Last updated - ; Published - By Rhian Williams 33 Comments
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Here's why you need thisGluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake in your life. It's:
- rich and decadent
- moist and fluffy
- fruity and citrusy!
The base for this recipe is my Chocolate Sponge Layer Cake- it's easy to make, requires just one bowl and simple ingredients, and is versatile too. It also happens to be moist and fluffy, and undetectably vegan, gluten-free + refined sugar free!
The other part of this cake is the Sweet Potato Chocolate Buttercream- it's luxuriously creamy, has a gorgeous velvety texture and tastes so decadent you won't believe it's secretly healthy. It may sound a little strange to use sweet potatoes to make frosting, but I promise you won't be able to taste them at all - in fact, it's fun to get people to try to guess what it's made of!
This buttercream, paired with the chocolate sponge, makes for a seriously decadent chocolate cake that's bound to impress even the hardcore chocolate lovers. But what really takes this cake to the next level is the zingy orange flavour.
The orange flavour comes from marmalade (or orange spread), and makes it taste wonderfully sweet, tangy and fragrant, and adds a deliciously fruity flavour. This, combined with the chocolate, makes the cake taste like a Jaffa Cake or a Terry's Chocolate Orange! It also tastes pretty festive, so it's great for the upcoming months, though you can enjoy it all year round, of course.
If you'd like to keep this cake refined sugar free, make sure to look out for a naturally sweetened marmalade.
Hope you'll love this Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake! For more citrus desserts, check out my:
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Orange Cake
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- White Chocolate Lemon Cake
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog,I’d really love to hear anyfeedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes onInstagram! Thank you.
Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake:
For the cake:
glass mixing bowl
measuring jug
18 cm / 7 inch sandwich baking tin
baking paper
cooling rack
For the buttercream:
food processor
blender
hand-held stick blender
Watch this 30-second video to see how to make the frosting:
Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake
This Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake is rich and decadent, moist and fluffy, and fruity and citrusy!
4.39 from 31 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: European
Keyword: gluten-free chocolate orange cake, vegan chocolate orange cake, vegan christmas dessert
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour
Servings: 8
Calories: 399kcal
Author: Rhian Williams
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 250 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon orange extract (or zest of 1 orange)
- 12 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 50 g (½ cup) cocoa powder
For the buttercream:
- 400 g (14 oz) sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup to taste (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
To frost and decorate:
- 4 tablespoons marmalade/orange spread (refined sugar free if necessary)
- Fresh orange slices
Instructions
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil)
Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the vinegar, orange extract, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds
Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder
Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
Divide mixture between two greased baking tins lined with baking paper (I used two 7inch/18cm baking tins)
Bake in oven for around 15 minutes until risen slightly and an inserted skewer comes out clean
Once out the oven, transfer cakes from baking tins onto a wired rack to leave them to cool completely before applying the frosting
For the buttercream:
Cook sweet potatoes by boiling, steaming or roasting them until very soft and tender
Discard any skins, and add to a food processor or blender (or hand-held blender) along with all other ingredients
Whizz until completely smooth
Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary – add more maple syrup for sweetness, more salt for saltiness, more cocoa powder for chocolate flavour etc
Leave to cool before using to frost the cake
To frost and decorate the cake:
Place one half of the cake onto a plate and spread the marmalade on top
Then spread just less than half of the buttercream onto it
Place the other half of the cake on top of that
Use rest of the buttercream to spread on top and around sides of cake
Decorate with fresh orange slices, or whatever else you fancy!
Best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days
Video
Notes
*You can alternatively usealmond flour
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 399Calories from Fat 171
% Daily Value*
Fat 19g29%
Saturated Fat 8g40%
Sodium 108mg5%
Potassium 392mg11%
Carbohydrates 56g19%
Fiber 8g32%
Sugar 26g29%
Protein 8g16%
Vitamin A 7094IU142%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 164mg16%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
More Baking & Dessert Recipes
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Madeleines
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Muffins
- Gluten-Free Vegan Raspberry Cake
- Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
Reader Interactions
Comments
Anneli Connolly
I love this recipe, thank you! I literally hadn’t baked for 30 years and I’m now gluten free for 13 years and vegan for almost 1 year... so this was a first me and it’s fab! I had previously made marmalade for the first time too, WiFi h didn’t set but it was perfect for this cake!Reply
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Parth
Reply
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