egg whites and sugar in the bowl over a double boiler, ensuring the base doesn’t touch the water. Whisk constantly for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture reaches 140ºF. By then the eggs will be hot and the sugar dissolved.
Step 3
Transfer the bowl to your stand mixer fitted with a whisk and start to whip the mixture on medium-high speed. Leave to whip for 15 minutes or until a thick, smooth and glossy meringue has formed. Make sure the base of the bowl has cooled or else you will risk melting the butter in the next step.
Step 4
Change the whisk attachment for a paddle and begin mixing on a low speed. Add the butter cubes slowly, ensuring each one has been incorporated before adding the next. Once added, continue mixing until a smooth silky buttercream has been achieved.
Step 5
Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave, taking care not to burn it.
Step 6
Divide the buttercream into 2 bowls. Stir the slightly cooled chocolate into one bowl and whip until combined. Stir in the almond extract into the other and whip until combined. This batch will be uncolored, and you can color this accordingly for the roses.
To Assemble the Cake
Step 1
Place one leveled cake layer onto a cake board, ‘gluing’ it in place with a little buttercream.
Step 2
Fill a piping bag with the chocolate buttercream and go around the top edge, creating dots of frosting, forming a dam around the outside of the cake. Fill the center with orange curd.
Step 3
Add the next cake layer then repeat step 2. Top with the final cake layer, but do not frost.
Step 4
Split your almond buttercream into 4 portions and color different shades of pink, mauve and peach, if desired. Decorate the top cake layer with swirled roses using an open star nozzle, small rosettes using a closed star nozzle and even 3D roses using a petal nozzle. Dust with edible glitter and serve.