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 Dassana,
shall I use vanaspati? if using butter, then salted or unsalted?
Shall I use only Maida?
Thank u.
welcome seema. you can use maida. use unsalted butter. vanaspati will give after taste.
Hi Dassana,
When I add juice in a suger n butter mixture it become crumbled, is it OK?coz my cake become dence n collapsed in middle n some what he wet. But taste was too good .
no it should not crumble. all the ingredients have to be at room temperature. this includes the butter as well as the orange juice. the butter must be getting solidified. if the butter and orange juice at room temperature are mixed, the mixture will be even and not lumpy.
Hi Dasssana,
Today I prepared. Just Super hit. I baked at 220 degrees. and this time i have not use hand mixer. Thank u for a beautiful recipe.
thanks seema for the feedback. good to know. as a rule cake batters should never be over mixed or folded too much.
Hi,
Am an amateur baker and to be honest I started baking with your recipes only. This Orange cake is a super hit in my family. Following your easy instructions I made this soft healthy cake. Thanks a ton and keep posting more.
Regards,
Bhuvana
welcome bhuvana. good to know that you have started baking and cake turned out well.
Thanks. Can honey be used instead of sugar?
Thank you
welcome asha. i won’t recommend honey. honey becomes toxic on heating at high temperature as per ayurveda.
Hi Dassana,
I will give it another try today… keeping my fingers cross… Thanks!
welcome cynthia
Hi Dassana,
I have used cake flour instead of wheat or all-purpose and the cake turns out alittle dense. Instead of light and fluffy… And it wasn’t as sweet as i tot it would be. But i really enjoyed the easy step by step instructions.
Was the cake supposed to be densed? jus wondering… thanks for the recipes. I can’t wait to try the others.
Blessings, cyn
hi cynthia, this cake is not dense. its light. sweetness can also be due to the oranges being less sweet. in this case, some sugar needs to be added. i have this cake many times and i always found the sweetness to be perfect. i use oranges which are sweet and not too tangy. denseness can be due to over mixing also.
Thanks dassna. The cake turned out very spongy and yummy. On cooling down it wasn’t that much spongy. What must be the reason?
welcome sarika. must have got overbaked.
Hi Dassana,
Hope you re well 🙂 i have made your christmas fruit cake twice n it came out amazing. Now i am super tempted by this orange cake recipe. just a few qns before i try it:
1. Can i use brown sugar instead of white or powdered sugar? If so, the same amt?
2. I am hoping to bake in a round pan (standard 9 inch i think) …that possible with the measurements u have given?
3. Lastly, want to decorate the cake with some orange slices on top..just wondering, if there is any chance i can arrange them neatly on the top prior to putting in the oven or would it mess up? ( or may be ? bottom of the pan and make it like a upside down cake??) what do u think?
Love
Vidhya
thanks vidhya. yes i am fine. yes you can use brown sugar or powdered sugar. same amount is fine. 9 inch pan will be too big for this amount. 6 to 7.5 inches pan would work well. no it won’t mess up. you can also make an upside down cake.
Hi
I want to ask can we add walnuts or almonds in this recepie . Or can you please tell the taste of this orange bread . How much it is sweet.
nisha, yes you can add walnuts or almonds or even chocolate chips. recently i made a chocolate orange cake with dry fruits and it was really good.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I have made it twice now – once in a cake pan and once using a muffin tin (the recipe made 9 standard-sized muffins).
The result was gorgeous each time.
My favorite part about this recipe is that as a vegan I can share it with people who are “omnivores” and there are no egg replacers or difficult-to-find ingredients, simply basic pantry items.
Namaste.
namaste melissa. the same recipe can be made in cake pan or in muffin liners. true, such recipes can be shared easily. i try to make recipes without egg replacers and difficult ingredients, as in india we don’t get these ingredients or they are very expensive.
Cool dude. It turn out awesome. Blessed your heart man.
Thanks Aj
The bread was light and delicious. Thank you!!
welcome amy
Hi Dassana,
Another cake turned out awesome :). I am very thankful to you for teaching me baking :).
I have two questions
1. Can I add tutti fruity in it or in other cakes?
2. Can I replace oil with butter?
welcome bhavana. thanks for your kind words. you can add tutti fruity in orange cake. but in some cakes you cannot add. yes, add melted butter instead of oil.
Hi Dassana,
I tried with these two changes, taste was good but it didn’t puff up as before.. I used the same quantity as oil. Did I need to change the quantity of butter? or any other reason?
hi bhavana, must be due to over mixing the batter or due to the quantity of tutti frutti. just 2 tbsp will be fine. butter quantity is fine and no need to increase it.
Hi Dassana,
I tried this today and it was simply awesome. Everyone loved it at home. The only thing I changed was, bake it in a square pan instead of a loaf pan. The cake is supersoft and yummy…recipe is simple to follow and quick to prepare.
thanks shantala for sharing positive review on orange cake. you can bake in round pan or square one.
Orange zest? What is it exactly?
nisha, orange zest is grated orange peel. only the orange part is ued and not the white part.
Oh OK thanks 🙂 does it enhance the flavour of the cake?? What’s the purpose of adding it??
welcome nisha. it gives a more pronounced flavor of orange.
Really delicious cake. I used a Usha Halogen oven, had to change the timings though. I used the bake option and kept it for 25 mins @ 180º C. Then kept it for another 4 mins @ 140º C (just to be sure). And my orange cake was ready to eat. The orange zest added in it spikes the taste.
Thank you for such great but simple recipe.
welcome amar. thats good to know. thanks for sharing the oven temperature and the timings. i am sure this will help readers.