Chocolate Clementine Cake

A delicious way to use clementines! Standard boxed yellow cake mix is kicked up with clementines and chocolate in this refreshing and very easy cake!

• Preparation Time: 25 mins
• Cooking Time: 24 mins
• Total Time: 49 mins
• Calories: 569 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 drop red food coloring
• ½ cup water, or as needed
• 1 (15.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix (such as Betty Crocker®)
• 4 clementines
• ¼ teaspoon orange extract, or more to taste
• 2 (16 ounce) containers chocolate fudge frosting
• 1 clementine, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clementine, peeled and segmented, or more to taste

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.

Step 2

Finely grate zest from 2 clementines and set aside. Juice all 4 clementines into a measuring cup; add enough water to reach 1 cup.

Step 3

Pour clementine juice into a large bowl. Add zest, cake mix, eggs, oil, orange extract, vanilla extract, salt, and red food coloring. Blend with an electric mixer until batter is smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide batter into greased cake pans and smooth the top.

Step 4

Bake cakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 24 to 29 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack, about 30 minutes more.

Step 5

Transfer cakes to a flat surface. Carefully trim the tops of the cakes with a sharp knife to level them; cut each layer in half horizontally. Transfer one cake layer to a serving plate and spread with 1/2 cup of the frosting; top with another cake layer and 1/2 cup of frosting. Scatter chopped clementine over the frosting. Stack and frost third and fourth cake layers. Arrange clementine wedges around the perimeter of the top layer.