Orange Cake Recipe (Moist, Made With Whole Oranges)
“Everyone LOVED this cake! One person called it divine, another…went on and on about it!… It is very moist and strong orange flavor…” Lynn
This super moist orange cake recipes is soft, moist, and packed with bold citrus flavor – made with whole oranges for intense fresh orange flavor.
It’s simple to make using a blender or food processor, and delivers that “wow” factor whether you serve it plain, dusted with powdered sugar, or topped with orange buttercream.
I’ve been making a version of this recipe, originally from Noreen Gilletz, for over 30 years. If you love orange desserts with bold (not subtle) orange flavor, this one’s a keeper.
What to expect
Taste & texture
- Soft, tender cake that’s exceptionally moist
- Bold orange flavor throughout – not just a hint
- Any bitterness from the orange peel is reduced with a simple trick
Process & ease
- Made with whole oranges for maximum flavor – blended for a smooth batter.
- No juicing or zesting – just blend and go
- Simple prep with minimal ingredients
Using whole oranges gives the cake its signature fresh, intense citrus flavor. If your oranges have a thick white pith, trimming some of it before blending helps keep the flavor bright and balanced without bitterness.
Easy enough for everyday, but special enough to serve at a shower, tea, or dinner party.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
- Oranges: Use 2 sweet, seedless oranges (navel, Cara Cara, or Valencia all work well). If the oranges have very little white pith under the rind, you can skip removing it. Thicker pith should be trimmed to avoid bitterness
- Remaining cake ingredients: eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, salt.
- Glaze or frosting (optional): butter, icing sugar, orange juice, and orange zest
Substitutions
- Flour – you can substitute 1/4 of the all-purpose flour with almond flour or whole wheat flour. Replacing more than that will change the texture of the cake and make it denser.
Variations
- Glaze/frosting (optional)
- I use a thin orange buttercream glaze, but you can easily adjust it. For a thicker frosting, use more butter and icing (confectioner’s) sugar or less orange juice.
- A 3-minute chocolate buttercream icing (like we use on our best banana cake) is excellent here because chocolate and orange are a perfect pairing.
- Or try this cream cheese frosting from our blueberry cake recipe. Add orange zest to make it an orange cream cheese frosting.
- Decoration – For a simple finish, try orange peel, thinly sliced orange slices, a dusting of confectioner sugar, chocolate shavings, or crushed toasted nuts.
Step-by-step instructions
Tips
- Reduce bitterness: Trim most of the white pith under the orange peel before processing the oranges. This keeps the taste bright and prevents bitterness.
- Use room-temperature ingredients: Butter and eggs blend more smoothly (without curdling), helping create a lighter, more even texture.
- Don’t overmix: Once the flour is added, mix just until combined to keep the cake tender.
Shortcuts
- Use thin-skinned oranges: If your oranges have very little white pith, you can use them whole without trimming.
- Keep the finish simple: Skip the glaze or frosting and dust the cooled cake with icing (confectioners’) sugar instead.
What to serve with orange cake
This cake is flavorful enough to stand on its own, but a few simple additions can round it out for dessert or entertaining.
For a simple finish: Whipped cream or a spoonful of lightly sweetened yogurt. Or a side of fresh berries.
For a more dessert-style plate: A scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or a drizzle of chocolate or caramel sauce.
For brunch or afternoon tea: Coffee, espresso, or tea. And fresh fruit or a light fruit salad.
Orange cake tips & FAQs
Most of the bitterness comes from the white pith, not the peel itself. To keep the flavor bright without bitterness, trim away most of the pith before blending the oranges.
If your oranges are very thick-skinned, you can also boil the peel to mellow any bitterness.
Yes. Using whole oranges (including the peel) gives the cake a deeper citrus flavor and extra moisture. Just remove any seeds and trim excess pith if it’s thick.
You’ll need a food processor or blender to break down the oranges and create a smooth batter.
You can also use it to cream the butter, sugar, and eggs, then blend in the oranges – no need to wash it in between.
You can use a 9″ (23cm) springform pan, two 8″ (20cm) round pans (for two layers), an 8″ (20cm) square pan, a 9″ round pan, or a 9×5″ (23×12.7″) inch loaf pan.
Baking time will vary, so start checking for doneness during the last 10 minutes.
Yes. The cake keeps well at room temperature for a day and actually improves in flavor after a few hours. For longer storage, let it cool completely, wrap well, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Dense texture is usually caused by overmixing, too much liquid, or inaccurate flour measurement. Use room-temperature ingredients, measure flour carefully, and avoid adding extra orange, which can make the center heavy or sink.
More cake recipes to try:
If you enjoyed this moist orange cake, here are a few more easy, popular options to try:
- Best banana cake with chocolate icing – super moist and very popular
- Moist apple cake recipe with bourbon caramel sauce – warm spices, decadent sauce!
- Simplified blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting – a simple version that is still special
- Easy berry cake – with fresh or frozen mixed berries.
