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!
Prep Time:20minutes mins
Cook Time:35minutes mins
Total Time:55minutes mins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour – 120 grams or can use all-purpose flour or half-half of both 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, olive oil or butter, or any neutral oil
- ½ to 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour) or eggless custard powder
Directions for Orange Cake
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 to 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 into 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 it 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 it 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.
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 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 of 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 into a lined or greased cake tin of about 7×4 inches. Use a spatula to scrape the batter from the 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 at 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 it as a sweet dessert or with tea or coffee. You can wrap the remaining cake or store it in a tight container and keep it in the fridge for about a week.