It’s citrus season in the Deep South. All along the highways of southern Louisiana and Mississippi, vendors are setting up stands selling local satsumas and oranges. I noticed them when D, E, and I were driving back from New Orleans at Thanksgiving, but I didn’t need to stop because we were already en route to my parents’ house, where we’re fortunate enough to get to pick our fill of fruit off their trees.
If this all seems familiar to you, it’s because we did the same thing last Thanksgiving and I took photos of it. Invariably we take more fruit than we can actually use, so I’m constantly on the lookout for good citrus recipes.
And I found a great one, in an article all about citrus in a local magazine. The recipe that caught my eye was a decadent-looking dessert containing one of my favorite flavor combinations, chocolate and orange. I love creamy dark chocolate spiked with tangy bits of orange, though it’s far from a fat-free food. But as I looked at the cake recipe, I thought, “I can do this–and make it fat-free and vegan!”
So I took the basic idea for the cake–to add orange juice and peel to a chocolate cake–and used it with my standard chocolate cake recipe, the one I pull out for birthdays and celebrations. In order to keep the cake low-fat, I needed to substitute something for the 3/4 cup of oil that the recipe calls for. Lately I’ve had excellent results using soy yogurt instead of oil, so that’s what I did.
The verdict? Best fat-free cake ever! While it’s not as light as a normal cake, the denseness contributes to the dark chocolate feel. It sparkles throughout with the taste of orange, and because it’s not a super-sweet cake, the icings provide just the right accent without being cloying. I served it to my daughter and her friend without mentioning the lack of fat (or the inclusion of whole wheat flour) and they both loved it. I wouldn’t hesitate to serve this cake to guests.
See those orange pieces in the first cake photo? I put them there just for decoration, but my daughter insisted on squeezing some over her cake. I didn’t try it, but she says it tastes great that way. She and her friend ate a whole orange along with their cake. Now that’s one way to get children to eat fruit!
Chocolate-Orange Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup soy yogurt or other non-dairy yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
Chocolate Icing:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa
- 2 teaspoons orange juice
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/8 tsp. if double strength)
- extra orange juice as needed
Orange Icing:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange juice
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/8 tsp. if double strength)
- extra orange juice as needed
Instructions
- Spray a Bundt cake pan with non-stick spray and dust it lightly with unsweetened cocoa. Preheat oven to 350F.
- Combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add the yogurt, vanilla, balsamic vinegar, water, and orange juice. Beat by hand or with a mixer on low speed just until well-combined, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the grated orange peel, and pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert it onto a serving platter and cool completely.
- When the cake is cool, make the icings. For each icing, mix the ingredients in separate small bowls. One half teaspoon at a time, stir in enough extra orange juice to make a drizzling consistency.
- Drizzle the chocolate icing over the cake, wait a few minutes for it to set, and then drizzle the orange icing.
Recipe Notes
Cake without icing: 167 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 294mg Sodium; 2g Fiber.
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Anonymous says
hye susan. i baked the cake few minutes ago. but it was not dark as yours. why is that? and now i haven't tasted it yet..
SusanV says
Hmmm, that's strange. Maybe we used different brands of cocoa powder?
Laci says
Hi Susan
I made this for my cousin's birthday, but used 2 more tsp of fresh squeezed OJ in the frosting, and 1/3 cup more powdered sugar for the chocolate frosting. Either way, it was incredible! Everyone loved it's dense, sweet richness and no one knew it was vegan! 🙂
PS Ironically, my little cousins passed on the cake and raced for the orange wedges in the middle, so cute! 😉
Mary says
Hello!
I was looking for a chocolate orange cake for my husband's birthday so made yours and it was AMAZING And EASY! And PRETTY!
Thank you!
You can see mine here:
http://lifes-gifts.livejournal.com/224260.html?thread=416260#t416260
Jennifer says
I made this cake today, and I just took it out of the oven, and oh my goodness I smells wonderful. I cannot wait to taste this cake. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Hannah says
I made this cake the other day, and IT IS AMAZING!! It has kept well for a few days now, too, and I have a little bit every day 🙂 I have made a few of your recipes and have loved them all, however, I felt compelled to comment for this one. This cake is unbelievably moist, rich, and delicious – nobody could believe it was egg-less, milk-less, and butter-less. I followed the recipe exactly, and it went straight into my "keepers" file. Susan, you are amazing and I really appreciate your recipes!
Taffy says
Would this recipe work at high altitudes – say, 5,000 feet?
SusanV says
Taffy, I'll have to let someone else answer that since I've never tried. You could do a Google search for high altitude baking and see what adjustments you'd have to make. Good luck!
