Sweet, soft, moist, and tasty Orange Cake made with fresh orange juice. This Cake Recipe is easy to follow, a bit healthy and includes whole wheat flour. A lovely eggless orange cake that is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans alike!
Table of Contents
Why This Orange Cake Recipe Works
This eggless orange cake recipe is a delicious guilt free sweet treat made with fresh ingredients. I use fresh orange juice in this recipe but you can use canned or packaged orange juice.
You can swap a few ingredients in this recipe if you do not have them to hand. I used whole wheat flour to make this orange cake however, you can use all-purpose flour instead. I also used raw sugar as a sweetener but you can swap it with powdered jaggery.
The great thing about this cake is that it is very light as not much oil is needed in this recipe. You won’t get that heavy feeling after eating a slice of this orange cake. This is definitely a relatively healthy orange cake recipe compared to others.
If you want more sweetness then feel free to frost this cake with orange whipped cream or buttercream icing. However, I prefer to eat it plain with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
This recipe makes a medium-sized quantity for 3 to 4 people. You can also try this delicious egg-free Orange Muffins recipe.
This eggless orange cake can be baked both in a regular oven and in the microwave oven with the convection mode.
How to Make Orange Cake
Make Batter
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sieve 1 cup whole wheat flour with 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or custard powder), a pinch of salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon baking soda. Keep this sifted dry mixture aside.
Note that cornstarch is known as cornflour in India.
2. Add ½ cup sugar and ¼ cup sunflower oil to a bowl. You can include softened butter instead of oil. Use a neutral flavored oil. You can also use olive oil.
Kindly note that in the video, there is a typo for the amount of oil. The quantity of oil that you actually need to add in this recipe is ¼ cup only.
3. Beat this mixture with an electric beater, hand beater, or wooden spoon for a few minutes.
I have made this cake with jaggery too. So you can add powdered or grated jaggery instead of sugar.
4. I made fresh orange juice but you can use packaged orange juice too, preferably without added preservatives. If you are making fresh juice, use an electric juicer.
You can also blend the orange segments (seeds removed) and strain the juice as shown. I used three medium oranges to get a bit more than 1 cup of juice.
You can check this post for the step-by-step method of making Orange Juice in a blender.
5. The below photo is of fresh strained orange juice.
6. Measure and add 1 cup of the orange juice to the sugar and oil mixture. If you are using whole wheat flour, then 1 cup of orange juice works well and if you are using all purpose flour then you can add about ¾ cup of orange juice.
Do not keep the orange juice resting as it turns bitter. So use it straightaway to make the cake batter.
7. Stir very well thoroughly with a wired whisk until all of the sugar dissolves.
8. Now add the sieved flour mixture and ½ to 1 teaspoon orange zest. For a stronger orange flavor add a bit of orange extract or essence.
Note: To get the zest of orange, grate the orange peel before peeling the oranges. Use a handheld grater or zester to grate the orange peel. Do not grate the white pith.
9. Mix everything very well with a wired whisk. There should be no lumps in the cake batter.
10. The orange cake batter is ready.
Bake Orange Cake
11. Pour the batter in a lined or greased cake tin of about 7×4 inches. Use a spatula to scrape the batter from the sides of the bowl and pour it into the cake pan.
12. Tap the pan from the sides or tap the bottom of the pan on the countertop to remove excess air bubbles. The batter will easily level in the pan by itself when you tap the pan.
13. Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 35 minutes.
Check the cake with a toothpick or bamboo skewer and it should come out clean. If there is any batter sticking on the skewer, then bake for some more minutes.
TIP: If the top of the cake starts browning too much, cover the top with aluminum foil or parchment paper while baking.
SUGGESTION: If you do not have an oven, then bake the cake in a stove-top pressure cooker. Follow the method as detailed in this recipe post of Pressure Cooker Cake to make this eggless orange cake.
14. Place the baked cake on a wired tray to cool at room temperature. Later gently remove the orange cake from the pan.
Serving and Storing Suggestions
Slice the eggless orange cake and serve as a sweet dessert snack or with tea or coffee.
If you want to save some cake for later then wrap the remaining cake in cling film or store in a covered container, and refrigerate for about a week. You can also freeze this cake for about a month.
Expert Tips for Orange Cake
- Flour: Make sure you sieve the flour before making your cake batter. This gets rid of any bran in the flour, and splits up lumps of flour. I used whole wheat flour to make this orange cake recipe as it is a healthy alternative however, you can use all-purpose flour if you do not have any whole wheat flour to hand.
- Oil: I added oil to this orange cake batter which makes it a vegan option. For a vegetarian option use butter instead. Both ingredients work well in this cake.
