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.
Nicely explained… I made this cake today and everyone loved it…ended it in few minutes… I am a big fan of yours and have tried few recipes till date.This cake is memorable
..Thank you
pleased to know this namita 🙂 thankyou for your kind and positive words. you are always welcome.
I tried this cake.It did come out well except that it was sticking to teeth a little bit however the toothpick came out clean from the center when I checked.
I used all purpose flour and only thing that I didnt add was orange zest.
My custard powder was a little old too (dont know if that could be the reason).
Preheated over for 15 mins(dont have any preheat menu), and baked for 30 mins @ 350F.
What could be the reason of the stickiness?
the sticking on the teeth means that the cake still need to be baked. this has happened with me too, but for a few other cake recipes. here what happens is the tooth pick comes out clean, but the stickiness is felt in the palate. so what i do is i keep the cake back in the pan. preheat the oven and then bake for about 5 to 7 minutes, so that the stickiness goes away. i guess this could be due to the old custard powder as the recipes i had made, i had also used an old custard powder.
Ah ok.But would’t the cake be over baked then or get more browned or dry?
I am going to try with new custard powder.
Thanks for replying!
surely try and let us know how it was?
Hv tried the apple n the chocolate cake.Came out well as xpected.Will try the orange one as well but unable to get orangezest ,any replacement for it? I just hv one word for yur recipies AMAZING
thanks neetu. if using fresh oranges, then orange zest is the orange rind of the peel. you can easily grate it. otherwise just skip.
Hello! I tried this cake today and it turned out great. I substituted half of the flour with finely powdered oats, added ground nutmeg and cloves for additional flavour. The sugar quantity needed to be increased since oats were added, but all in all, it was very fluffy and tasty. The family absolutely loved it. Thanks a lot 🙂
wow. oats is a healthy addition. good to know that the oats addition worked very well in the recipe. thanks for sharing this and for the positive feedback.
Hi,
I blindly follow your recipes and they turn out to be good. I have tried many recipes from your blog, which otherwise I would not have tried. Thank you very much for creating a space for veg recipes.
I don’t have oven at home. so please tell me if i can try this orange cake as it is in pressure cooker. It would be great if you put a note on all oven based recipes for changes to be done in pressure cooker mode.
thanks a lot hemangini. this recipe can be made in a pressure cooker. also i will try to update the post one by one. thanks for the suggestion.
hi,
I tried it in pressure cooker today. The test is yummy. But while taking it out it broke. The sides and bottom is a bit hard and rest of the cake is soft. So though the test is good, look n texture was not like cake. I used wheat flour available at home. I add soybean, oats etc to wheat. Is it because of it? In excitement I tried to take it out before it cooled completely. That also might have made it brittle. please guide what went wrong.
hemangini, in a pressure cooker cakes bakes well. so could be due to the soy bean and oats. also always let the cake become warm and cool down completely before removing. the cake is so soft when hot, that it will break while removing when still hot. next time just try with wheat flour.
I baked this cake, and added dried cranberries (cooked in orange juice and some sugar) to the batter. It came out excellent. It’s a very good recipe. I forgot to add the custard powder, but even then the cake was really good. Thanks so much.
thanks cherry and glad to know. cranberries would have tasted yum in the already yummy cake.
Hi mam, this cake has been a big hit in my home and I have made it numerous times now. Even my mom who doesn’t like sweet edibles enjoyed it a lot .
I wanted to know what will happen if I replace the orange juice with pomegranate juice.
I googled pomegranate cake and the recipes were similar to this cake but I wanted your verdict on it.
thank you chandni. you can try with pomegranate juice. but since pomegranate juice will be less acidic then orange juice, i would suggest you to add 1/2 tbsp of lime or lemon juice to the pomegranate juice and then use in the recipe.