Taffy says
I made a high altitude version (5.000 ft.) by reducing the baking soda by 1/4 teaspoon, increasing the water by 1 tablespoon and raising the temperature of the oven to 360 degrees. It was beautiful and tasted great.
Anonymous says
I can hear Mr. Rogers say, "won't you be my neighbor!" This looks so great. I want a bite right now. I need to make this when my mom comes to visit next week! WOW!
Steph says
Okay so I made this for my birthday and here are my GF adjustments:
First subbing out the 3 cups of flour for a mixture: 1 cup of sorghum/1 cup tapioca and potato blend (rounded cups), a 1/2 tbsp of oil and 1/4 cup yogurt, reduced the water to a little under 2/3 cup and added more to until just moist.
Essentially I just wanted it to not be sticky, a slightly more thick counterpart to regular cake batter.
I baked it in the Wilton Giant Cake pan for about an hour, watching to make sure it didn't brown too much.
My friends devoured it 🙂
arielmaya says
Dear Susan,
Thank you so much for this wonderful cake recipe! When I saw it, I knew I had found the perfect cake for my friend's surprise birthday party. I was a little nervous about making a fat-free cake, and I contemplated using oil instead of the soy yogurt, but I decided to follow your recipe to the letter and I am so glad that I did! The cake came out perfectly– it was rich, perfectly moist, and the orange flavor really shone through. I think that I added too much orange juice to the icings, because they weren't as solid/opaque as yours, but the result was still delicious. I used clementines for the juice and zest and served the cake with clementines and vegan coconut milk ice cream. Everyone loved it and my friend said that it was her favorite! I don't bake very often, but you've inspired me to make more of your recipes. I've also made your eggplant paprikash and tofu omelettes with great results.
All my best,
Ariel
The Curious Baker says
Now this looks GREAT! I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to make this gluten free, if the screen wasn't here, I'd be sinking my teeth into a slice of this right now!
The Real Me says
I've just found your blog recently and was looking around when I found this recipe — oh my goodness!
I can't wait to try it, but I have one small problem — I can find the yogurt. (side effect of rural life) Any suggestions for a substitute? Could I make a really thick "buttermilk" soymilk?
Thanks.
benedictus says
Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh. (sorry, sorry..I can't express my emotions right now). I just finished making this recipe and because I couldn't wait until I went to go to the grocery store to get all the ingredients, so I had to substitute a few things and it still came out great! I didn't have a bundt pan, so I made CUPCAKES!!! The recipe was enough to make 24 cupcakes and about 10 tablespoons of batter for me to eat! My substitutions: I used 2 cups of freshly ground wheat berries and 1 cup of unbleached flour. I used applesauce instead of the soy yogurt. I used apple-cider vinegar instead of the balsamic vinegar. I didn't have any orange peel and probably could have put a little more orange juice and cut back a little on the water, but didn't. Next time I will. They were SOOOOO good and smelled delicious. Mine were a little sticky/spongy, but also had the texture of a chewy brownie, which I love. I have gone from vegetarian to vegan and back to vegetarian to straying sometimes with butter, eggs and cheese. Now, I can have my cake and eat it too. There is no reason you can't enjoy good food and still make it vegan. My two young boys are strictly vegan and I dread when their birthday's come around because of cake issues. This is the perfect solution. You have NO idea what a blessing this is for me and the health of my family. It's so nice to know there are others out there in search of a healthy, pure way of eating. Perfect!
Anonymous says
Hi Susan – another great recipe. I made it and it was wonderful. My only problem was that the white frosting didn't hold it's color at all. I followed the ingredients, but it seemed to dissolve into the cake – which was incredibly moist. I don't know if altitude has anything to do with it or not, I'm in Denver. Any ideas?
SusanV says
You might try making the icing a little thicker next time–more powdered sugar should do the trick. Let me know if that works!
Anonymous says
I used your recipe to make Mexican cupcakes for a Mexican party I'm throwing tonight – I upped the cinnamon a little and added a whack of cayenne pepper.
I've just got them out the oven, and the smell was too much to resist a bite…. Best chocolate cakes ever! Thank you so much for the recipe!!!
Sandy says
OK, I'm a vegan now. Fat-free chocolate cake? I'm in.
Emem Udom says
Hi Susan!
I made this cake a couple of weeks ago and it was great! Still cant believe it is fatfree, makes you realise how many unnecessary ingredients people put in cakes.
