A rich whipped chocolate ganache filling is the happy surprise when you slice into this decadent chocolate layer cake. Frost with a 7-Minute Frosting and decorate with festive candied orange slices, citrus leaves and cranberries.
I've made this cake two Christmases in a row, and it's been a big, big success. I don't do the candied oranges. Rather I sprinkle with red and green decorative sprinkles to save time. They look so festive against the white background of the frosting. I was so impressed with how easy the ganache is to make and work with. Having never made ganache before making this cake, I was afraid it would be tricky and difficult. Using it as frosting is a great idea. The orange flavor in the ganache is very light, and after a day, the liqueur becomes more pronounced. The seven-minute frosting takes some getting used to, to work with, but it gives a nice, fluffy finish to this wonderful winter holiday cake, like drifted snow. I think I've found a new Christmas tradition.
Very impressive, but takes forever, and I skipped the orange slices. I could barely taste the orange in the ganache. I'd like more! Using OJ concentrate might help. I like the idea of doubling the ganache & icing the whole cake. 7 Min. Frosting is difficult to make and handle. Coffee - meh, but some like it.I'd rather taste more OJ in the cake. Doubt I'll make this again. But I might make the ganache alone!
Just so-so. Oranges way to much trouble & became a runny mess on top of cake.
This has been adopted as my family's holiday cake for the past two years- my Mom and I have now made it four times, with each take improving on the last. This past time, we discovered that placing the ganache in the freezer for the first thirty minutes of the chilling time and then beating it for an additional 30-45 seconds really helped it keep it's thicker consistency. Additionally, we substituted orange zest for the liqueur, and found that it imparted an even more intense orange flavor, without being overpowering. Love this!!
I had a hard time with the ganache it was not thick enough to with stand the heavy cake. So when I put the top cake on it rolled right out of the layers and I put it ALL over the cake as it came out. Then put the icing on it. It tasted great! I was disappointed in the ganache. Reading other reviews I see someone else had a problem. I didn't go over 30 seconds whipping time. I will try again. I used orange extract and it was very good.
It was beautiful, but definitely not the best chocolate cake I ever ate.
Excellent cake! I made this for Christmas ... everyone, but my wife (doesn't like chocolate), loved it!
I followed the recipe exactly and was pleased with the results. This is definitely a special occasion cake since it takes a good six hours to follow all the steps, including the candied oranges. The icing turned out beautiful, so I wouldn't change it in spite of previous comments. I am an experienced baker, so maybe that made a difference. My only issue is that several ingredients were expensive and difficult to locate (bittersweet chocolate and vanilla bean). I will make this again for Christmas next year.
This cake was fantastic! The only thing I substituted was orange zest instead of the orange liqueur. You could definitely taste the orange flavor, but make note that, if you use the orange zest in the white icing you will have small flecks of zest showing, if that bothers you. Also, I would like to point out that it is important that you mix the white frosting over the boiling water, as the recipe calls for, so that the sugar will dissolve, otherwise, your frosting may be gritty. I refrigerated this after I made it to keep the outer frosting intact. It gets better every day!
I made this Christmas Day and everyone raved about it. It took forever but was worth it. I could not taste the orange liqueur in the ganache or icing. The ganache was to die for. Also, I really couldn't taste the coffee either which was good because I don't like coffee. It took longer than 20-30 seconds for the ganache to have soft peaks but it eventually turned a lighter color and had soft peaks. My husband says this recipe is a keeper.
Disappointed in the instructions for the ganache filling. An experienced baker would tweek them so the filling would work. An inexperienced one would be lost. Also, the frosting was totally bland.
Great cake and filling. I'm a chocolate lover and this fits the bill! Time consuming but delicious. I would not make this icing recipe again, though. I would have rated it 5 stars if the icing was even remotely good. Very disappointed in that component of this cake. Also, the orange flavor is not nearly as evident as I thought it would be. At least one other baker used OJ - might try it that way next time.
This was probably the best cake that I have ever made. I served it at a family Christmas dinner and everyone loved it. It does require a lot of effort and time, but it was well worth both. Like some of the other reviewers, I substituted frozen orange juice concentrate for the liqueur, but I could definitely taste the orange flavor. I highly recommend this recipe!
This recipe sounds great. Want to try it but am concerned about the frosting. Want to make it earlier in the day and serve it for dessert in the evening. How does the frosting hold up?
The cake and filling are wonderful. I even halved the ganache and there was still plenty. However, I did not have a great result with the 7 minute frosting. For some reason the sugar did not completely dissolve. Next time, will use a chocolate glaze or more of the ganache as a previous reviewer did. Will experiment with changing the flavor also.
I made this while visiting my sister - who does not like orange flavor; so I used raspberry liquer, a bit more than called for in the recipe - it was GREAT! Loved the 7-minute frosting because the ganache was very thick and rich!
This is definitely worthy of a special occasion. Things I changed: 1) substituted frozen orange juice concentrate for the orange liqueur and doubled the amount. 2) Also doubled the amount of ganache and frosted the entire cake with ganache instead of the white icing. Everyone loved it! If I were a baker by trade, I would totally offer this cake as a Groom's Cake. I will definitely make this again for special occasions.
