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A four-layer terry’s chocolate orange drip cake with chocolate orange sponges, buttercream, drip and more! 

This beauty of a recipe is a showstopper, and you are all going to LOVE it! I am obsessed already with how it looks, and I just want to devour it. Honestly, it’s the best festive cake ever!

Terry’s chocolate orange 

So, I have over twenty chocolate orange-themed recipes on my blog now. I have over 700 recipes in total, but for over twenty of them to be chocolate orange themed may just show my absolute adoration for terry’s; it’s not terry’s, it’s mine. 

I just can’t help it though – my chocolate orange cheesecake has been on here for years and I still make it several times throughout the year. My Terry’s chocolate orange loaf cake is a cult classic amongst my readers, and the chocolate orange tart is so popular at Christmas. 

I had requests over and over again for a terry’s chocolate orange drip cake, so here it is. I made one and posted it a few years ago as the first drip cake I’d ever made (see the picture below!) and I was super proud. However, this recipe is just OUT OF THIS WORLD. 

Cake

For the sponge, I wanted to follow the same train of thought as my back-to-basics chocolate drip cake. The sponge is a classic chocolate Victoria sponge-style bake, which provides a really strong base for a drip cake. 

The chocolate flavour comes from cocoa powder as I find it creates an easier and better bake, but it’s flavoured with orange extract (or orange zest!). I Love using a strong orange extract for cakes as it really creates a punch with the flavour, but using the zest of two large oranges would work perfectly as well. Simply finely grate it and add it to the mix. 

I bake the sponges into these two tins and then split them in half once baked. I find it creates a better bake because you bake them at a lower temperature and for longer, and it helps keep the moisture in the sponge. If you find you have a dry chocolate cake, it’s definitely overbaked, or baked at too high a temp. 

If you ever find a cake recipe that has a varying amount of eggs, is because you need to weigh them. For best results, you need to weigh the eggs still in their shells, and then match the other ingredients’ weights. So as eggs can vary in weight, you may need 8, 9 or 10 for this bake. 

Buttercream

The buttercream is a simple, yet wonderfully delightful frosting for this bake. Yes I know, it seems like a lot – but it is a big cake! This is a showstopper of a chocolate-orange beauty, so we are going with it. 

Using block unsalted butter, icing sugar and melted terry’s chocolate orange creates the perfect frosting. I love using melted chocolate in a frosting, especially Terry’s. You must use a block of butter when making this though, and let your melted chocolate cool enough before adding it to the buttercream. 

This recipe creates a wonderfully thick frosting that’s perfect for in between the layers of cake, for the crumb coat, and for decorating the outside and top of the cake. 

Drip

The drip is a fairly simple one, and probably the only time I strayed from using Terry’s. This is partly because you technically already have to buy 3 for this bake to suit the decoration and buttercream, so I thought I would save some pennies and do my normal drip. 

Dark chocolate, milk chocolate and double cream – it’s perfection. If you wanted to use terry’s though, I’d recommend using the DARK terry’s with double cream and that’s it. Equal quantities of dark orange chocolate and cream will be a tasty tasty drip. 

I use small disposable piping bags to create the drip because I find the control so much easier. You can use a spoon, spatula, or similar instead – but the drip may be a bit more blobby in comparison. However, if that’s what you prefer, yay! 

Decoration

The decoration is quite simple really when you do a drip cake, as most of the look comes from the drip itself. I can’t help but add a swirl of leftover buttercream because 1) there is less waste, and 2) it looks SO PRETTY!! 

As always, I use the same piping tip that I nearly always use, my 2d closed star piping tip. You can create cute little swirls by swirling your hand as you pipe, or pipe directly downwards to create a different look – both are beautiful. 

I swirled the ganache slightly on top, and whilst that creates some of the decoration itself, some cute orange sprinkles also helped massively. With the segments of chocolate orange on each swirl of buttercream, the sprinkles and the ganache drip, you have the best decoration so easily done. 

Tips & Tricks 

This recipe lasts for 3-4+ days once made – I store it at room temp. 

You can freeze the sponges, frosting, or the entire cake for 3+ months. 

You can swap the orange flavour for other flavours like peppermint, or almond if you prefer! 

In this recipe I used:

Terry's Chocolate Orange Drip Cake!