Michael Cavinta says
Wow! This is an amazing recipe! Thanks for sharing this to us as I too am a vegan. I really want to try this one out and will do it this weekend for my house-warming party. Hopefully everyone will love it, especially if I serve it with a hot cup of coffee made from my one of my espresso coffee makers. Great post! Thanks!
Karen says
Hi Susan,
I am not a strict vegan. Can I use regualar yoghurt?
Thanks!
SusanV says
Sure, Karen. Dairy yogurt should work fine.
Gloria says
I made this cake today. I used coconut milk yogurt instead and halved the recipe since there is only two of us.
It is delish! This was the 3rd recipe of yours that I made this weekend. We also had fettucine no-alfredo and the Mexican lasagna. It was a great weekend, with wonderful leftovers for lunch this week.
Thanks
Healthy Dessert says
Chocolate and Orange !!! How could some one think of a combination this great 🙂 Thank you so much. I am just loving your blogs 🙂 Now gonna bookmark it !!! Thanks again.
Sara says
The cake was great, specially the flavor combination,
but I have just one question though:
Should it be as rubbery as I got it?
Is it because of the fat-free thing?
Fantastic blog BTW.
P.S: By rubbery I mean spongy and extremely overelastic.
Maria says
I’ve made this cake before (it was DELICIOUS), but now I have no balsamic vinegar on hand (and I’m moving, so I don’t want to buy a whole bottle just for 2 TBSP!)
What would be the consequences of leaving out the balsamic vinegar? Could I substitute apple cider vinegar or something…?
SusanV says
Maria, apple cider vinegar will work fine. Hope you enjoy it!
Anu Rang says
Susan,
I did this cake yesterday and it came out sooooooooooooo good. I used a little bit more orange juice and I used oil fro the original recipe, as my son is allergic to milk and soy. Thanks for such a wonderful recipe. I do have one question- my icing was not as thick or opaque as yours. It was more watery and just dissolved into the cake, which was fine as it tasted awesome, but what am I doing wrong…next time I want it to look as good too;)
Thanks
SusanV says
Hi Anu–I’m happy you liked the cake and found a variation that your son could enjoy too. About the icing, I would start off with less liquid than what I specified in the recipe, adding more drop by drop as you stir so that the icing is thicker but still pourable. Sometimes it’s tricky getting it to the right consistency, and if you add a little too much liquid, you’d have to add more sugar. It’s easy to get carried away and wind up with more icing than you need. 🙂
alison says
I made this last night with a few substitutions (I was out of/didn’t have a few things on your ingredient list)…1.5 cups almond meal for the unbleached flour (I still used 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour also), apple sauce for the soy yogurt, 1.5 cups of a mix of agave nectar/brown rice syrup instead of the sugar, 3/4 of a bag of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the cocoa, and blueberries instead of orange juice and it still turned out AMAZING! Thank you Susan for this amazing recipe! I’ve been vegetarian for a few years, and vegan for a couple months, and I LOVE your site! Thanks again
Jillian says
I have a friend who’s a vegan (well, she tries to be most of the time :)) and who also loves the combination of chocolate and orange. So for her birthday, I decide to make her a cake that will suit her lifestyle and have her favorite flavors. Your recipe/blog came up first, so I decided to try it out. I have doubts about the whole fat-free concept being delicious, but your Chocolate Orange Cake made me a believer. It was so good; no one believed it had a touch of dairy in it! I’ve since tried it without the orange flavor, just making it more chocolate-y and it’s just as good.
Lori says
This just cooled enough for me to cut a slice, and WOW is all I can say! It’s sooo tasty. I baked it right at 30 minutes. It looked and felt done, but it’s a little bit gooey in the center, so I’ll go to 35 next time. (Not that I mind gooey chocolate goodness !)
I subbed a few things – used almond extract instead of vanilla, applesauce instead of yogurt, swapped the measurements of OJ and water (I didn’t have much zest), and added in a pinch each of nutmeg and cloves.
This is just a wonderful cake, and I haven’t even put the icing on it yet. Thank you so much for helping make life delicious!
Lori says
Oh AND – my second favorite thing about this cake (after the magical deliciousness) is that I can make it in one bowl. No muss, no fuss! Perfect!
Jennifer says
Susan –
I regularly lurk around your blog and enoy it very much.
I was looking for inspiration for a strawberry cake when I came across this recipe through your FB page. I’ve used your recipe as a jumping off point for a Chocolate Strawberry Balsamic cake – seen here http://cake-concoctions-etc.blogspot.com/2010/07/chocolate-strawberry-balsamic-cake.html
Thanks for the great recipes and inspiration!
