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.
Unlike ur other cakes,u have not added vinegar or lemon juice.can i add it?
no need rakhi, since here the acidity comes from the orange juice. so there is absolutely no need to add lemon juice or vinegar.
My father, who feels m dumb in cooking,went crazy after eating this.he said he wouldn’t have believed if he had not seen me baking this.hehe
haha 🙂 thats a cute comment from your dad. stay blessed rakhi and wish you all the best in life.
Hi Dassana, the cake was moist and soft. I cut it while still hot after I flipped upside down. I think due to this the cake got pressed but the taste was awesome. Can I use electric egg beater to mix dry and wet? Texture wise my cake was bit more dense than yours…what could be wrong?
brindha, firstly always let the cake cool down completely and then remove it from the mould. sometimes when removing hot cakes, they can break and fall apart. do not use egg beater. usually eggless cakes are best folded or lightly mixed as eggs are not used. denseness could be due to over folding or mixing or due to the quality of either baking soda or baking powder – meaning they should be fresh and react and fizz when added in the batter.
I followed t he orange cake recipe as per your instructions. But the cake did not rise and sank down . W hat is the mistake,? With in 10 minutes it had risen slightly and the knife came with out sticking .
10 minutes is a very short time for baking. the cake has not baked and thats why it sunk. if the cake is baked well, it won’t sunk. while testing, the skewer or toothpick or knife should be inserted till the bottom of the pan and in the centre. mostly the cake bakes first from the sides but the centre takes some time to bake.
Thanks for an awesome recipe, the cake turned out really well, could I double the recipe- would both baking powder and soda need to be doubled? TIA
welcome ambika. you can double the recipe. everything needs to be doubled. so increase the baking powder and soda also accordingly.
Hi Amit, its so nice to see that you take so much time/effort to answer every doubt /query. its worth thousand praises!
Iam very new to baking, so pls do pardon my silly questions!
1)For this amazing recipe, i wish to replace oil with normal salted butter. How much butter will i need n whether melted or softened?
2)which is anyway better to use: oil or butter.
3) will skipping vanilla custard pdr affect the end result much? why do we add this.
thanks for all these awsom( and surprisingly easy to follow) recipes..
cheerio..Manjree
thanks manjree. your queries answered below.
1. use melted butter and the proportion is one-fourth cup.
2. both are fine to use. butter as well as oil. with butter of course, the cake will have a rich taste. also use a whired whisk if using butter for mixing the batter as the melted butter may condense when coming in contact with orange juice, especially if its chilled or made from chilled oranges.
3. not much. you can skip custard powder.
Hi, for how much time should i bake this egless orange cake if i have an OTG instead of an oven.
around the same time as mentioned in the recipe. i have also baked in an OTG. depending on the size and capacity of the OTG, it will take less or more time, so i cannot tell you the perfect time.
Can i use orange marmalde instead of orange juice??? N if so then how much quantity should i be taking
i do not know how orange marmalade would work in this recipe. so cannot say.
Hai, today I tried this orange cake & came out well, but sweetness is very less and also the raw smell of the wheat flour was there. Can u give suggestions……?
sweetness depends on the sourness of oranges. meaning if the oranges are sour or less sweet, then more sugar needs to be added. if you have used sweet oranges, then amount of sugar mentioned in the recipe works well. raw smell will only be there, if the cake is not baked well. but for any cake or bread made with whole wheat flour, the aroma of whole wheat will be there. you can also add some orange essence or vanilla extract to tone down the aroma of the whole wheat. hope these suggestions help.
Hi, can I remove corn flour from the recipe? My son is allergy of corn, dairy and egg, thanks for ur eggless recipe 🙂
chris you can skip corn flour.
I really like all your recipes. I have made a variety of food following your recipe. They are the best. I tried orange loaf for the first time. Using exactly the same recipe, I used all purpose flour and 3/4th cup of orange juice, the cake looked really good when baked and I had a small bite, it tasted very good. However the batter looked a bit thin to me but I still went ahead and baked when I was taking it out of the baking tray it felt very soft and almost broke and a bit got stuck at the bottom despite of greasing the tin. I think 3/4th cup of Orange juice was a bit too much. But I will not give up, I will try to bake this again. Do you think I should reduce the orange juice a bit or increase the quantity of flour? But I really thank you for posting amazing recipes with pictures.
thanks mamtha. if the batter is thin too, then also you can bake a really good cake. here the cake was not done meaning half or 3/4th cooked. thin batter cakes take more time to bake. also baking time varies from oven to oven.did you check with a tooth pick before removing the cake from oven. always always insert the tooth pick in the center as well as the sides and also and till the bottom of the cake. depending on the quality of flour, more or less liquids can be added. so if you feel the batter is too thin, 1 to 2 tablespoons flour can be added. some orange juice can also be reduced if baking the cake next time. you can add 1/2 to 2/3rd cup orange juice. i hope the cake turns out well the next time you bake it. happy baking 🙂
Thank you so much for replying. I will be making it again very soon. I did check with the toothpick before taking it out. I will keep in mind all the points you have mentioned.
All your recipes are just too good with all the substitutes and with pictures. Keep up the good work.
welcome mamtha thank you for your kind and positive words 🙂
I don’t have baking powder what can I use instead
just add overall 2/3rd teaspoon baking soda. a little more than half a teaspoon of baking soda.
Hi, This is the third time I m baking this cake. Added 1/2 a cup almond meal n it turned out delicious. My 4yr old loved it.
Thanks once again.
a great twist to the recipe thank you lopamudra for sharing your views and you are welcome.
Hey Dear,
A big thanks for this recipe. I have prepared this cake and its yummy I prepared thin in Cooker. Kept salt in bottom and baked it for 35 minut. it came out really delicious. you are a big saviour for me.
welcome nikki and thankyou for your positive and kind words 🙂
Made this cake n having it now. Its so so so delicious. My new favourite.. its yummy.. supa easy to make n with no eggs.
Thanks a lot for the recipe.
I give ☆☆☆☆☆(5 stars) to this cake.
thankyou so much lopamudra 🙂 for your kind words and 5 star rating.
hey amit
can i add cherry in orange cake batter.and one more query is both are required baking powder and baking soda.
plz reply am waiting……
preety, you can add cherries. but just dust them with some flour before adding to the batter, so that they don’t settle down while baking. both baking powder and baking soda are required.