Need a gluten-free option? Try our orange polenta cake – citrusy, moist, and naturally gluten-free.
Please leave a 5-star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe. Thank you so much!
Moist Orange Cake Recipe
Equipment
- food processor (or blender), medium-large mixing bowl, 9" (23cm) springform pan, Note 1 for other pan options.
Video
Ingredients
whole orange cake
- 2 large seedless oranges about 184g each
- ¾ cups butter, cut in chunks 1½ sticks
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar (use an extra ¼ cup/50g if oranges aren't too sweet)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour Note 2
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt skip if using salted butter
orange glaze or buttercream frosting (optional) Note 3
- 1 cup icing sugar also called confectioners or powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 orange (use half an orange for fresh orange juice and zest) other half for decoration
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- HEAT OVEN TO 350F/177C. Spray 9 inch (23cm) springform pan with oil. Note 1 for other pan options.
- PREPARE ORANGES: Using a sharp knife, place orange on cutting board and slice off the thin top orange layer all around the orange. Try to get as little of the white pith layer as possible (leaving on some is fine – no need to obsess!). Then slice off the white pith layer and discard. Repeat with second orange. Cut oranges into quarters. Shortcut: If your oranges only have a very thin layer of pith, you can use the whole orange.
- CREAM BUTTER, SUGAR, EGGS: Place butter, sugar and eggs in food processor bowl. Process for 2 minutes at high speed until fluffy and creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl once or twice. Scoop mixture into medium-large bowl.
- GRIND ORANGES: Place oranges and orange peels in food processor. No need to clean out processor first. Process until finely blended, about 1 minute. Scrape orange mixture into bowl with butter mixture.
- FINISH BATTER: Add flour mixture of flour and baking powder. Gently fold into wet mixture just until incorporated. Do NOT over mix or the cake will be dense. Pour batter into prepared pan. Tap pan on counter to level the batter evenly.
- BAKE: for 45-50 minutes or until cake no longer jiggles when shaken and when cake tester or toothpick is inserted in center and comes out clean. Two 8" round pans will take less time, about 25-35 minutes. Timing depends on size of oranges (amount of liquid in cake) and your oven (all ovens are different and not perfectly accurate on temperatures). Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing on pan. Cool completely on cooling rack before frosting.
- MAKE FROSTING/GLAZE (OPTIONAL): While cake is baking, whisk icing/confectioner sugar, 1/2 of orange juice and orange zest with a fork in a small bowl. Add more orange juice until you get the consistency you like. Note 3 for traditional orange buttercream frosting.
- DECORATE: Sprinkle orange cake with powdered icing sugar (through a sieve) if not using frosting. If using frosting/glaze, spread it on top of cake letting it slip down the sides if desired. Decorate cake with orange zest strips, orange slices, drained mandarin oranges, a little bit of zest or crushed nuts if you like.
Recipe Notes
- Pan options: Different pan sizes will affect baking time, so start checking for doneness during the last 10 minutes. You can use:
- 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan (what I use)
- Two 8-inch (20 cm) round pans (for a layer cake)
- 8-inch (20 cm) square pan
- 9-inch round pan
- 9×5-inch (23×12.7 cm) loaf pan
- Flour options: You can substitute up to 1/4 of the flour (in this recipe, 1/2 cup/68g) with almond flour or whole wheat flour. More than that will make the cake dense.
- Orange frosting/glaze: The recipe makes enough thinner frosting/glaze to cover the top of the cake. If you want a thicker, more traditional buttercream frosting (easier with a food processor or electric mixer, use:
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) icing sugar,
- 1/4 cup butter ((4 tbsp/1/2 stick/57g) and
- 2-3 tbsp orange juice.
- Other frosting options:
- A chocolate buttercream frosting like we use on our best banana cake is a fantastic option because chocolate and orange are a perfect match.
- Or try this cream cheese frosting from our blueberry cake recipe. Add orange zest to it if you like.
- Lower calorie, lower fat version: Substitute half the butter with unsweetened applesauce using 6 tbsp butter and 6 tbsp applesauce. And skip the frosting (just dust with icing sugar).
- Make Ahead:
- The whole orange cake can be stored at room temperature for 3-4 days in an airtight container to keep it fresh and moist.
- The cake can also be frozen for 2-3 months.
Very easy to make. However my cake came out on the drier side. Not moist. I might have overbaked it perhaps, but definitely did not over-mix. As I was mixing the batter, I felt like it was on the drier side. I want to try to make it again given all the great reviews and I really want to make a moist orange cake, should I maybe lessen the flour? or add butter?
Thank you so much!
Sorry to hear that the cake was dry Michele. Here are a couple of possible reasons. You might have overbaked it, as you mentioned, but more likely, the temperature of your oven is off (most are). In your case, it might be a bit on the high side. You can buy an inexpensive thermometer to check the temperature of your oven and adjust accordingly.