Jennifer
Kylie says
I love that you have fat free cake recipes! 🙂
I have an ulcer, so I’m not allowed to eat anything fatty, and your blog has made that SOOOO much easier! My birthday is on Sunday, and I’m thinking about having my mom make this cake, but I have a few questions. Would there be any changes if we use regular all purpose flour instead of the unbleached and regular whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat? I’ve already made her buy so many things so I could try your recipes that I feel bad to keep sending her to the store.
Thanks!
Kylie
SusanV says
Kylie, I think it should be fine with both of those flour substitutions. The white whole wheat has a lighter taste and color and is a little less gritty than regular, so someday you may want to give it a try (when you run out of what you’ve already bought). Happy birthday, and I hope you enjoy the cake!
Hannah says
Hey Susan,
I was wondering what I could substitute for the orange juice as I don’t have any?
Thanks!
April says
Hi Susan,
I am looking forward to trying this beautiful bunt cake.
Do you think it will make a difference if I use soft white wheat for both flours?
Thanks for your great recipes.
Natalie Roos says
Does this recipe call for sweetened cocoa or unsweet cocoa?
SusanV says
Unsweetened cocoa, also known as Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, is used for this recipe. Popular brands are Hershey’s, Ghirardelli, and Scharffen Berger. See this webpage for more info about cocoa powder.
Amelia says
Hi Susan, I’ve just stumbled across your website and I just wanted to thank you for so many delicious-looking recipes – I’m not actually vegan but I can’t wait to try out some of them! (Especially this chocolate-orange cake… yum yum!)
efusjon says
it really looks very delicious. can’t wait to try it this weekend during family dinner.
Carolyn @ EatWell. LiveWell. BeWell. says
Hi Susan. I made this cake for my husband’s birthday yesterday. It was a big hit! Thanks for all your hard work to contribute to the vegan community.
I blogged about it here, and I included a link (and lots of praise) to your site.
http://eatlivebewell.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/chocolate-orange-birthday-cake/
Be well,
Carolyn
Carolyn @ EatWell. LiveWell. BeWell. says
I also subbed almond extract for vanilla; I used strawberry-banana soy yogurt since the store didn’t have plain; and I cooked it for 40 minutes.
Kim says
Hi Susan,
I’ve been a vegetarian for over 20 years (since I was 12) and just wanted to congratulate you on your website. All your recipes look wonderful and I love the descriptions and tips you provide before each recipe. It’s so helpful. The fact that most of the recipes are fat free is just a huge bonus. Your children are very lucky to have you cooking for them.
Thanks again.
Kim.
Alison says
I’m allergic to oranges but this cake looks so fantastic!
Do you think I would be able to substitute the orange juice for, say, apple juice or soya milk?
SusanV says
Can you use lemon juice? You need a little acidity, so if you can, use a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice in with the apple juice. If you can’t do lemon juice, then vinegar will also work.
Vera says
I want to try this cake tonight. I am wondering if I can use plain yogurt instead of soy yogurt?
SusanV says
Yes, dairy yogurt will work just as well as soy yogurt. It just won’t be vegan. 😉
Vera says
Thx dear. My hubby doesn’t eat eggs, so I want to try this one tonight. Sorry to bother, but want to ask another question. Can I use butter instead of yogurt?
Vera says
Wow, wow, wow! The best cake I have ever tasted, much better than any cake prepared by eggs. I just LOVED it. I have guests today, let’s hear their comments. I did use butter instead of yogurt and its PERFECT! Thank u Susan! U made my day!
LisaGG says
I made this 2 weeks ago for a dinner party. We had an experiment: one high-fat, French recipe chocolate poudding, and then yours. Our guests were made to guess which was which…. one guessed right, and the other guessed wrong! It was very good, and not too sweet. Also the denseness makes it good for slicing and stacking with cream, ganache or fruit for a trifle like dessert!
Vera says
Perfect! PERFECT with capital letters. Everyone loved it! One of the tastiest cakes I have ever baked. Thx dear Susan!
shell says
hi does anyone have the UK measurements for the cup? Thanks Shell 🙂
Bert says
1 US cup is equal to 236.588 ml by volume
1 US cup of flour is equal to 120 to 130 grams by weight depending on the type and brand of flour.
1 US cup of sugar is equal to 225 grams by weight
I hope this helps!
-Bert
Bert says
I didn’t have a bundt pan and I wanted to portion control, so I halved the recipe and filled 12 cupcake cups, following the rest of the recipe to the T. They baked in just under 20 minutes and come out to be just over 110 calories without the icing. Susan, they are phenominal, well what’s left of them anyway. You are the best! Thanks.