- Orange juice: If you are making orange juice from scratch then use medium-sized, juicy ripe oranges. Make sure you remove the seeds before juicing them. Sieve the juice to ensure that the orange fibers do not get added to the cake batter. Alternatively, you can use canned orange juice without preservatives or additives, if you are short of time.
- Leavening ingredients: It is important to add baking soda and powder to this recipe as they help the cake to rise. Make sure that both leavening ingredients have not expired because this will stop the orange cake from rising.
FAQs
Adding too many liquids to cake batter can result in an overly moist cake. Make sure you add ¼ cup of oil to this recipe to achieve the perfect amount of moisture.
Yes, you can. In this recipe, I have only added fresh orange juice but you can add orange extract or essence to enhance the orange flavor. Add a bit of orange extract along with the sieved flour mixture and ½ to 1 teaspoon of orange zest.
Yes, it is very easy to freeze orange cake. Allow the cake to cool completely and wrap it tightly in cling film then foil. Label the cake and freeze it for up to 1 month.
There are a few reasons why your cake may not have risen. Perhaps the batter was mixed too much or maybe it wasn’t mixed enough. Also, using expired baking powder or soda will prevent the cake from rising.
I add corn starch to this recipe to give this cake a delicious soft texture.
More Delicious Cake Recipes!
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Orange Cake (Eggless, Vegan & with Whole Wheat flour)
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour – 120 grams or can use all-purpose flour or half-half of both the flours
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
- ¾ to 1 cup Orange Juice – If using whole wheat flour then add 1 cup orange juice and if using all-purpose flour, then add ¾ cup orange juice
- ½ cup raw sugar – 100 grams, can use powdered jaggery or powdered sugar – add more if required
- ¼ cup sunflower oil or olive oil or butter or any neutral oil
- ½ to 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour) or eggless custard powder
Instructions
Making batter
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Sieve whole wheat flour with the corn starch (or custard powder), a pinch of salt, baking powder and baking soda. Keep this sieved mixture aside.
- In a bowl add the sugar and oil. You can also use softened butter instead of oil.
- With an electric beater or hand beater or a wooden spoon, beat this mixture of oil/butter and sugar for a few minutes until well blended. Set aside. I have made this cake with jaggery too. So you can add powdered or grated jaggery instead of sugar.
- Now make the fresh orange juice. You can extract the juice with a handheld juicer or in an electric juice or blender. For the blender method, blend the orange segments (with seeds removed) and strain the juice to filter out the fibers. I have used three medium oranges to get a bit more than 1 cup juice.
- You can use packaged juice too.
- Measure and add 1 cup of the orange juice to the sugar and oil mixture. If using whole wheat flour, then 1 cup of orange juice works well and if using all purpose flour, then you can add about ¾ cup of orange juice.
- Mix very well until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Now add the sifted flour mixture and orange zest. To get a more dominant flavor of oranges, add a bit of orange extract or essence.
- Mix everything very well with a wired whisk. There should be no lumps in the cake batter.
Baking orange cake
- Pour the batter in a lined or greased cake tin of about 7×4 inches. Use a spatula to scrape the batter from sides and add it to the cake pan.
- Tap the pan from the sides or tap the bottom of the pan on the countertop, so that excess air bubbles are released and the batter becomes even in the pan.
- Bake the cake in a preheated oven for 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 35 minutes.
- Check the cake by inserting a bamboo skewer and it should come out clean. If it has any batter on it, bake the cake for some more minutes.
- Place the cake on a wired tray or rack to cool it completely at room temperature.
- Later gently remove it from the pan. Slice the eggless orange cake and serve as a sweet dessert or with tea or coffee. You can wrap the remaining cake or store in an tight container and keep in the fridge for about a week.
Video
Notes
- If using fresh orange juice, then make the juice just before you add it to the oil-sugar mixture. Keeping orange juice for a long time can result in it getting bitter and spoiling the taste of the cake.
- The recipe can be scaled easily. If scaling, then keep in mind that the time of baking will increase if you bake the entire cake batter in one pan. If you decide to bake in 2 to 3 pans, the timing will remain almost the same.
- Omit cornstarch (cornflour) or custard powder if you do not have it.
- Make sure that your baking soda and baking powder are fresh, active and within their shelf period.
- You can use all purpose flour in this recipe. Add ¾ cup orange juice if making the cake with all purpose flour.
- Note that the approximate nutrition info is for one slice of the orange cake.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Orange cake recipe post from the blog archives (first published on February 2013) has been republished and updated on 5 June 2021.
Hi Dasanna
Your cake and muffins receipes are just amazing. Love your receipes since I also want to bake eggless.
Thanks a lot.
Regards
Lavanya
Welcome Lavanya. Glad to know this. Thanks for your appreciation.
Hello ☺☺….
Can I bake this in a pressure cooker as well !! And can i add some choco chips in it ???
