Made with fresh orange juice, zest, and a crunchy orange glaze topping, this Ultimate Orange Cake recipe packs a citrus punch in every bite.
Love citrus cakes? Check out my Lemon Drizzle Cake while you’re here!
You Choose The Cake Size
This versatile recipe can be made as a Bundt cake, two loaf cakes, or using a muffin pan for individual cakes. The recipe has baking times for all three options.
This tender and moist orange cake is bursting with fresh orange flavor. With a delicious crunchy glaze topping for texture, this easy to make cake is sure to make it into regular rotation!
Why This Recipe Works
- Using fresh orange juice as well as zest in both the cake and glaze packs this cake with amazing orange flavor.
- The crunchy glaze adds a different texture that takes this cake to a whole new level.
- Using oil as well as butter makes a super moist cake with a buttery flavor that can’t be beat.
Fresh Orange Juice Is Best
For me, this recipe used a whole bag of small oranges, but it was totally worth it for that beautiful orange flavor.
I highly recommend using fresh oranges for this cake. Using fresh juice is key to getting that bright citrus flavor.
Step By Step Instructions
In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt,and baking soda. Set aside.
In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together eggs and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add the oil slowly until combined and repeat with the butter. Add orange juice and zest and keep mixing slowly until combined.
Add flour mixture mix until just combined (being careful not to overmix).
Add batter to a prepared greased pan and bake until a cake tester comes out clean.
While the cake bakes, make the glaze by mixing orange juice, orange zest, and sugar.
When the cake is done and is still warm, transfer to a wire rack and prick the warm cake all over with a skewer and then pour over the glaze.
The juice will sink into the cake and the sugar will form a lovely, crisp topping.
Even Better The Next Day
With this recipe, the orange flavor becomes stronger with time, giving you a citrus burst in every bite. For the ideal texture, leave the cake to rest in an airtight container for 8 hours at room temperature before serving.
Tips For Best Results
- As this recipe uses oil instead of butter for extra moisture, it’s important to beat your eggs well for a light and fluffy result.
- I highly recommend using fresh oranges for this cake. Using fresh juice is key to getting that bright citrus flavor.
- For the zest, it’s much easier to zest the oranges before juicing.
- Be sure to only zest the orange portion of the peal as the white will be bitter.
- If the top of the cake browns quickly while baking, cover loosely with aluminum foil.
- Once glazed, let the cake cool completely before serving. It’s even better the next day!
- For More Vibrant Color, add some orange food coloring to the batter to achieve a bright orange color. This step is totally optional.
Did you make this?
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Let’s Make Ultimate Orange Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour sifted
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola oil
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1¼ cups freshly squeezed orange juice 3-4 large oranges
- 2 tablespoons orange zest plus more to taste*
For the Orange Crunch Glaze:
- ⅓ cup fresh orange juice 1-2 orange
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease your pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour and baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together eggs and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- With the mixer running on low speed add oil slowly until combined and repeat with the butter. Add orange juice and zest and keep mixing slowly until combined. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined (being careful not to overmix). NOTE: depending on the brand of flour you use, the batter may be quite wet.
- Add batter to the prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes for a 12 cup/10-inch bundt pan until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (see recipe notes for more pans and cooking times).
- While the cake bakes, mix together the orange juice, zest, and sugar to make the crunchy sugar glaze (see the notes section if you prefer a softer style glaze).
- Allow to cool 30 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack and adding the glaze.
- While the cake is still warm, remove from pan, prick the cake all over with a skewer and then pour over the glaze.
- Place a second sheet of baking paper next to the cooling rack. Transfer the cooling rack with the cake to the clean paper and pour the glaze that dripped off the cake onto the baking paper over the cake. You may have to repeat this step a few times. Once glazed the juice will sink into the cake and the sugar will form a lovely, crisp topping.
Tips + Notes
- To avoid sticking to the pan, allow the cake to cool in the pan for 30 minutes.
- With this recipe, the orange flavor becomes stronger with time, giving you a citrus burst in every bite. For the ideal texture, leave the cake to rest in an airtight container for 8 hours at room temperature before serving.
- As this recipe uses oil instead of butter for extra moisture, it’s important to beat your eggs well for a light and fluffy result.
- I highly recommend using fresh oranges for this cake. Like my Lemon Drizzle Cake, fresh juice is key to getting that bright citrus flavor.
- For the zest, it’s much easier to zest the oranges before juicing. Be sure to only zest the orange portion of the peal as the white will be bitter.
- If the top of the cake browns quickly while baking, cover loosely with aluminum foil.
- Once glazed, let the cake cool completely before serving. It’s even better the next day!
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was updated in 2021 to add a video.
Kieda says
This recipe is the BEST and everyone loves it. I was wondering if I could sub peach juice from a can of peaches for the oj? Peach juice cake without chunks of peaches inside.
Erren Hart says
You could, but the juice in peaches is quite sweet. I’d buy peach nectar. If you’re in the US, it’s in the goya section of the grocery store. To give it even more flavor, you can reduce it down on the stove and then allow it to cool before adding it to the batter, but that’s optional.
Annemarie says
Can I make this into a gluten free version?
Looks delicious!
Erren Hart says
Hi Annemarie, I haven’t tried it, but you can swap the flour for gluten-free all-purpose flour or gluten-free cake flour.
Dee says
No baking powder ?
Erren Hart says
Hi Dee, no baking powder. This recipe only uses baking soda.
Lori Warchol says
This was easy to do and tasted amazing
Moist and full of fresh orange flavor .
The only problem my glaze was so think and not liquedy so it just dried on top of
Cake ???? What found I have done wrong with the glaze ?????
Erren Hart says
The glaze is meant to be crunchy, but it shouldn’t be thick. The juice in the glaze seeps into the cake adding extra orange flavor and leaving behind a crunchy sugar coating on the cake. It sounds like you needed a little more juice to thin it out. If you prefer a softer glaze next time, please refer to the notes section for a link to that recipe. I hope this helps.
Carol Mannon says
A question, not a review. I need to bake ahead for a large fundraiser. Can this be frozen? If so, with or without the glaze. Glaze after thawing? Would appreciate any help on this.
Erren Hart says
Hi Carol, yes, this cake freezes well, and I would do it without the glaze. Just wrap it well and freeze it for up to three months. For the glaze, I would do the powdered sugar version of my Orange Glaze Recipe as the crunchy glaze on this recipe needs to be added to the cake while it’s warm. Hope this helps!
Sybil says
This cake is a winner every single time. I bake it as a bundt cake and then serve it with some slightly whipped heavy cream made with a bit of sugar and natural orange flavouring made from orange oil which I bought at the health food store. It is a hit every time. Thank you so much for this amazing cake recipe.
Erren Hart says
Hi Sybil, Thank you for the kind words and for sharing your delicious-sounding topping! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed your experience, and I hope you’ll come back to try more recipes!
Rose says
Yes, the cake started turning brown up top so I moved it to the bottom rack. It’s moist and high and very good. I didn’t glaze it because I feel it’d be too much for us.
Thanks for a yummy recipe!
Erren Hart says
Thank you for trying our Orange Cake, Rose! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it and that you didn’t glaze it. That’s the great thing about baking cakes–they can be customized to your liking. Thank you for choosing to bake with us and we hope to see you again soon.