-Bert
Shauna says
I know this completely defeats the whole point of the cake but could I sub orange juice for apple juice or similar? It looks so goooooooooood.
SusanV says
You can try. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to increase the acidity so it will rise properly. Let me know how it comes out!
Ann says
If you bake this in a small souffle bowl and underbake it, it makes a much richer dessert since it would be exactly like a lava cake! (At first I did it by mistake, but it turned out so decadent!)
maryb says
Wow, this cake looks delicious!
I have one question though, if I use regular dairy yogurt, should I use fat free or regular yogurt? I’m afraid the consistency of the cake would be different if I use the wrong one!
SusanV says
It will probably be a little richer and closer to mine if you use the regular yogurt, though I don’t think that fat-free would be terrible.
maryb says
Thanks for your answer! I’m looking forward to cook it for tonight
Sarah says
How much of the flour do you think I can safely replace with almond flour?
Thanks!
SusanV says
I’ve never baked with almond flour so I don’t know. I hope someone else will help with this question.
Rebecca says
I made this recipe recently because I wanted to have something to serve at a function with some friends who are vegan. I didn’t have soy yogurt so I substituted coconut milk, which made it not fat free, but still very yummy!
It was a big hit!! Even the baby, 10 months, got to have some because it didn’t have anything in it that he couldn’t have yet!!
Thank you!!
Mindy says
This cake is FANTASTIC. I’m baking my second one right now. I baked the first one for my boyfriend’s mother’s birthday on Thursday and it was a hit. We were all stuffed from dinner but seconds of cake was still necessary. Between leaving a few pieces for the bday girl and the bf and I polishing off the rest today, I needed to bake another half batch to share with my neighbors! I can’t wait for them to try this delicious vegan cake 🙂 THANK YOU
kitkat says
Made this yesterday with dairy yoghurt instead of soy, and it turned out perfect!!! Next time, I will make it with the icing!! Thank you so much for sharing : )
Elisabetta says
Fantastic!!! I baked this cake yesterday and I definitely satisfied, it’s delicious and beautiful! I love healthy and vegan food and your recipes inspire me so much. Thanks for sharing and… Greetings from Italy!
Praemdass Ramlagan says
This is truly wonderful and VEGAN so nice I am definetly going to try this at my birthday on february 12 I know it will be a hit.
Valerie says
Tip for the icing. Mix each in ziplock bags. squeeze and mix, then cut corner of baggie and squeeze onto cake.
Anna says
Thanks for all the great recipes!
PLEASE could you come up with another one? Tasted an amazing vegan fat free flourless orange cake but my friend won’t give up the recipe.
Christina says
Holy cow was this ever divine!! My daughter made it last week. Very simple and very tasty!! I really had to exercise restraint not to eat half the cake! Lol. We couldnt find plain soy yogurt and used vanilla soy yogurt , would that change the nutrition values on this much?
K says
If I use spelt do you think this could hold together–maybe if I added one flax egg??
What do you think. I mustt make because this looks amazing!
Susan Voisin says
I’m sorry, I’ve never used spelt flour, so I’m not sure how it would work.
Agne says
Tommorrow is my Birthday and I would like to make this cake, but I do not have soy yogurt and there is no such thing in my country… Would it work if I squeeze some lemon juice or vinegar into soy milk and then use it? By the way, would it make a difference for the rising and texture if I use water or soy milk instead of orange juice? I do not like those from supermarket..
Thank you, whoever will answer to me!
Agne says
I made it and I can say that I love yo for this recipe! It was the first time when I was making a “normal” vegan cake and it was a success! I used a combination of wheat, spelt, and gluten free flour, added less sugar (because I forgot about it), and made something like soy yogurt from soy milk+vinegar+cornstarch 🙂 Thank you!
Payla says
My family enjoys this cake very much. My husband is always requesting it, since discovering the recipe about a year ago I have made it more than a dozen times! For variety I have added walnuts to the batter, at times sprinkled the icing with sliced almonds or have served with berries – great every time. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
kamila says
Delicious cake, thanks so much for the recipe! For less calories & fat, I used carob powder instead of cocoa, and it came out great, too.
jason hill says
hi in the uk whole wheat is wholemeal flour,i can only find self raising wholemeal flour,not white wholemeal self raising,is it ok to use the wholemeal self raising or is a normal white self raising flour ok instead
thankyou the recipe looks great
Susan Voisin says
I’m afraid that any type of self-raising flour won’t work. Can you get regular flour?
jason hill says
hi yep is regular flour just plain flour,sorry i’m new to baking
thanks again
Sharon says
I just want to thank you for all of your recipes. My husband & I have tried a lot of them since we became vegan last year, and everything we have tried we have enjoyed. I credit your blog and the recipes in it for the fact that we are still vegan, and I recommend you to everyone! And this chocolate cake is one of our very favorite deserts–vegan or not. My husband requests if often & every time I make it it turns out great!