Another common reason is using too much flour. Surprisingly, a cup measure can add 20% more flour! Two solutions for that: first, it’s best to weigh the flour on a kitchen scale. Second, if you don’t have a scale, use the scoop and sweep method. Scoop flour into your measuring cup with a spoon, then level it off with a knife. I assume you used all the butter called for. I hope your next try will be perfect and moist! Good luck!
P.S. You can try a simple syrup to moisten your current orange cake – brush on 3-4 tablespoons and see if that helps moisten it a bit.
Can I leave 6 stars? I cannot begin to tell you how much people enjoyed this cake. I’m so grateful for your kindness in sharing this recipe with us all. I made it exactly how you wrote it and it was the talk of the town! The flavors were bright and satisfying and it stayed moist! I shared my result on Instagram and so many people asked for the recipe. I pointed them your way! In the words of my mom “this recipe is a keeper!” All thanks to you. Lastly, I froze the remaining 2 slices, and once thawed it was just as orangey and delicious as ever. You rock!
You made my day Laura! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment. We really appreciate that!
This is a truly excellent recipe! It has already worked a few times for me and I’m hardly a great or experienced baker. The orange flavours are just right and it’s always gorgeously moist. Thank you very much!
So happy to hear that Vittorio! Thanks very much for leaving a comment.
This recipe is delicious. I used blood oranges and substituted half of the plain flour with equal parts almond meal and wholewheat flour. It was amazing. Great tip about trimming off the white pith. Much less bitter but still has that super orangey flavour. Now a staple in my recipe collection. ?
So glad you enjoyed the cake Jo! Our readers will appreciate you sharing your flour substitutions that obviously worked well.
How would I convert this recipe for a 9″ x 12″ cake tin please?
Or it’s not suitable for this?
Hi Sonya. The size pans that would works for this cake are 9″ (23cm) springform pan (what I use), two 8″ (20cm) round pans (for two layers), an 8″ (20cm) square pan, a 9″ round pan or 9×5” (23×12.7 cm) loaf pan.
Dimensions of cake pans will change the timing of baking cakes so always keep your eye on the doneness in the last 10 minutes or so. You can try your 9 x 12” pan but the cake will be thinner and take less baking time. If you can borrow one of the other options, that might work better. Hope that helps.
I made this cake for my mom’s 91st birthday. Is it supposed to be pretty dense? If not, did I do something wrong? Feel I might’ve overbaked it (50 minutes)–it came out almost like pound cake, pretty dense. I tried not to overmix it, but maybe I did. Thoughts? MIght try it again, but realized I wasn’t sure how it is supposed to turn out in terms of texture and density. Orange flavor was great.
Hi Carol. Sorry the cake wasn’t what you expected. It should be very moist and I’d say slightly on the denser side. You might be able to see that in the picture showing a slice of the cake. To troubleshoot, a few possible issues come to mind- oranges that are too large (excess liquid), your oven temperature is a bit off (pretty common) or over mixing. As I said, though, the cake is slightly on the denser side so perhaps not as light and fluffy as you were expecting. I hope that helps and that you might try it again if you like that kind of cake.
Thanks, Cheryl! My cake looked great (wish I could share a pic) and my family liked it. It did look like your photo. The oranges were very large—I think that is the key—and I think I overbaked it a tad. I will try it again—thanks for the input!
You’re very welcome Carol. So glad it wasn’t a total loss! Hopefully with a few tweaks it will be a winner next time.
Hi. Can this recipe convert to cupcakes or muffins? Thanks
Hi Lorraine. I haven’t tried cupcakes but they should be fine. You can bake them at the same temperature but for less time. Perhaps start checking after 25 minutes. Here’s a great article to help convert cakes to cupcakes https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2019/04/25/how-to-convert-cake-to-cupcakes. I hope that helps.
Hi… Will be trying this cake this weekend. I just wanted to mention that if you scale the recipe, the grams in brackets do not change. I just though it was worth to mention as some ladies might use the wrong quantities if using the grams. Looking forward to tasting this cake. ?
Hi Tania, You are right. The scaling only works on one type of measurement. I have been adding the second measurement (grams, ml, cm, etc) in the past year to help those who use the metric system instead of the imperial (US) system. But unfortunately, at this point, the program I use doesn’t scale those additional measures automatically. Thanks for pointing that out to readers. I hope you enjoy the cake.
Hi Cheryl
Thank you so much for replying ?… I made this recipe for an engagement cake yesterday and all i can say is Wow! Everybody came up to me and said its one of the best cakes they had eaten. I made it for Chef and she couldn’t do raving or eating it…. So thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. Big hugs ? ?
I’m thrilled for you. And honoured that you chose it for an engagement cake! ?
So good and moist. Thanks for posting it again as I have made your recipe in the past and am craving it again. I am definitely making it again in the next week.
Hi Deb. You must be referring to our orange polenta cake which has been posted for a quite a while. So glad you liked it. The whole orange cake is new this week and I hope you like it as well! Thanks so much for leaving a comment.
Delicious recipe – adding it to my favourites!
Thanks Fran! Hope you like it 🙂