The Best Orange Cake Recipe | Simple. Tasty. Good. (2024)

The Best Orange Cake Recipe | Simple. Tasty. Good. (1)Watch my video of how I am preparing a superb vanilla and orange cake recipe from scratch in my fabulous KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini! What a delicious afternoon tea cake… Delicious!

So here is the thing.

I stumbled upon a similar orange cake recipe while we were on a trip traveling around in Crete, a Greek island. I ordered that cake after dinner in a little town somewhere. I think it was Rethymnon but I am not sure about it.

Anyway, we had just had this fabulous traditional roasted lamb leg dinner with baked potatoes and fresh tomatoes.

Greece

And wanted to end in style with a sunny dessert.

My god.

That orange cake for dessert was so incredibly moist and sugary and at the same time also light and fluffy as well. What an incredible cake!

But what hit me the most was the orange flavor. That strong flavor of the orange was so overwhelming.

And yet it was very natural because I could taste that whoever baked this cake had also incorporated a good deal of fresh orange zest into the cake batter.

So I decided there and then to start a baking experiment at home even though I am not much of a baker at all.

And my search for an easy recipe for orange cake using fresh oranges began.

Baking

So then I thought, there surely has to be one good secret behind every good cake from scratch. One that I haven’t discovered yet because my cakes used to be so bad in the past.

They all seemed to come out of the oven shaped like an erupting volcano in the middle. But then also terribly blackened on the sides and still raw and runny in the middle. Or on the contrary, extremely dry like sandpaper.

Does that sound familiar to you?

Cake Disasters

I can tell you all about it.

It probably has something to do with the consistency of the batter. And the ration of the ingredients in it. I’m more of an experimental cook. And therefore I am not good at sticking to a recipe. Which totally explains why baking is not really my thing and never will be.

What about you?

Are you a good baker?

The Best Orange Cake Recipe with Orange Juice

Anyway, I have always found that very strange.

Up until the moment that I realised that I should probably follow a cake recipe to a tee.

Also because ready made batters from my local supermarket do succeed in my kitchen! But then I guess that this tells more about me than about those supermarket batters.

But enough is enough.

It is about time that I try to make one good old school cake in my life then. And guess what, I think that I really found the perfect orange cake recipe with orange juice at last. And an orange cake recipe using whole orange that I will stick to in the future.

No free styling anymore!

Video Recipe

But before we head over to my perfect orange cake recipe below, please watch my video of how I am preparing this superb vanilla and orange cake recipe in my fabulous KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini!

I did prepared this cake in my fabulous KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini.

Manual

If you don’t have a stand mixer, then you can combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until you end up with a fairly runny batter. Then pour it all in a buttered springform pan and bake the cake until it is fully set and cooked in the middle.

Do you love baking cakes like these?

Then you should also check out another delicious cake recipe that I am very fond and proud of: my almond cake with honey and yogurt! Speaking of fluffy light cakes, that one is also a keeper! Do try it out as well!

Enjoy!

The Best Orange Cake Recipe | Simple. Tasty. Good. (2)

Easy Orange Cake Recipe with Vanilla

The Best Orange Cake Recipe | Simple. Tasty. Good. (3)

Print

Orange Cake Recipe

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr

Watch my video of how I'm preparing a superb vanilla and orange cake in my fabulous KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings: 6 people

Calories per serving: 233 kcal

Ingredients

  • zest and juice of ½ fresh large orange
  • 3 medium eggs separated
  • 4,5 oz caster sugar (125 g)
  • 6,5 oz self-raising flour (185 g), sifted
  • 3 tbsp very soft unsalted butter (45 g)
  • 2 drops vanilla extract
  • salt

Instructions

  1. 1) First off: add the soft butter, the sugar and the egg whites to the bowl of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer Mini.

  2. 2) Attach the wire whip. Lower the mixer head.Then set the speed at 4 and mix the ingredients for 2 minutes until pale and airy.

  3. 3) Adjust the speed to 6 and whip the ingredients for 3 more minutes.

  4. 4) Then add the self-raising flour, the orange zest and juice, a pinch of salt, the vanilla extract and the egg yolks to the mixing bowl.Mix the ingredients at speed 4 for 2 minutes.

  5. 5) Then adjust the speed to 6 and whip the ingredients for 3 more minutes.

  6. 6) Remove the wire whip.Pour the cake batter in a buttered springform pan of 6-inches (15 cm) in diameter. Bake the orange cake in a preheated oven at 338°F (170°C) for 45 minutes until set in the middle.

