Chocolate Iced Orange cake

Baking again! Every time I bake, I am not quite sure what will turn out. I made this for our bible study group as it was our turn to host. It had great reviews! When I want an easy cake, I usually use a cake mix. But ofcourse, I cannot just leave it as it is. I like to spiff it up a little to make it more unique and perhaps homemade like? So, I used an orange...
cake mix from Duncan Heinz. Here's a great tip if you want a nicely leveled cake. I have noticed that many cake mixes tend to errupt in the middle when it cooks. So I usually sift the whole mix before adding the wet ingredients. This always helps to balance out the baking powder and evenly spread throughout the cake well. Normally I add orange juice instead of milk or water. But I didn't have any at hand. Another good tip to keep the cake level even is to bake the cake at a slightly lower temperature and bake for a longer time. Once it was cool, I divided it into two and brushed it with a light orange syrup made with orange marmalade or sometimes I use Grand Marnier. Just a tablespoon will do. Then I used a chocolate butter icing for the filling and to ice the whole cake. I had strawberried at hand and used it to make the cake pretty. Next time instead of cutting the strawberries into half and decorating it, I will use the strawberries whole. I found that putting the inside of a halved strawberry on the icing, made the strawberry start to screte its moisture. Next time, chocolate dipped strawberries would be even better for decorating.