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!
Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.
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 ,
I tried this orange cake and it turned out awesome . Thank you dassana for this recipe . I added one and half tsps of orange zest and I didn’t strained the juice (I made sure to remove all white pips , seeds etc and there is some wastage in this process ? ) .
Also I baked the cake at 160C for 35 mins as my oven is a fan assisted one .
Previously my cakes used to be very dense in look wise and I wrote a mail also to you regarding this and you replied me back explaining what could be the reason . Now my cakes coming perfect . Once again thank you dassana for your help.
thanks shamala. happy and feeling good. cakes are not difficult to make. just right proportions of ingredients, correct pan size and the kind of oven plus the baking time are some of the important factors. happy baking 🙂
Good easy simple to learn thank you
welcome chhiwat
Thank you very much for the recipe. Tried it and it was awesome.
I also tried with same with strawberry pulp,and tasted beautiful. My daughter loved the strawberry version as she likes strawberry. The orange version was perfect. Thank you once again.
welcome sunitha. glad to know this. thanks for sharing positive feedback.
Hi Dasanna read ur Orange egg less cake receipe liked it. How to prepare it in microwave?
thanks chaitana. you can prepare in convection mode of microwave oven.
Thanks for the recipe. Tried orange cake. It’s so simple n has turned out very soft. Sooper likes 🙂
welcome jyothi
Hi Dassana,
I want to try this cake for my mother in law’s birthday . I have made chocolate cake and walnut dates coffee cake using Atta. Everytime the cake tasted good, but did not rise well and gave Atta wala flavor. This time I don’t want to mess up as I m baking it for a special occasion. What do u suggest to avoid Atta test and get a fluffy cake? I had gently mixed the batter last time. Still d same result… Please suggest… Also I want to coat the cake with cream. Is it possible to add some orange juice to the cream? Will it change the texture of d cake?
Thanks in advance
the attta wala flavor comes due to the quality of wheat and if the batter is too much mixed. i would suggest you to seive just the atta twice or thrice. also fold or mix in the batter lightly. try adding about 1/2 to 1 tbsp of orange zest for a more orange flavor. yes you can add some orange juice to the cream. adding juice to the cream won’t change the texture as you top the cake with the icing. spread the icing once the cake has cooled completely.
Hi dassana i started trying your recipes of baking one by one and i must thanks you all whole wheat are turning well but have one issue in eggless orange cake doesn’t Rise up dat well like urs pls suggest me what to do
welcome Yasmeen. thanks for the feedback on whole wheat cakes. for eggless orange cake, just mix the batter lightly. use a spatula. don’t use a electric beater.
Hi dassana, wat will be the proportions for 1 and half cup whole wheat flour?
sujata, the whole recipe will change. you have to try. difficult to tell like this.
I tried the cake today. It came out really well. I tried the whole wheat version. Also added half a cup of yoghurt. My family loved this and they told that this cake is better than any other cakes with Eggs that I bake. Thanks for this recipe
thanks ashma for the positive feedback and sharing your experience. the yogurt variation is an interesting one.
hi dassana,
I tried this cake, I always wanted to combined orange flavor with chocolate so I also made that chocolate frosting you posted in chocolate cake and covered the cake with it, I added 3 tsp of orange zest in cake and 1 tsp of zest in frosting too. this combination came out very well, very spongy and moist too.
I love your recipes.
thanks pearly for sharing your experience.
Hi Dassana, this time m gonna try this one for my husbands birthday… Keepin my fingers crossed…
Amazing recipe. The cake came out really well. I dint have cornflour so added all purpose flour instead. It came out fine. Is it alryt to double the quantity without any other changes?
Thanks:-)
welcome ranju. thanks for sharing your variation. as it will help other readers. i am not sure whether doubling the recipe is possible or not. in baking most of the times, its not possible. i suggest make the batter in batches.
Hi dassana
Yr one cup measure is 250cc. That is liquid.
What about wheat flour in cc or grams?
Can u help
its 250 ml. wheat flour when measured in this cup is 120 grams.
The cake turned out awesome in texture. But I have one query. The cake did not really have orange flavor. Like if someone who didn’t know there’s orange in it, wouldn’t know so after eating it. Where did I go wrong? I added 3/4 cup juice n 1/2tsp zest with maida.
thanks shivangi. the cake does not have intense flavor of orange. for that you can orange essence or increase the orange zest to 2-3 tsp.
I tried this Receipe and it turned out awesome!
thanks bhadri