Orange-Mocha-Chocolate Cake

A sprinkle of instant espresso and a dash of orange liqueur turns a plain chocolate cake mix into an elegantly flavored cake. ...MORE + LESS -

Ingredients

1 pkg Betty Crocker* SuperMoist* Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

1 tsp (5 mL) instant espresso coffee or instant coffee granules or crystals

1 1/3 cups (325 mL) water

1/3 cup (75 mL) oil

3 eggs

2 cups (500 mL) whipping cream

1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar

2 tbsp (25 mL) butter

1/2 tsp (2 mL) instant espresso coffee or instant coffee granules or crystals

2 cups (500 mL) semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp (25 mL) orange-flavoured liqueur or orange juice

1/2 cup (125 mL) orange marmalade

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1

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottoms only of two 8-inch square pans. In large bowl, combine cake mix, 1 teaspoon espresso coffee, water, oil and eggs. Beat with electric mixer at low speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly. Pour into greased pans.
2

Bake at 350ºF. for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pans to loosen. Remove cakes from pans; place on wire racks. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.
3

In medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the whipping cream, sugar, butter and 1/2 teaspoon espresso coffee. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips; stir until melted. Stir in liqueur. Cool 30 minutes or until completely cooled.
4

In medium bowl, beat remaining 1 1/2 cups whipping cream just until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cooled chocolate mixture. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes.
5

Place 1 cake layer, top side down, on serving plate. Spread orange marmalade and 1 cup of the chocolate whipped cream over top. Top with second cake layer, top side up. Reserve about 1/2 cup chocolate whipped cream for garnish. Frost sides and top of cake with remaining chocolate whipped cream.
6

Pipe reserved chocolate whipped cream around top edge of cake. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Just before serving, garnish as desired.

Recipe Fact: Mocha is a port in Yemen from which very fine Arabian coffee has been shipped since the 16th century. The word has come to designate a coffee and chocolate flavor combination very popular for beverages, desserts and candies.
Kitchen Tips: This recipe may be assembled into a round layer cake; bake the cake in two 9-inch pans. Bake as directed on the package. To keep the serving plate clean while frosting the cake, arrange pieces of waxed paper under the bottom edge of the cake. When you are done frosting it, gently remove the waxed paper.
Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare the recipe in advance; cover and refrigerate it for up to eight hours.
Make it Special: Garnish the dessert with orange zest dipped in granulated sugar.