A super tender, full flavored, easy to make cake that is surprisingly addictive!
I am not sure whose recipe this is, but all of the women in my family have it in their go to recipe book, the one that is a 'best of' of sorts. Also there? My super easy Lemon Velvet. I know, I know, I gots citrus on my mind.
The orange zest is my addition, but it goes a long way towards enhancing the orange flavor. I do skip making the glaze sometimes and instead warm and pour over some lovely sticky orange marmalade to good effect.
OJ Is Everything
This cake is called Orange Cake for a reason and it's that lovely bright but not too overpowering orange flavour. If you use a lackluster orange you will get lackluster results. In season oranges result in the tastiest cake, but if oranges are not in season you can still make this cake. Just pick a juice with pulp for more robust flavour.
Why Use Oil in Cake
Here are three main reasons why and one accidental bonus!
1.) It's faster - no softening butter
2.) It is decidedly cheaper than butter
3.) It makes for a VERY moist cake.
What's the accidental bonus you may ask? Well - if you didn't feel like busting out your mixer you can easily whisk this up by hand.
Want More Cakes with Oil?
Check out the crowd favourite Marble Cake
My Super Tender Yogurt Cake
A One Bowl Chocolate Cake
Watch the Step by Step Orange Cake Video Below
Made this cake? Please rate it by clicking on the stars below! Appreciate your love and support! Want to share that fabulous click? Tag me on instagram @flourandspiceblog - can't wait to see your creations!
Orange Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup canola oil or other neutral tasting oil
- 1 to 1 ¼ cup sugar see notes at bottom
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Zest of one orange
- ¾ cup fresh orange juice (see notes for bottled) approx the juice of 3 oranges, remove seeds, some pulp is fine
Orange Glaze
- ¾ cup Fresh Orange Juice (strained)
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Orange Zest
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 6-inch (what I used) or a 9-inch pan and set aside.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.
- Take out a large mixing bowl and briskly whisk the oil, sugar, and zest together till combined.
- Add the eggs one by one whisking well after each addition.
- Then alternate between adding the flour and juice in three batches until combined.
- Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 35-50 minutes depending on the pan you use. My 6-inch took longer since the cake was higher, my 9-inch is done earlier.
- Let it cool for ten minutes then invert onto a cake plate and pour the glaze over while the cake is still warm.
For the Glaze
- While the cake is baking bring the glaze ingredients to a boil in a small non stick saucepan and simmer for 10-15 minutes until it is thickens and becomes syrupy. It will run off your cooking utensil in languid drops.
Notes
Pin me to hang on to me!
AALIYA DOSSA says
Awesome Awesome Awesome SJM ! 🙂
its in the oven and batter consistency as in picture 5 stars 🙂
THANK YOU SARAH !
Sarah Mir says
Thank you SO SO much Aaliya! I remember you being quite the baker so I am honored that you are trying this recipe!
Madiha K says
This is our family’s favourite cake! My mother is lactose intolerant so this is the only cake we make and she absolutely adores it and requests it all the time for her chai time
Sarah Mir says
That just gives me the warm fuzzies!
Traci says
I was thinking of making this into a bundt cake. Any idea how many cups of batter the recipe makes? Will the batter fill the bundt pan or do you think i should double the recipe?
Sarah Mir says
Hey Traci! This isn't a partcularly tall cake, so I would guess somewhere around 4 cups of batter which may be too little a bundt cake. I have one of those old school donut looking bundt pans and it works for that!
H P Sheikh says
Hello. I wanted to know if we can use brown sugar in this recipe instead of granulated ?
Sarah Mir says
Hi there! I wouldn't since brown sugar has a very different texture and flavour!
Safaa Iqbal says
Hi ! Have you made this before in a Bundt cake pan ? I’ve made this cake before in the regular cake pan and it was amazing . Was hoping to make it in a Bundt pan to look more impressive for a dinner . Thanks !
Sarah Mir says
HI Safaa! I think we may have discussed this, but just in case anyone else is wondering, it's not a lot of batter and bundt pans tends to be huge so I would double up!
Margaret G says
Thank you, I made it last night and it came out fantastic and the family loved it.
Sarah Mir says
That's great to hear Margaret!!! Thank you for sharing that and rating the recipe!
Sarah Asad says
I just made this and it came out super yummy! Perfect texture and delicious orange taste
Sarah Mir says
Thank you so much Sarah!
Ivy says
Hi Sara, thanks for sharing your recipe.
I just baked this cake and it’s moist and delicious. I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup and it’s perfect.
Wish I could share the photo. But that’s okay. I’ll surely enjoy it.
Sarah Mir says
Hi there! I am so glad you enjoyed it! love to see people make a recipe their own!
Reina Alfonso says
I am definitely making this cake sometimes this week, it sounds amazing Thank you so much for this recipe, I am already rating this recipe because I know it will be perfect.!!!!
Sarah Mir says
Thank you Reina! I appreciate the vote of confidence! Hope you loved it!
Skye says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. love it.
Am I able to replace the orange with lemon ?
Sarah Mir says
Hi Skye! I am glad to hear it. I have not tried switching the citruses but someone once had and told me they quite liked it. Hope this helps!