Nayer, you can give a try. I think it should work. Yes you can add choco chips in it.
Hi Dassana,
Tried this for Christmas and it came out amazing, lip smacking yum. I took some batter and added cocoa powder in it to make marble cake.
You are really amazing. Even though it is eggless and whole wheat cake, it was light and moist. You rock. Keep sharing
wow marble cake ????. i have been wanting to make marble cake from a long time. thanks for sharing garima. i will give a try to make marble cake with this recipe.
Yes please do so. Orange and chocalate is a great combo. All thanks to you, people think of me as a good baker now 🙂
I was not able to take jest out of orange so skipped it. BTW, can this recipe be doubled?
sure garima. agree orange and chocolate is a great combo. yes i think the recipe can be doubled.
Yesterday I made it. It came out so nice.. I made it with mosambi or citrus limetta. I was so excited to see the yellow colour and flavour. I made with atta only. It was awesome . Dassana you’re just superb. Sometimes I feel aapke pair kahan hai??? Chhuna hai mujhe
thats nice urmi. i am sure with mosambi the color and taste must have been awesome. thanks for sharing. i will also give a try. thanks for the gesture urmi and i am humbled ????
Hi, nice receipe.can i make it totally with wheat flour and will it remain good for 2 days outside at room temp? I am planning to carry it for travel
Thanks Sam. Yes the orange cake will stay good for 2 days. You can make it with whole wheat flour also.
Hi mam,
I tried the recipe but it turned to brown even before the given time and was not so pluffy does it need to add yeast to the recipe.
I am using Godrej microwave convection oven.
yeast is not required. did you only use the convection mode or a combination of convection + microwave mode? convection ovens usually bake faster. so if the top gets browned, then you can cover it with an aluminium foil. either you can reduce the temperature by 15 to 20 degrees celsius or reduce the time by 10 to 20 minutes. also since the heating element is on top in a microwave convection oven, the top gets browned faster.
Hi .. .. we can pure orange zest instead of dried one
Subasri, I didn’t understood your query.
Hi,want to try this kind of cake but can i add thick curd for this cake..
with curd, the recipe will change as well as the ingredients. some experimentation will be needed.
Made this twice. Was fabulous, especially with some chocolate chips and almond slices to top it off. Wanted to ask if you think it would work with mango juice (store bought) for a mango cake?
thanks abhi. you can give a try. i think the recipe should work.
Ma’m, I Baked the Recipe exactly as u said but, The insides are still moist, even after baking it for 40minutes, still it looks a bit uncooked, what went wrong ?, and is ur cake texture moist or dry ?
My Oven : LG 1000watt Conventional
Recipe : Around 120gms
BakingTime : 40 Minutes @ 180-C
aravind, try baking for some more time. baking time varies with oven make, model, size and type. no two ovens will have the same temperature and baking time. the texture is moist.
Hey there..i wanted to ask if we can use sweet lime insted of orange..? N in how much quantity..?
you can use sweet lime. same quantity as orange juice.
Hi,
i got Orange crush at my home from mahabaleshwar.. and i have some leftover pineapple flavoured creamcheese whipping cream icing. Was thinking of making orange cupcakes with that pineapple icing. May I use ur recipe and instead of using orange juice, use orange crush (thick squash kind) in the cake batter. question is then how do i adjust water as this will be thicker than juice and I will hv to adjust the consistency using smthing else.. should I use water or milk ? plz suggest
you can use orange crush. try to get a medium flowing consistency in the batter. add some water to get this consistency. do not add milk. hope this helps.
And can i put lemon zest instead of orange and can i avoid using custard powder or corn flour,or what else should be put instead of that
you can use lemon zest instead of orange. you can skip custard powder. no need to add anything instead of it.
Hi dassana, i dont have baking powder, any substitute for that? Thanks
you can just add a pinch more of baking soda with the 1/2 teaspoon baking soda mentioned in the recipe. so its overall 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 pinch more of it.
Hi can i use tetra pack Wala orange juice, of harvest and if i am using that then how much extra sugar should I put in the cake i have harvest Wala orange juice, can you please tell me that
i cannot tell how much sugar to add as usually readymade orange juices are already too sweet. what i suggest is add the orange juice and then check the sweetness in the batter. if you feel the sweetness is less, then just add a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and mix.
Hi dassana, I’m a big fan of your’s… Have tried most of your recipes and it’s always been a super… Thank you so much…
I tried the same recipe with pineapple puree and it came perfect…
I’ve a question… What should I do if I want to make orange coffee cake?
Thanks a ton again for the wonderful recipes..
Welcome Hemakiran. Thanks for your kind words. Just add 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder. For a more strong coffee taste you can add 2 tablespoon instant coffee powder. just dissolve it in little bit of warm water and then add.