  7. 7) Then remove the cake from the oven and let it cool down fully in its tin. Cut the cake into wedges and serve.

    The Best Orange Cake Recipe | Simple. Tasty. Good. (4)

Also check out these recipes

The Best Orange Cake Recipe | Simple. Tasty. Good. (2024)

FAQs

How do you make an orange cake less bitter? ›

Solution: boil the oranges. This removes the bitterness as well as softening the oranges to make them “jammy”, which makes the cake damp and sticky inside.

What can I add to my cake to make it taste better? ›

Enhance With Extracts

Pure vanilla extract and pure almond extract are great options, but you could also try lemon extract or orange extract paired with fresh citrus zest. Although more expensive, vanilla bean paste or fresh vanilla beans will provide even richer flavor to a boxed mix.

What makes a cake taste good? ›

Adding extra eggs when baking a cake brings out a lighter and richer flavor, making your dessert even more delicious! Baking tip #6: Adding a touch of vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon to be exact, is all it takes to make your box cake taste better, even homemade.

Why does my orange cake taste bitter? ›

You may have grated into the pith (the white part of orange skin) instead of just zesting the orange part. This tastes very bitter and can affect the flavour quite a bit. You may have over reduced (boiled) the sticky orange syrup which resulted in it burning a little. Burnt orange tastes very bitter.

What causes bitter taste in cake? ›

Overmixing: Overmixing the batter can lead to the development of gluten, which can result in a dense and tough texture. Overmixing can also introduce more air into the batter, which may cause certain compounds to react and create a bitter taste. Overbaking: Baking the cake for too long can lead to a.

How do you make your cake taste like it came from a bakery? ›

Step 1: Look at the directions on the cake mix. Step 2: Add one more egg (or add 2 if you want it to be very rich). Step 3: Use melted butter instead of oil and double the amount. Step 4: Instead of water, use whole milk.

How do I make box cake taste like bakery? ›

Adding something rich and creamy is perfect for adding moisture and rich flavor: Adding some sour cream, yogurt or even mayonnaise will add a more dense, rich flavor (as a side note, there was a very popular cake made in the 70's and the secret ingredient was mayonnaise!).

Should you beat eggs before adding to cake mix? ›

For chemically-leavened cakes — that is, cakes calling for baking powder or baking soda — it's OK if you don't remember to add the eggs until the end. Martina says, “Late in the mixing stage, eggs will incorporate better if you lightly beat them before adding to the batter.

What happens if I use 2 eggs instead of 3 in cake mix? ›

Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery. The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein. As Fine Cooking explains, when the protein in eggs combines with the protein in flour, they produce the overall structure of the baked good.

How many eggs should go in a cake? ›

How many eggs exactly does it take to make a great cake? In a traditional 9-inch, two-layer American butter cake, four eggs seem to be the typical number found in most recipes, but other butter cake recipes call for anywhere from 2 to 6 eggs.

How do you fix a bitter taste in a cake? ›

One way to fix a bitter cake is to add a small amount of an acidic component, which is highly recommended especially when you toss in too much baking soda. If your cake recipe contains chocolate, you can add a ½ teaspoon of cocoa powder. Here are some other ingredients you can try: Lemon juice.

How do you take the bitterness out of a cake? ›

Use of baking soda while baking or making cake, makes the cake taste bitter due to the formation of Sodium carbonate during heating. Hence, to neutralize the formed sodium carbonate and its bitter taste, we use tartaric acid. As an acid tartaric acid neutralizes the base effect of Sodium bicarbonate.

Why is my orange almond cake bitter? ›

To eliminate bitterness in an orange cake, it's crucial to remove the seeds and the white pith of the oranges before using them. Boiling the oranges, as done in this recipe, helps reduce bitterness by softening and removing some of the compounds responsible for the bitter taste.

How do you take the bitterness out of citrus? ›

Since it's nearly impossible to remove the pith completely, the best way to get the bitter out is blanching the zest three times, by dropping it into boiling water to release the bitterness, then shocking it with ice water to stop the cooking (and repeat, and repeat).

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Arline Emard IV

Last Updated:

Views: 6354

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (52 voted)

Reviews: 91% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Arline Emard IV

Birthday: 1996-07-10

Address: 8912 Hintz Shore, West Louie, AZ 69363-0747

Phone: +13454700762376

Job: Administration Technician

Hobby: Paintball, Horseback riding, Cycling, Running, Macrame, Playing musical instruments, Soapmaking

Introduction: My name is Arline Emard IV, I am a cheerful, gorgeous, colorful, joyous, excited, super, inquisitive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.