Chocolate Orange Reindeer Cake

Why not try this easy showstopper of a Christmas cake? This Chocolate Orange Reindeer Cake will wow your guests and they’ll never know how easy it was to make! This decadent chocolate orange cake has a rich, fudgy sponge made with fresh orange juice and orange zest adding a festive zing.

The cake is topped with Dairy Milk chocolate orange buttercream, which is smooth, creamy and luxurious, and the cute reindeer decoration is super easy to make. This is a fun festive cake which will double up as a fabulous centrepiece for your Christmas table!

Ingredients For Chocolate Orange Reindeer Cake

To make this easy Christmas cake, you will need:

• Vegetable or sunflower oil – Using oil in your cake mix will mean that your cake is lovely and moist. These oils both have a neutral flavour so don’t detract from the chocolate orange taste.
• Caster sugar – This is the best sugar for baking with as its fine consistency means it will incorporate easily into the cake mixture and you’ll end up with a lovely smooth cake batter. Golden caster sugar adds an extra caramel flavour to the finished cake, but white caster sugar will work just as well.
• Eggs – use the best-quality eggs you can find and make sure they are at room temperature. This recipe uses either 3 large eggs of 4 medium eggs.
• Self raising flour – the added raising agent in self-raising flour gives the chocolate orange cake a lovely rise and fluffier texture. If you’re using all-purpose plain flour just add 3 teaspoons of baking powder.
• Milk – using full fat milk will result in a moist cake but use whatever you have to hand.
• Cocoa powder – using cocoa powder will mean you get an intense, chocolate flavour in your cake. Cocoa powder is easy to mix into the flour to create a smooth cake batter.
• Oranges – adding fresh orange juice and zest means the cake will have a lovely zingy flavour and orange aroma. For best results choose a large orange which is firm with an unblemished skin.

For the Reindeer toppers, you’ll need:

• 7 Dairy Milk Chocolate Orange Buttons
• 7 Red Smarties
• 7 Pretzels
• 14 Edible eyes

Chocolate Orange Buttercream

Chocolate orange buttercream is the ideal topping for this cake and is so easy to make! I used Dairy Milk Chocolate Orange to add that classic festive flavour to the buttercream without being too sweet. To make the chocolate orange buttercream:

• Finely chop the Dairy Milk Chocolate Orange chocolate and place in a bowl. Microwave for 60 seconds or until melted. Give the melted chocolate a stir and set aside to cool – if you add this to the butter while it’s hot it will melt the butter which could split!
• Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Sift in the icing sugar and beat until the buttercream is smooth. Fold in the cooled melted chocolate.
• Add the cocoa powder and boiling water. Fold together until the buttercream is smooth, creamy and glossy. The boiling water helps to make the buttercream creamy, glossy and easy to work with.
• Spread the buttercream on top of the cake, using a palette knife to get a smooth finish on top.

Easy Reindeer Cake Toppers

These reindeer cake toppers are so cute and they are so easy to make! Use large Cadburys Dairy Milk Chocolate Orange Buttons for the reindeer noses – all you need to do is arrange the chocolate buttons in a circle in the centre of the cake, spacing them as evenly as you can. Use a dab of buttercream to stick the red Smarties on top to make a Rudolph-style nose. Add the edible eyes above the buttons. Break up the pretzels to make antlers and place them above the eyes.

Quick Recipe Success Tips

• Use a 9″ diameter cake tin: It’s important to use the same-sized cake tin to get the best results from this recipe. The ingredient measurements and the baking time are only accurate if you use a 9″ diameter tin. For an 8″ cake tin, you would keep all the ingredients the same but the tin needs to be deep enough (10cm+) so the cake mixture doesn’t overflow. This cake tin would be ideal. Also, increase the baking time to 55-60 minutes and because the cake has a smaller circumference, you may only be able to fit 5-6 reindeer decorations on top.
• Don’t open the oven door early: This chocolate orange cake should take approximately 45-50 minutes when baked at 160°C fan / 180°C conventional. Opening the oven door too early will let the hot air escape and this sudden temperature change can cause the cake to sink in the middle. If you know your oven runs hot and bakes cakes more quickly, you can check on the cake at around 40 minutes.
• Try the boiling water buttercream hack: Adding boiling water to the chocolate buttercream will help the cocoa powder bloom, improving the rich chocolate flavour. It also slightly melts the butter, making the buttercream a super creamy consistency that’s perfect for spreading on top of the cream.
• Double up the recipe: If you wanted to make a two-layer cake, simply double up the recipe and use two 9″ round cake tins. Make double the quantity of buttercream and use some as a filling for the cake.

Chocolate Orange Reindeer Cake

This Chocolate Orange Reindeer Cake will wow your guests and they'll never know how easy it was to make! This decadent chocolate orange cake has a rich, fudgy sponge without being too dense, with fresh orange juice and orange zest adding a festive zing.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep: 30 minutes minutes

Cook: 50 minutes minutes

Total: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 10

Ingredients

Chocolate orange sponge:

• 300 g White or golden caster sugar
• 250 g Self-raising flour
• 50 g Cocoa powder
• 200 ml Vegetable or sunflower oil
• 100 ml Whole milk
• 3 large Eggs at room temperature
• 1 large Orange

Chocolate orange buttercream:

• 100 g Dairy Milk Chocolate Orange chopped
• 100 g Salted butter at room temperature
• 180 g Icing sugar
• 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp Boiling water

For the reindeer decoration:

• 7 Dairy Milk Chocolate Orange Buttons
• 7 Red Smarties
• 7 Pretzels
• 14 Edible eyes

Instructions

Start by making the chocolate orange sponge:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C fan / 180°C conventional. Grease and line the base and sides of a 9-inch round cake tin with baking paper.
• In a large bowl, stir the sugar, flour and cocoa powder together.
• Add the vegetable oil, milk and beaten eggs. Mix together until the cake mixture is smooth and combined.
  
• Use a zester to grate the orange zest into the bowl. Now slice the orange in half and squeeze in the juice. Mix until combined.
  
• Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes until risen and springy to the touch. Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Now make the chocolate orange buttercream:

• Finely chop the chocolate orange and place in a bowl. Microwave for 60 seconds or until melted. Give the melted chocolate a stir and set aside to cool.
• Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Sift in the icing sugar and beat until the buttercream is smooth. Fold in the cooled melted chocolate.
• Add the cocoa powder and boiling water. Fold together until the buttercream is smooth, creamy and glossy.
  
• Spread the buttercream on top of the cake, using a palette knife to get a smooth finish on top.
  

Add the reindeer decorations:

• Arrange the chocolate buttons in a circle in the centre of the cake. Use a dab of buttercream to stick the red Smarties on top. Add the edible eyes above the buttons. Break up the pretzels to make antlers and place them above the eyes.

Video

Notes

This cake will keep fresh for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

More cake recipes to love