Theresa says
I don’t have any whole wheat flour and was wondering if I could I substitute whole wheat pastry flour?
Susan Voisin says
Yes, that will work just fine.
sam says
i made this cake last week and it was such a success.i made it with all purpose flour but was wondering if i could reduce the sugar to 1 cup?would it affect the way the cake rises?
Outfit31 says
Since I’ve found your site last April, I use it all the time and have never had one of your recipes turn out any way but WONDERFUL!!! Thank you for all the yummy recipes!!! My family thanks you too!
Smita says
Thanks so much for this recipe Susan!
My husband went thru a bypass surgery 2 months back and I have been looking for fat free recipes to try out.. Your blog seems God-sent!!
I will look around in Abu Dhabi( United Arab Emirates) for soy yogurt t try and bake this for him.. Do you think, since we are vegetarians, but not vegan, we could substitute low fat yogurt in the recipe?
Thanks again!!
Smita says
Ignore my question! Read through the comments and found my answer.. 🙂 will look at low fat yogurt and report back 🙂
Esther at A,B,C,Vegan says
This is the most forgiving cake in the WORLD. (Or I’ve become a much better baker than I realized. Or both. 🙂 ) I started mixing it up last night and then got interrupted and wasn’t able to finish – had already added the baking soda and vinegar, which meant that reaction was already happening. Soooo… I picked up where I left off this morning, added a little bit of this, a little bit of that to compensate for that and not having enough balsamic or yogurt… all sorts of things. Long story… umm, long, 🙂 cake still came out beautifully and delicious!! Thank you!!
Susan Voisin says
Wow, that’s amazing! I wouldn’t think it would rise after sitting so long. I vote for your having great baking skills!
Esther at A,B,C,Vegan says
Thank you! I did add more baking soda and vinegar in the morning to compensate, since I knew that would be an issue. Brought it to a party tonight and it received rave reviews! From all the non-vegans, of course. 🙂
Shane says
Made this today and it was delicious. It ended up more like brownie consistency then a light cake, but we really liked it all the same. Not sure if that’s how it was supposed to be or just something I did. It might have been because we used a mini-bundt cake pan. They turned out beautifully though, and made great gifts for the neighbors. I also learned to be extra careful the next time I buy soy yogurt. I assumed that if it was soy yogurt it would be dairy free, but the one I got wasn’t (O’Soy from Stonyfields). In fact, none of the soy yogurts at my grocery store were dairy free. The all use active milk cultures with the soy milk. This was a learning experience for us but also a big disappointment for our neighbor who is dairy allergic. This of course is not a critique of the recipe, just thought I’d share our discovery with others. What brand do you use?
Susan Voisin says
Sorry about that Shane! Yes, O’Soy is notoriously non-vegan. I wish they made that plainer on their packaging. I use Wildwood most of the time and Whole Soy when I can’t find Wildwood.
And I’m sorry the cake was brownie-like. It’s not supposed to be!
Shane says
Thanks Susan, I’ll ask my grocer about the Wildwood brand. Not sure what I did wrong with recipe but we’ll definitely be trying it again.
B rittany says
I made this cake for some vegan friends and used lime juice & rind instead of oranges. It came out perfect – not too sweet but the icing adds just enough sweetness. The lime flavor really came through and made it taste light even though it looks so dense.
Kathryn says
It looks like this cake doesn’t really need any more praise……but I have to say I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out wonderful! I wouldn’t change a thing, not only did it taste delicious but it looked amazing! Thank you Susan for all you do, your website is where I go to look for new recipes.
Lars J says
I made muffins out of these and they turned out really well. Everybody said they could taste the orange and chocolate. Woohoo! (I made orange icing with orange juice, powdered sugar and a touch of guar gum.)
Meredith says
I made this for Christmas eve dinner and it was divine. Such a perfect recipe and it looked so pretty. I only bought one orange and it zested only a tbs so i had to zest some clementines 🙂 It all worked out.
Karen says
Hi Susan,
I’m enjoying your recipes, and planning to make the Orange cake for my book club next week. My question is, is the cake better the next day, or that day? I’m trying to determine when to make it!
