Moist Orange Cake Recipe
This simple orange cake recipe is moist and delicious. An easy recipe that takes just 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to bake. Delicious on its own but even better when filled and frosted for a celebration. Perfect to cover with fondant or stacked for tiered cakes.
It is also a very versatile cake. You can use it with frosting as well as fillings such as orange and lemon curd, or other fruit fillings.
If you need a stable cake to stack at the bottom of a 4 tier wedding cake? This is it! I have used it to cover with fondant as well as modeling chocolate.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Oranges – When making cakes and desserts, it is best to use fresh orange juice and zest for maximum flavor.
- Flour – I like cake flour for this recipe because it lends a wonderful soft cake with a tender crumb. If you do not have cake flour you can make your own cake flour substitute
- Sour cream – while Greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream, you can also make your own at home.
- Vanilla – I think vanilla bean paste is perfect to use for this cake but you can certainly use vanilla extract or substitute some of the sugar for vanilla sugar.
- Fat – a combination of butter and oil makes this cake stable as well as light and airy.
Frequently asked questions
Unfrosted this cake will keep at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. Well wrapped in the fridge it will keep for a week. It can also be frozen for up to a month. Once frosted, it will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. In the fridge for a week and can be frozen for up to a month.
If you can’t use a cake immediately, I always recommend freezing rather than chilling. I find the freeze does a better job of locking in moisture as compared to the fridge.
Wrap the cake well in plastic wrap, then in parchment paper. If you plan to freeze it for longer, wrap it in aluminum foil again. The parchment will prevent freezer burns while the aluminum will keep the smell of other foods from getting into the cake.
Absolutely! the recipe card below will calculate this recipe from 6 to 16 inches for you. Just use the automatic calculator below
1 x makes 2 x 6-inch round cakes
2x makes 2 x 8-inch round cakes
3x makes 2 – 10 inch round cakes
4x makes 2 x 12 inch round cakes, etc
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Description
Please note the values – 1x= 6-inch cake, 2x =8-inch cake, 3x =10 inch cake, etc,
Ingredients
Cake batter
- ¼ cup (60 g) Butter
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Cooking oil
- 1 cup (200 g) Sugar
- 2 cups (250 g) Cake Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ ml (120 ml) Orange Juice
- 1 tsp Orange zest
- ½ tsp Orange extract
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
Orange buttercream
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted, room temperature
- 4 cups (480 g) Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Orange juice
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
Simple syrup
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) Orange juice
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F /165°C/ Gas Mark – 3
- Grease and line the baking pans with parchment paper. The original recipe – 1X makes 2 x 6-inch round cakes – 2X makes 2 x 8-inch round cakes – 3X makes 2 x 10-inch round cakes – 4X makes 2 x 12-inch round cakes – 5X makes 2 x 14-inch round cakes
- Dry ingredients – Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and oil. Whip for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Next add the eggs, one at a time. Followed by the vanilla bean paste or extract. Pro tip– adding eggs one at a time will prevent the eggs from curdling. If the batter does curdle just add a tablespoon of flour to help stabilize it.
- Next, add the flour mixture and orange juice in three batches. Combine well but do not over-mix. Pro tip – we do not want to activate the gluten in the flour so work gently once you add the flour.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pans. Pro tip – using baking/ cake strips for your pans will prevent a dome and excess caramelization around the edges which looks better for layer cakes.
- Bake on the middle rack until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. – 2 x 6-inch round cakes for about 20 to 25 minutes – 2 x 8-inch round cakes about 25 to 30 mins– 2 x 10-inch round cakes for about 45 to 55 mins– 2 x 12-inch round cakes for about 60 to 70 mins
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Pro tip – always cool cakes completely before decorating otherwise the frosting will melt on warm cakes.
Orange buttercream
- In the bow of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy.
- Then, add the salt, and powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once all the powdered sugar is in add the orange juice and vanilla extract
- Continue to whip for 2 to 3 minutes until the buttercream is pale but light and fluffy.
Simple syrup
- To prepare the simple syrup, boil the sugar, orange juice, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Once all the sugar is dissolved, boil a minute more – then cool completely.
Assemble
- Using a bread knife or cake leveler, level each cake layer by cutting the domes off. Brush each layer with simple syrup. Pro tip – Watch a video – how to level, torte, and fill cake like a pro.
- Place the first layer on the cake board or cake stand. Add a dollop of buttercream and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Then, place the second layer on top. Chill the cake for 15 minutes. Pro tip – chilling the cake will help hold the two layers together and prevent them from moving while frosting the outside.
- Add more frosting on the top and sides of the cake. Smooth the buttercream as best you can. Pro tip – an offset spatula for the top and a straight-edged spatula for the sides of the cake does a better job of smoothing. You can also dip a bench scraper in warm water for final smoothing
- Transfer any remaining buttercream to a piping bag with a piping tip. Pipe a border on the top and bottom of the cake. Alternatively, this cake can be coved with fondant as well.
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
I’m so amazing at what I saw on your blog,was searching for a nice site where I can get orange cake for my cousin’s wedding. Your orange cakes looks.
attractive and adorable
Thank you
Hi. The recipe only asks for 1 egg but the lemon or strawberry version requires 2. Is this correct? Made your orange curd and hoping now to make your orange cake.
Debbie, it is 2 eggs. Thank you so much.
G’day, in the directions it says to add flour mixture and sour cream in 3 batches but the ingredients doesn’t have sour cream, can you let me know how much sour cream, please
Hey Tylee. It is orange juice (not sour cream). We only use orange juice in this cake. In fact, I like to use reduced orange juice by adding 1 cup of juice in a saucepan and cooking it down until I have 1/2 cup for the cake. Once cooled I used it with the flour.