Mother Kalamity called this evening to visit. When I was young, she used to get upset with my Nana who would call to visit seemingly not knowing that an entire hour of time on the phone was too much for a working mother with a husband and a farm! Now, my own mother calls to visit and thinks I’m rude if I cut the conversation off before an hour—and I get upset. We have both become our mothers! She told me about her game-playing friends that play dominoes and Bunco on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-9 PM and how their Christmas gathering will be tomorrow night. The theme is hor d’oeurvres and desserts. As I listen to her talk, it dawns on me that she is hinting around that I will make something for her to take (mom doesn’t cook real well either). Well sure mother – It’s 7:00PM and since I leave for work at 5:00AM and return at 5:00 PM I have plenty of time to whip something up! She mentioned the strawberry Bundt cake with lemon icing I made earlier in the year, neither of which I had ingredients for. When I offered to figure something out, she agreed without hesitation.
Orange Cake w/ Dark Chocolate Ganache
There was no time to make a cake from scratch but I did want it to be special so I thought I would “special-up” a boxed mix. I had this mix on the shelf:
2 4 oz. single-serving Mandarin orange fruit cups, drained them then chopped roughly
1 box of Orange supreme cake mix
red and orange food coloring (optional)
1/4 cup orange Juice
1/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
1 10oz bag of dark chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter
Chocolate sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
Mix up the cake batter as directed on the box of cake mix.
Add the mandarin oranges to the cake mix.
I also wanted it REALLY orange because it’s the holidays and I wanted it to be festive. So, I added 50 drops of yellow and eight drops of red food coloring. It came out really orange but not fake looking.
Pour it into a Bundt pan and bake it according to the box directions.
To keep the cake moist so while t cooling, put ¼ Cup orange juice and ¼ Cup sugar in a sauce pan and heated just until sugar was dissolved then spoon it over the cake after taking out of pan and placing on a wire rack. It takes about 2 hours for it to completely cool.
After 2 hours, place 1 Cup heavy cream in a saucepan on the stove allowing it to heat up to a simmer but not a boil. Take pan off of burner. Then I put a 10 ounce bag of Cup Dark chocolate chips plus 2 Tablespoons butter in the pan and stirred until it was gooey and chocolaty-smooth………….oh yum! I let it cool just a few minutes.
Then I poured it over top of cake in all its gooey goodness! Pour chocolate sprinkles on top. Now, doesn’t that look like those Receptionist Pen candies that are orange (or raspberry) on the inside and dark chocolate on the outside?
As the Quality Assurance Manager of our house, I had to cut a piece and eat it prior to taking it for so many elderly people to chow down on! Enjoy!
Orange Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 2 4 oz. single-serving Mandarin orange fruit cups drained them then chopped roughly
- 1 box of Orange supreme cake mix
- red and orange food coloring optional
- 1/4 cup orange Juice
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 1 10 oz bag of dark chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp butter
- Chocolate sprinkles optional
Instructions
-
Mix up the cake batter as directed on the box of cake mix.
-
Add the mandarin oranges to the cake mix.
-
Add 50 drops of yellow and eight drops of red food coloring. It came out really orange but not fake looking.
-
Pour it into a Bundt pan and bake it according to the box directions.
-
Take the bundt cake out of the pan and place it on a wire rack.
-
In a sauce pan heat ¼ Cup orange juice and ¼ Cup sugar until sugar dissolves.
-
Spoon the juice and sugar mixture over the cake. Allow about 2 hours for it to completely cool.
-
Place 1 Cup heavy cream in a saucepan on the stove allowing it to heat up to a simmer but not a boil. Take pan off of burner. Then put the 10 ounce bag of Cup Dark chocolate chips plus 2 Tablespoons butter in the pan and stir until gooey and chocolaty-smooth.
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I let it cool just a few minutes.
-
Pour ganache over the top of cake evenly.
-
Pour chocolate sprinkles on top.
Oh, you’re such a good daughter – and a sensational cook. That looks wonderful.
Lillian
lillianscupboard.wordpress.com
Thank you! It tasted pretty darn good too! 🙂
OH.MY.GOODNESS! I’ve been cleaning out the pantry and wondered what I was going to do with that orange cake mix! ;-} You’re a genius…and a wonderful daughter too. Thanks for sharing this yummy treat.
I’m glad you liked it! The little bits or orange I chopped up really made a difference too. I enjoyed that piece in the bottom photo!
This cake looks so good!!! =)
Thank you!
Such a nice cake! I love mandarins, it must be delicious! And your ganache looks so smooth and perfect. Mine almost always ends up lumpy. I want a slice of that decadence 🙂
Thank you! It was lumpy for a while but I kept stirring and finally it smoothed out. I did set it back on the burner (that was turned off) for a minute for a little extra heat and it seemed to work. Mom said it was a big hit at the party last night – thank goodness!
Looks sinfully delicious! Thanks especially for leaving out the calories and give Aunt Doris a big Christmas hug!!
Thank you and I will give her a great big hug. Merry Christmas to you and yours – love y’all!
This looks amazing! I love the orange/chocolate combination, so I could probably chow down on a few slices of this, haha.
My favorite part was that I could doctor up a box mix – heck, I felt like that Sandra person who does semi-homemade! 🙂 Thank you!
I’ve never had it from a mix but I do love orange cake.
Generally, I have an orange cake with a whipped topping like Dream Whip or something like that. This was new but I was in a hurry! 🙂
Thanks for linking up to Marvelous Mondays at Call Me PMc ~Paula
I love orange & chocolate together….and ganache on just about any sweet, is just fine by me!!
Stopping by from Marvelous Mondays – have a great week!!
Thank you! Then you are going to love this cake!! I appreciate you dropping by and please come again!
I absolutely love the pairing of orange with dark chocolate! And it is no secret that I have a mild obsession with bundt cakes. 😉
Thank you for sharing at Marvelous Mondays this week!
Thank you Carrie! I too have an obsession – in fact, I have a Pinterest board called Bundt -O- Rama! 🙂
This orange cake with chocolate ganache looks so yummy! We are so excited to have you sharing your recipes on MyRecipeMagic.com. Have a terrific weekend! -Cyd (mother of the Six Sisters)
Thank YOU! I really appreciate the new venue and the attention all of the sisters pays to detail! Thank you for dropping by and please come again!