Thanks
Karen
Susan Voisin says
I would say it’s better the day it’s made, though others may differ with me. I think it gathers more moisture the longer it stands, which isn’t a bad thing. So…it may be a matter of personal taste.
Radha says
I really want to make this recipe. I was wondering why you use half unbleached flour and half whole wheat.
Does it make a difference in the taste or is it for health purposes?
Thank you very much.
Susan Voisin says
The whole wheat makes it healthier and the unbleached makes it taste better. You can use all of either one if you prefer.
Lily says
Hi!
Wow, this recipe looks absolutely delicious!Planning on making it as a surprise cake for my sister’s birthday next week! Just wondering- approximately how many calories is in the entire cake? Sorry for the weird question but my brother is currently cutting back on calories these days and he will want to know. Thanks!
Lily says
Just in case somebody was thinking to try pureeing oranges if they didn’t have orange juice on hand… I wanted to speak up and say I really don’t recommend it!! I saw some other cake recipes that used a pureed orange and thought maybe I could substitute it in here. It just makes the cake really bitter and dense. Unsalvagable 🙁 I’ll follow the recipe to the letter next time!
Agne says
Hey Susan,
do you think it would be possible to make this recipe into the regular white cake? Would it be enough to change the cacao with the same amount of flour? I want to use this as a base to use a lemon poppy-seed cake 🙂 Have tried once already but not cannot remember, whether I substituted cacao one on one by flour or in some different manner. Maybe You know, whether cacao absorbs more water or no?
Susan Voisin says
Agne, I think using the same amount of flour would work. But I have another cake that is much closer to what you want. Have you tried this one: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/03/strawberry-snack-cake.html
Agne says
Thank You, Susan!
Minibaker says
I would like to make this cake tomorrow for a Mothers Day Potbless Brunch this Saturday. What size square tin should I use if I don’t have a bundt tin. I hope you can reply me soon. Tks
Susan Voisin says
Do you have a 9×13 rectangular pan? That’s what I would use.
Anne says
I making this for my birthday!! I’m so excited,I like this combinations orange and cocoa,and balsamic vinegar usually use apple cider vinegar. Right now is in the oven and it smell delicious!! Thank you for this recipes!
liana says
Absolutely amazing cake! We started on Dr. Ornish’s diet a month ago, and deserts seem the hardest to prepare. This cake was a success for my entire family, not just the vegans. Thank you.
Michele Marie says
I’ve made this cake a number of times and just made it again for company tomorrow. I halved it this time, and made it in a loaf pan. And for the first time ever, my icing came out JUST RIGHT! (it’s usually too runny) I made it very thick, almost paste. I spread the chocolate on top and then put the vanilla in a plastic baggie and ‘piped’ it on in a zig zag. I also added some left over zest to each of the icings and that made them extra tasty!
I can’t wait to serve it tomorrow night!
Megha says
Hi Susan, I read all the reviews here. The cake gets an excellent from everyone.
I made it today. I faced 2 problems, one is that the batter came out thick according to the measurements that I given here. So I added little milk to make it right. Was that the right thing to add or oil I can use or you have a third better option ! Secondly, I tasted the batter before putting in the oven and it tasted little bitter(something which an orange can release) so I added sugar to balance it.
The cake has come up well but there s no shine. Oil can be used for shine or other option you have?
Thank you
Jen says
I’m just curious about the soy yogurt you used in this recipe. Was it plain soy yogurt or flavored? I’m having a surprisingly difficult time finding unflavored/ plain soy yogurt at my local coops!
Susan Voisin says
When I created this recipe, plain soy yogurt was easy to find, but since then, one of the main suppliers has had to pause production. But you can use flavored soy yogurt in this with no problem. I would choose a flavor like vanilla, apricot, or blueberry. I’m also going to be doing some experimentation with other substitutes, so stay tuned.
Kim Fuller says
I made this last night for some Omni company and it was excellent! Looks and tastes like the bundt cakes I used to make. Very happy.
Kim Fuller says
BTW, I used Coconut Yogurt from Trader Joe’s. Couldn’t find any soy.
Judeen says
Thank you so much for your blog. I have made and enjoyed many of your recipes. Have a wonderful holiday season.
Jamie says
I made this for Christmas dessert, and it was absolutely delicious! I used vanilla flavored coconut yogurt due to the supply issue mentioned above.
Thank you so much for your site, Susan! I also made your stuffed seitan loaf today (also delicious.) Happy Holidays to you and your family.
2da4est says
Just tried this cake. Superb!!! Definitely in my recipes forever.