A four-layer terry's chocolate orange drip cake with chocolate orange sponges, buttercream, drip and more! 
Print Pin Rate
Category: Cakes
Type: Drip Cake
Keyword: Chocolate, Christmas, Terry's
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Cooling & Decorating Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 18 People
Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

Cake

  • 500 g unsalted butter (or baking spread)
  • 500 g light brown soft sugar
  • 9-10 medium eggs
  • 400 g self raising flour
  • 100 g cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp orange extract (or zest of 2 oranges)

Buttercream

  • 450 g unsalted butter (room temp)
  • 900 g icing sugar
  • 300 g terry's chocolate orange (melted)

Ganache

  • 75 g dark chocolate
  • 75 g milk chocolate
  • 150 ml double cream

Decoration

  • terry's chocolate orange
  • sprinkles

Instructions

Cake

  • Preheat your oven to 170C/150 Fan, and line two 8"/20cm cake tins with baking parchment.
  • In a stand mixer, or a large bowl, beat together the unsalted butter and light brown soft sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add in the eggs, self raising flour, cocoa powder and orange extract and beat again until combined well. 
  • Split the mixture between the two tins.
  • Bake the cakes in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until baked through - check with a skewer to make sure they're done! 
  • Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, and then take out and leave to cool fully on a wire rack! 

Buttercream

  • Beat the unsalted butter on its own for minute or two, to soften it and loosen it. 
  • Add in the icing sugar and beat well until smooth and fluffy.
  • Finally, add in the melted terry's chocolate orange and beat again until smooth.

Decoration

  • Split the two cakes into four layers in total.
  • Put the first cake onto a cake board of plate. Add a little buttercream and spread. Repeat with the second and third sponges. Add the final sponge on top.
  • Using a small amount of buttercream, spread and smooth around the cake sides and top for a crumb coat and add to the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  • Once set, add more buttercream onto the tops and sides of the cake, and smooth around covering the cake completely in buttercream.
  • Once finished, put the cake in the fridge again for at least 30 minutes.

Ganache

  • Add the dark chocolate, milk chocolate and double cream to a bowl, and microwave until smooth.
  • Using a small piping bag or a teaspoon, drip the ganache down the sides of the cake.
  • Set the cake in the fridge again for 30 minutes!
  • Finish the cake off by piping on any leftover buttercream, and adding any sprinkles and terry's chocolate orange segments!

Notes

Find my other recipes on my Recipes Page!

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J x

© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.

34 Comments

  1. Abbie on January 1, 2024 at 10:58 am

    Hiya what size cake tin do you use?

  2. Angela on December 30, 2023 at 1:28 pm

    Hi. Do you have to have brown sugar or can you use white too? Thanks. X

  3. Vonne on December 27, 2023 at 12:04 pm

    I’ve only got 2 chocolate oranges with a smaller share pack of mini ones (125 grams compared to the 157g of the bigger ones)… Could I swap out some of the chocolate orange for general milk chocolate please?

  4. James on December 22, 2023 at 6:34 am

    5 stars
    I used your recipe but my wife wanted a highland cow cake. Great flavor! Glad they sell Terrys Chocolate here in the U.S! I used some of the slices for the cows ears.

  5. Zoe on November 14, 2023 at 6:03 pm

    Hi could i make this recipe in two 4 inch deep 6 inch cakes? If so what would the flour, sugar, butter and egg mix be? I think on one fof your other recipes you said 300g of each and 6 eggs? Would that work?

    Thanks – i can’t wait to make this. I made your 7th Birthday Blog 6 inch cake for my sons birthday which was amazing.

  6. Laura on July 23, 2023 at 5:42 pm

    Hi Jane, this looks amazing! If I’m making it the day before a party, should I bake the cake and cover and cling film? And add the buttercream the next day? Or can I stack, crumb coat and cover in buttercream? If I can, do I keep at room temperature or in fridge? Thank you!

  7. Jane on July 9, 2023 at 1:01 pm

    My microwave literally just blew up!! Could I heat the cream and chocolate for the ganache on the stove?

