Rich, dark and intensely chocolate-y, this vegan Chocolate Orange Bundt cake is also whole-wheat and low-fat and it’s sweetened naturally with maple syrup. On top goes a decadent, gooey chocolate-orange glaze.
I had been craving — deeply, darkly, intensely craving — something chocolate-y. I woke up in the mornings thinking of a rich, moist chocolate cake drowning in frosting. I went to bed at night and dreamed of plates stacked high with fudgy vegan brownies. And in between all I wanted to do was dig my teeth into a fat, chunky, vegan chocolate chip cookie.
Exit to the real world. Which isn’t so bad, really, now that it contains this luscious, delicious, Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake with a Chocolate Orange Glaze.
My vegan Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake not only satisfied that intense craving, but it did not pinch my conscience. Not once. Because it’s made with whole-wheat, sweetened with maple syrup, and it is low, low, low in fat.
In fact, whoever coined the adage about having your cake and eating it too surely had something like this in mind.
The cake is so moist and so tender that no one will ever tell it’s low fat. Even better, it has that amazing combination of chocolate and orange. Now who in their right mind does not just love that? And the glaze is so simple yet so delicious.
This cake is a perfect treat for any little ‘uns you have around the house. Mine was so excited just by the sight of the sumptuous bundt, he asked for a slice, guzzled it up, then asked for another. Considering he isn’t a huge chocolate fan (yeah, really, one of those) that was quite a compliment to this cake.
Isn’t it time you fell in love?
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Try these recipes next:
Vegan Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
Vegan Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Tart
Vegan Zucchini Cake with Orange Marmalade Glaze
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with a Lemon Glaze
Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes
Vegan Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Orange Almond Breakfast Loaf
Vegan Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
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Vegan Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake (and it's whole wheat too!)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (can substitute with half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus more for dusting the bundt pan
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups maple syrup (can substitute with any unrefined sugar, like turbinado or coconut palm sugar)
- 2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the chocolate-orange glaze:
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2-3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Prepare a bundt pan by spraying the sides and center tube with oil and dusting with cocoa powder. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, orange juice, applesauce, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together until mixed thoroughly. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure you get all of the flour.
- Pour the batter evenly into the bundt cake pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake stand 10 minutes on a rack, then unmold and continue cooling on the rack.
Make the glaze:
- In a bowl, mix the confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder. Add 2 tbsp of orange juice and whisk until it forms a smooth glaze. If it's too thick, add a little more orange juice.
- Pour the glaze over the cake. Decorate the cake, if you wish, with some orange zest.
- Serve.
Nutrition
Made this for vegan son’s birthday.. he requested orange chocolate cake?! I found recipe and he and the whole non vegan family loved! I did add an 1/8 of a cup of Tang Powder to batter and 2 teaspoons to the glaze, as I read somewhere that citric acid gives a real sparkle to fruity flavs.. it worked! I also had agave syrup so I split and used used half with half of the maple syrup .. I would make again!
Have you tried it with gf flour?
I think I’m gonna give it a go with Bob’s red mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour soon. Did you try it with gluten free flour?
Did you try the GF flour? Was it still yummy?
I love baking. I have tried many recipes like chocolate carrot cake or plain orange cake. I wanted to try something different so tried this chocolate orange cake. I used regular sugar instead of maple syrup. It turned out to be great. Thanks for sharing. I love your detailed recipes with images.
Hi. Can I replace apple sauce with more orange juice as I don’t have it now?
Is apple sauce essential for this cake. What else can be used instead as I don’t have it. TIA
Use vegan yogurt or banana purée.
This cake is AMAZING! It looks impressive, yet it was super easy. The texture was fantastic. This is a definite addition to my repertoire. I’m not a great cook and this made me look good. 😊
So happy you tried it!
Can you make this recipe gluten free?
I wîll try and post a gf chocolate cake soon!
Did the GF work? Did you post a recipe?
Can I replace the orange juice with coffee??
Yes!
how far in advance can this be made? Do I wait to glaze, right before serving or should I glaze while still warm? Please help with some make-ahead instructions – looks delicious!
You can make this up to a week ahead and refrigerate. Glaze before serving preferably.
Hi! I loved your orange cake recipe so tried this one too. Tasted grt! But it got burnt! I kept the oven at 175 degrees Celsius. I baked it for abt 35 mins and since it started burning i removed it. It was yum but i had to scrape off the burnt top and bottom 🙁 any advise on what i could have done wrong pls?
Are you using a small-sized oven? It’s possible the top and bottom were too close to the heating elements, in that case. This cake is much bigger than the orange cake, so a smaller oven would make a difference.
Hi Vaishali! i am using a regular home sized oven and i made 1/4 size of the actual cake u had mentioned so it was a rather small cake. Also i realized i used coconut plam sugar instead of syrup, u think that made a difference? should i just bake it for a shorter time? It tasted soooo good that i really want to get it right 🙂
I’m in love with this! My son will be thrilled when I make this for him.
What brand of WWFlour do you use?
Hi Pallavi, I use Whole Foods’ 365 flour. Hope your son likes the cake!
Just made this, came out beautiful. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Singingmama, that was quick! Thanks so much for the feedback. So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
The recipes are one thing, the gorgeous pics are another thing. But I love your recipe writing .. so many times when you are about to look at a recipe, the writing is something you are just having to get through on your way to the ingredient list. You writing really makes me smile.
Troy, you made my day!