Orange Juice Cake

This orange juice cake is bursting with citrus flavour! It’s a one bowl bundt cake that goes so well with a cup of hot tea or coffee and it’s sooo easy to make. Takes just 15 minutes to prepare the batter, and then it’s baked in the oven in less than an hour.

I love the citrus season. As I try to eat as seasonal as possible, the citrus season feels like a celebration! The only fruits that I’ve been eating lately are citrusy. I’m obsessed with pomelo, and can never say no to a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, or to snack on easy peeler clementines! Oh and my favorite? Blood oranges!

Today’s recipe is a very simple bundt cake flavored with fresh, sweet and tangy orange juice.

ORANGE JUICE CAKE

The texture of this cake is just incredible! It’s moist, dense and soft at the same time, and it’s just so perfect with a cup of hot tea (or coffee if you prefer). It’s great for lunch boxes, and to feed the hungry kids that come home after school and ask about dessert after a meal.

This cake is a favorite in our house. In fact, my Mum is obsessed with it! She asked me for the recipe and already baked it 4 times since the beginning of this year.

TOOLS NEEDED TO BAKE THIS CAKE

You will need a mixer. I always use my KitchenAid stand mixer to make cakes (it’s currently on a big sale!).

Always use measuring spoons and measuring cups when baking or even cooking food.

You will also need a citrus zester, this is the only citrus zester that I will ever use. You may have not come across it before, but it’s really worth checking out. It makes sure that you only get the nice orange bits when zesting an orange instead of the getting the white bits that are bitter.

Spatula – I have this set.

Flour sifter to make sure that your flour is nice and airy.

Bundt cake pan.

HOW TO MAKE ORANGE JUICE CAKE – STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL

This is a very simple cake to make, it’s a one bowl cake which means that there won’t be much washing up to do after baking. And it requires very simple ingredients.

Step 1.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk sugar with vegetable oil and eggs.

Mix in the vanilla extract. I usually either use vanilla pods and I scrape out the beans (don’t throw them away after one use, I usually use them 3 times!), or vanilla bean paste but it’s quite strong so be careful with the amounts that you’re using. Vanilla extract also works perfectly fine, you can either use the liquid extract or the powder one. 

Step 2.

Add the dry ingredients. Sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. I also like to add the orange zest at this point.

To zest an orange or a clementine or a lemon, I use this citrus zester. You may have not seen this model before, but it’s the best that I’ve ever used and I will never change my mind! To zest an orange, you only need the orange bits so you have to take out only the very surface really lightly. The white bits are bitter, and you don’t want that in your cake.

Step 3.

Mix in the freshly squeezed orange juice, and make sure not to overmix the batter.

Step 4. 

Grease and flour the bundt pan. I use my Mum’s really old bundt cake pan that she bought in the 1970’s! It’s a beautiful bundt cake pan, but I would never use it without greasing it as imagine what if you bake a beautiful cake in it, and then once you try to pull it out it gets stuck? So to avoid a situation like this, ALWAYS prepare your bundt cake pan before using it.

I grease it with a little bit of vegetable oil, then flour it lightly. This ensures that my cake comes out easily without breaking.

Pour in the batter, and bake for 50 minutes at 356f (180c). Check if your cake is ready at 40-50 minutes, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake (obviously not the empty round part in the middle) and see if it comes out clean. If not, then bake for a bit longer.

The cake will beautifully crack and will have a vibrant colour once baked.

PRO TIPS

• Always use fresh orange juice if available. Whilst you could use store-bought bottled juice, I found that fresh orange juice tastes best. 
• If you’re not so keen on oranges, you could use any other kind of citrus instead. Grapefruits and clementines work well.
• This cake is not too sweet, so before you think of reducing the amount of the sugar please try my recipe first and then adjust to your preference the next time you bake it.
• Store the cake at room temperature covered in an air-tight cake container, or cover it with cling film if you don’t have a container that fits. If you leave the cake out without covering it, it will dry out.
• If you like spiced cakes, you could add spices like ground nutmeg and cloves.

LOOKING FOR MORE EASY TO MAKE CAKES? TRY…

Easy banana cake

Vegan carrot cake

Upside down plum cake

Fig and lime cake

Apple Sharlotka cake

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS: 15 SMART POINTS PER PORTION ON WEIGHT WATCHERS FREESTYLE PLAN.

If you make this recipe, please don’t forget to rate it and share a picture on social media. Tag #LittleSunnyKitchen in your posts as I would really love to see what you make! Thank you for supporting Little Sunny Kitchen, so I can keep sharing my family recipes with you for free.

Orange Juice Cake

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Cake

Cuisine: International

Keyword: orange juice cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings: 16

Calories: 315kcal

Author: Diana

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (340 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (235 ml) vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) orange juice
• 1 orange zested

Instructions

• In a mixing bowl, whisk sugar with vegetable oil and eggs. Mix in vanilla extract.
• Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the orange zest and whisk the batter until everything is just combined.
• Add orange juice and give the batter a quick mix.
• Pour batter into a prepared bundt pan, and bake at 356f (180c) for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes

To prepare your bundt cake pan, grease it with vegetable oil and lightly flour it.

Nutrition

Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 162mg | Potassium: 163mg | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 1.9% | Vitamin C: 9.8% | Calcium: 5.4% | Iron: 7.4%

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