Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake is quite possibly the most special orange bundt cake recipe you could ever make! Filled with freshly squeezed orange juice and grated orange zest, this chocolate studded citrus cake is light, bright, and utterly addictive. It’s the perfect bundt cake recipe for all times of year that you will never be wrong in making.
What I Love About This Cake
Orange and chocolate flavor combination is automatic perfection!
Bundt cakes are great company cakes – they feed a big crowd for parties, casual gatherings, and potlucks.
Brightest citrus flavor ever from freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest.
The cake’s tender crumb is dense and sturdy, holding up well to being covered in rich chocolate ganache.
With their baked-in designs, bundt cakes are instantly impressive and always look elegant atop a cake stand on the counter.
I’ve known for a while that orange and chocolate is an awesome combination and since making some delectable chocolate orange butter cookies years and years ago, I’ve been totally sold on the combination.
So if you’re the kind of baker who loves when chocolate desserts have a little something extra going on, this orange chocolate chunk bundt cake is going to be right up your alley.
It’s rich and chocolate-forward from the chocolate chunks and chocolate ganache topping, but the zip from fresh orange zest keeps it from too feeling heavy.
Baked in a bundt pan – use your favorite bundt design! – this cake looks instantly and effortlessly impressive, but it’s still a straightforward and unfussy cake to make. In fact, it’s exactly the sort of cake you can pull off for a weekend gathering or a random Tuesday when you want something special on the counter.
Ingredients for Orange Chocolate Bundt Cake
Here’s the basic shopping list for this orange bundt cake. You’ll probably have most of the ingredients already in your kitchen, so start pulling them out so you can make this recipe as soon as possible!
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card below for the printable full Ingredients list!
Unsalted butter – Make sure the butter is at room temperature!
Granulated sugar
Large eggs, at room temperature
Oranges – You’ll need the orange for grated orange zest and fresh orange juice for this recipe.
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Kosher salt
Liquid buttermilk
Pure vanilla extract
Semi-sweet chocolate chunks and bittersweet chocolate chunks
Heavy cream
Instant coffee granules
What Kind of Chocolate for Ganache?
The orange and chocolate combination was of course just lovely and the ganache…oh the ganache!
I used a combo of bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao) and semi-sweet chips for the chips in the cake and for the ganache. The combination was to amazing!
Semi-sweet chocolate on its own is fairly sweet in baked treats so I like to balance the sweet with some bittersweet chocolate. This combination allows you to taste more of the chocolate flavor without the chocolate being too sweet.
More Bundt Cakes You’ll Love!
If you love the flavors of orange and chocolate together, let me also point you in the direction of my orange cranberry chocolate chunk cake. I know you love it!!
Orange chocolate chunk bundt cake will make any orange-chocolate lover swoon! Made with orange juice and orange zest, this cake has tons of all-natural citrus flavor that just bounces along perfectly with the chocolate chunks and thick drizzle of chocolate ganache. The recipe is written for a 10-cup Bundt pan but it can be halved and made into mini Bundts too.
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Ingredients
UnitsScale
For the cake:
8oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2cupsgranulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4cup grated orange zest (4 large oranges)
3cups plus 2tbspall-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4cupliquid buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2cupssemi-sweet chocolate chunks
For the syrup:
1/4cupgranulated sugar
1/4cup freshly squeezed orange juice
For the ganache:
8ozsemi-sweet chocolate chips (high quality, like Ghirardelli, is best for melting)
1/2cupheavy cream
1 tsp instant coffee granules
Instructions
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-cup bundt pan (or use baking spray, like Pam).
Sift together 3 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Set both bowls aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, and then the orange zest.
Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in thirds to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour. Toss the chocolate chunks with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and stir them into the batter. Pour the batter into the pans, smooth the top, and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the molds on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook the sugar with the orange juice until the sugar dissolves. Remove the cake from the pan, put it on a rack over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the still-warm cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.
To make the ganache: Place the chocolate chips and instant coffee in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan just until small bubbles start to form at the edges of the pan. Immediately pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir with a silicone spatula until the chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth and glossy. Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the cake. Allow the chocolate to set up for 10 minutes, then serve.
[…] 40 people] and added [2 dozen each] mini brown sugar apple cheesecakes, mini plain cheesecakes, and mini orange chocolate chunk Bundt cakes. Admittedly, I used 2 boxed cake mixes (Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge) for the cake (1 box for each […]
I love Ina’s catchphrase. And I love Ina.
And let’s face it, a cake that looks that good, is loaded with chocolate and orange juice, can’t possibly be bad for you.
I have made this cake for countless potlucks and family gatherings and they are a lot of mmmms going on as it is devoured as well as request for the recipe. I have only made it in the full-size version. I love the idea of making them mini sized to give as gifts.
I’m sorry, I don’t have the full Bundt pan version but if you Google for the recipe, look at Leite’s Culinaria for the full version. Hope that helps! I’m not at home right now else I’d post the modifications.
This looks amazing. Please post the full-size version of the recipe! Thanks!
I would love to have the full bundt size recipe. This looks amazing!
[…] 40 people] and added [2 dozen each] mini brown sugar apple cheesecakes, mini plain cheesecakes, and mini orange chocolate chunk Bundt cakes. Admittedly, I used 2 boxed cake mixes (Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge) for the cake (1 box for each […]
This looks amazing. Can’t wait to try as is. Love your photos!
“How bad can that be.”
I love Ina’s catchphrase. And I love Ina.
And let’s face it, a cake that looks that good, is loaded with chocolate and orange juice, can’t possibly be bad for you.
I have made this cake for countless potlucks and family gatherings and they are a lot of mmmms going on as it is devoured as well as request for the recipe. I have only made it in the full-size version. I love the idea of making them mini sized to give as gifts.
I’m sorry, I don’t have the full Bundt pan version but if you Google for the recipe, look at Leite’s Culinaria for the full version. Hope that helps! I’m not at home right now else I’d post the modifications.