The Best Orange Cake Recipe

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!

Easy Orange Cake Recipe with Vanilla

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.