    • Jane's Patisserie on July 18, 2023 at 2:10 pm

      Yes you can – chop the chocolate really finely and put into a bowl, and heat the cream until just before boiling and pour over the chocolate. Leave to sit for 5 minutes, and then stir x



  8. Bekah on June 28, 2023 at 7:04 am

    Hi I’m going to have to use 6” tins as that’s all I have. How much should I reduce the recipe by? Can’t wait to try this on Friday

  9. Rob on June 26, 2023 at 8:40 am

    Hi there, I want to make a white chocolate drip – could I just use Terry’s white chocolate orange and double cream in equal amounts ??

    • Jane's Patisserie on June 27, 2023 at 11:46 am

      Hiya! No the ratio is different, it’s 3:1 chocolate to cream when using white chocolate x



  10. Natalie Barden on March 23, 2023 at 12:47 pm

    Hi Jane,

    I’m wanting to bake this for my birthday at the weekend. I usually use 3 layers in my cakes. If I were to split the mixture between 3 tins, how long would I bake them for? Should I alter the temperature at all?

    Thank you x

  11. delia on March 12, 2023 at 3:42 am

    thank u so much for sharing ur delicious recipe

  12. Sarah on March 10, 2023 at 12:57 pm

    Can I use marg in the cake? Or is there a reason butter works best? As usually marg is a go to for cakes!

    • Jane's Patisserie on March 17, 2023 at 10:55 am

      Hiya! This should be fine yes x



  13. Andy on December 12, 2022 at 10:40 pm

    Hi Jane, any tips on making this buttercream? Every time i have ever made buttercream, it never holds its shape/get it thick enough and it collapses into a mess as soon as its piped onto the cake. Thank you

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 15, 2022 at 1:54 pm

      Hiya! What butter are you using? Always use block butter for the best results! x



  14. Kerry on December 3, 2022 at 10:40 am

    Hi, so should the eggs weigh 400g as per flour weight?
    Thanks.

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 6, 2022 at 9:32 am

      Hiya! The eggs, weighed in their shells, should weigh as close to 500g as possible. Hope this helps! x



  15. Louise Fulton l on November 26, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    Hi Jane! Could I use large eggs, and if so, how many?

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 29, 2022 at 3:48 pm

      Hiya! Yes absolutely, I think about 7 but weigh them in their shells to match the dry ingredients just incase. Hope this helps! x



  16. Shelley on November 26, 2022 at 11:31 am

    I’m a bit confused about the eggs, you say to weigh them and match them to the other ingredients but which ingredients should they match to?

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 28, 2022 at 3:59 pm

      Hiya! They should match the flour and sugar. Hope this helps! x



  17. Alanna Paterson on November 17, 2022 at 7:21 pm

    I always struggle with getting my bake right so my sponges are sometimes dry. Can you recommend a cake soak for this recipe?

    Thanks!!

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 28, 2022 at 4:10 pm

      Hiya! You could try something similar to a lemon drizzle – just switch it to orange rather than lemon! Hope this helps! x



  18. Nic on November 15, 2022 at 8:11 am

    I can’t wait to try this! Would it be possible to do the buttercream with Terry’s White Chocolate so that it can be coloured for a childs birthday cake? x

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 16, 2022 at 9:25 am

      Hiya! Yes this should be fine, enjoy! x



  19. Odelle Smith on November 15, 2022 at 3:51 am

    5 stars
    Terry’s chocolate orange drip cake 🍰 looks and tastes fantastic, rich decant chocolate cake with luchous succulent Ganache chocolate frosting recipe with melted chocolate orange drip cake try it out it’s fantastic that’s for sure I’m going to have to make this delight easy to follow recipe many thanks for sharing Jane a keeper that’s for sure!

  20. Morgan on November 14, 2022 at 9:32 am

    If you didn’t have those deep tins and needed to use 4 tins, how long would you cook them for and at what temp ?

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 16, 2022 at 10:17 am

      Hiya! Try 160ºc fan, for 30-35+ mins. Hope this helps! x



  21. Lily A-C on November 14, 2022 at 8:52 am

    Hi Jane could you use Terry’s chocolate orange pieces in the sponge too? Similar to some of your other chocolate orange recipes?❤️ PS Can’t wait to make!!

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 16, 2022 at 10:16 am

      Hiya! They may sink – I personally don’t think its worth it, but its completely up to you! Hope this helps x



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