Thank you!
dina says
I have a copy of this recipe from a magazine, it is yours, but it omits the water in the ingredients; how important is the cup and 1/2 to the recipe?
Also, for the balsamic vinegar do you recommend white balsamic or the “regular” redish type?
If i use vanilla yogurt should I omit the vanilla extract?
Thanks!
Susan Voisin says
A lot of good questions! But first, I have one for you: can you tell me the name and date of the magazine you saw this in? I don’t remember giving permission for it to be reprinted, but maybe I’ve forgotten.
The water is absolutely necessary. (A problem with people reprinting recipes without permission is that they often get them disastrously wrong.)
I used and recommend dark balsamic vinegar.
I wouldn’t leave out the vanilla but I would reduce the sugar by a tablespoon or two if your yogurt is sweetened.
Bonnie says
Hi Susan,
Have you tried this will all whole wheat flour instead of adding the white flour?
I am going to give it a try, and may try using 1/2 ground oats instead of the white flour…
Thanks so much,
Bonnie
Bonnie says
Made this tonight as a test for a desert for my daughter’s violin recital. Used all sprouted whole wheat flour, vanilla soy yogurt and 1 cup of sugar instead of 1 1/2 because of the sweetened yogurt. It was delicious and loved by my entire family. My daughter declared it the best chocolate cake in the universe! Thanks Susan for a great recipe!
Franp says
I always find something yummy on your site and this chocolate orange cake was no exception. My only sub was coconut yogurt rather than soy . The cake was moist, rich, luscious and we each ate 2 pieces! We try not to use much sugar but today was my daughter’s birthday and it called for this perfect treat. Thank you!
Hope Green says
I adore this cake. I McDougall- so my sub was applesauce for the soy yogurt. 2nd time I made it, and I make 1/2 recipe for the 2 of us in a silicone loaf pan {perfection!} I subbed 2/3 cup sugar for the 3/4 cup. Left the icing as it was in whole recipe. It tastes no different to me- just plain awesome!! Can I try 1/2 cup of sugar the next time? because I would like the sugar as low as possible- but don’t want hubby in an uproar that it isn’t as good lol… He cuts the loaf into 10 pieces… and would walk on the ceiling to get a piece… Astounds me that after 5 days in rubbermaid container it is STILL MOIST and super YUMMY!!
Amy says
Hi Susan! My daughter signed me up to make a snack for her French club and we decided to make this chocolate-orange cake. I subbed Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour for the other two flours and it turned out great. Now I have to make a second one for my family as I’m sure there will be no leftovers!
Kindra says
How much sugar per serving please?
Amber says
is this gluten free as well? i want to make it for my birthday because one of my friends is vegan and another is allergic to gluten.
Amanda says
Hi Susan!
SOOO excited to bake this cake! Do you think it would be alright to bake a day ahead of the event I’ll be serving it at? I won’t have time the day of! What would be the best method of 24hr storage, if so?
Thanks!
Amanda
Susan Voisin says
I think it should be okay stored in a cake box overnight, with the icing added just before serving. But I have to admit I haven’t ever been able to keep from eating it the first day. 🙂
Amanda says
That’s another thing I’m afraid of 😉 Hopefully, I’ll be able to restrain myself!
Thanks again!
-A
Crystal says
Hi! I do not have a bundt cake pan I was wondering if it is possible to bake this in a normal 6×6 cake tin?
Susan Voisin says
6×6 would be too small, I think. You would probably have a better cake if you used 8×8.
Melissa says
I was a German Chocolate Cake with Coconut Frosting for my every birthday until my last birthday kind of girl until I tried this cake. So moist, dense, chocolatey, orangey fantastic! The first time I had it I ate for dessert, breakfast and lunch, haha.
Tatjana says
Can I replace the icing sugar with something else? I used maple syrup and stevia for the cake itself, but it would be nice to have something really sweet, but sugar and fat-free on top
Tatjana says
Also, the batter was very gooey, more like bread dough – is this normal? should I add more orange juice or yogourt next time?
Tatjana says
It would also be absolutely awesome if you could maybe post variations of this cake 🙂 thanks so very much for the recipe
Kerstin Decker says
So I made this wonderful cake. My hubby likes and it is tasty but it is a little chewy . Did I over process the cake before baking it .
Valerie says
I made this gluten free using 1.5 cups Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour Mix and 1.5 cups brown rice flour. It came out a little dry and crumbly. I think when I make it again (and their will be a next time) I’ll add an egg replacer for moisture. And while I made the icing that goes with it, we preferred chocolate hazelnut butter for frosting with this. The flavor was very good overall.