Hi Dassana…. I have baked vegan orange cakes before but they would always brown quickly and appear like chocolate cake. But not this one…I baked it today(first time) minus the corn flour. Added some raisins and chocolate pieces…The aroma itself while baking could transport one to the ‘heavens’. The cake was a feast for the eyes and the stomach. PRICELESS…a GREAT recipe indeed. Thank you-)
pleased to know this selvi 🙂 thankyou so much for trying them and for your positive words.
Loved it 🙂
thankyou lavanya 🙂
Hi Dassana,
I tried your orange cake recipe. Now, I almost have become master in that. This is only cake that I bake. Everyone liked it in my home and it has become all time snack. It is too tasty when its served hot. Thanks for this easy orange cake recipe 🙂
Thanks
Lavanya
glad to know this lavanya thankyou so much 🙂 and you are welcome.
Hi..excellent recipe..i tried it out and it was yumm! With 1 cup only little was made and its almost over! will be remaking it again sometime soon… had made orange cake with egg once but i am not fond of the eggy smell in the cake..your recip is quick and easy & better tasting than what i previously made! have followed a lot of your recipes but never left a comment..u r doing a great job posting such simple eggless recipes!
pleased to know this deepthi 🙂 thankyou for your positive words.
Hi dassana, made this cake yesterday. Well it did not come out so nice. Firstly dassana please tell me if eating soda and bbaking soda is same or different. My cake was soft at th centre.Toothpick came to clean at the sides and not at the centre. I used a round 7.5 inch pan. I kept it for 30 my min and last 5min covered it with foil paper because it was getting brown .what must have gone wrong. I would definitely try it again with maida. If I want to add egg wen should I add it. Sorry for the trouble. It was my first cake .however it tasted good.
Regards n thanks in advance
Marina
eating soda and baking soda is same. the cake has not got baked from the center. when you check with toothpick, always check at the center. in a round pan, the sides get cooked faster than the center. due to the top heating element in the oven, the cake was getting browned quickly. if you keep the foil on top, the cake won’t get browned. i am not sure how will egg will be incorporated in this cake recipe.
Thanks a lot dassana for your reply. As I am new to baking and also new to OTG there will be failures initiàly. I hope my second try will not fail. I will surely keep the foil for 30 min. Actually I did not get a loaf pan locally nor it was available online hence used a round pan. However will try again and let you know.
I did try the coconut macaroons . they were fabulous. Just that in my OTG I should have removed it in 10 min instead of 15 min. You see learning to use my new OTG.
And also I tried the veg cutlet. I and my 8 year old son enjoyed eating them. No mistakes made here. Ha ha …thanks a lot
Regards n tk care
Marina
welcome marina. with a new oven, it does take some time to get acquainted with its temperatures and time taken for baking. after some more baking, you will get an idea. the size of the pan matters a lot. so always use the correct size of the pan for the recipe. i have had disasters myself when the pan was big and the batter was small or vice versa.
thanks for the feedback on coconut macaroons and the veg cutlets. agree on veg cutlets no mistakes will be there 🙂
Very very delicious cake
thankyou shivani 🙂
Hi Dassana! I have tried your eggless mango cake that came out very nice. I normally make eggless cakes and most of the time my cakes come out a bit hard. But mango cake was awesome…very soft. Now I want to try this recipe of orange cake. Can I bake this cake in cooker. These days my oven is not in working condition.
thanks pratibha for such a nice feedback on the mango cake. yes you can make this orange cake in the cooker.
Hi , also one more question …. Normally for how many days can we keep the cake out side ? i baked a sponge cake on Friday and it got spoiled on Monday ( it was summer also) . But when I baked a mawa cake on Monday it stayed good till Friday . What could be the reason . Just curious to know . Thank you .
i don’t keep the cakes outside shamala since i live in india and most of the times its hot here. at colder freezing temperatures, you can keep the cakes outside for more than a week. the shelf life depends on many factors, like the ingredients used in the cake, the moisture content, the temperature conditions and humidity.