Orange cake is moist and dense and made from real orange juice. Topped with a thick orange cream cheese frosting, this orange cake is a perfect brunch or dessert cake.
I have an obsession with this juicer. When I brought it home the other week, I knew I had to make some sort of citrus dessert. The juicer does such an amazing job with oranges that I thought making an orange cake would be a good idea.
My instincts were right, because this cake was dense and moist and oh so scrumptious.
The natural sugars in the home-squeezed {okay, your juicer does all of the work, but no one else needs to know} orange juice give the cake the nice golden hue on the outside.
It actually has a very similar texture to a pound cake, without actually using a pound of butter or sugar {although we do get close 😂}.
Simple base for orange cake
This orange cake starts off pretty simply with some butter, sugar and eggs. So as you can see, this is not at all a healthy dessert today, but sometimes you just have to have those indulgent days!
Then of course we have to add in our *fresh squeezed* orange juice and a little bit of orange extract. It just brings out that extra orange flavor that’s lacking if you don’t include it.
For even more orange flavor boost, I included these Paradise candied orange peel pieces. They added some additional texture to the cake and rather than having to zest the orange, they still imparted that perfect orange flavor.
Orange cream cheese frosting
Cream cheese frosting is good on it’s own, but add that orange to it, and you have a match made in orange cake heaven.
A trick I learned awhile back for making some of these beautiful piped lines is to place a Ziploc bag in a tall glass. Fold the edges of the bag down over the top of the glass. Then spoon in the cream cheese frosting.
Then when you pull the bag out of the cup, you have a perfect piping bag, and no mess!
Just cut the tip off of the bag and start piping the frosting in and out of the cake. The cake has to be cool though before you frost. If it’s not, the frosting will start to clump and melt. So even though it’s still delicious that way, it’s just not as pretty.
Have a slice {or two}
Now is the moment where you get to enjoy a nice big slice of this beautifully frosted orange cake.
I won’t lie, I could eat the cake even without the frosting {and have}, but there’s something about that creamy texture of the frosting with the dense crumb of the cake that just brings everything together.
Plus if you’re serving this for brunch or dessert for a crowd, that frosting is just going to put it all over the top. So enjoy!
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup {2 sticks} unsalted butter softened
- 1 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tsp. orange extract
- ¾ cup fresh orange juice
- ½ cup candied orange peel
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 4 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. orange extract
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10” Bundt pan with baking spray.
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In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda and salt. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
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Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in the Greek yogurt and vanilla and continue to beat on until completely incorporated and smooth.
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Add the orange juice and beat until incorporated.
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Add in half the flour mixture until combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and continue to beat until smooth.
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Stir in the candied orange peel into the batter and pour the mixture into the prepared Bundt pan.
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Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from the edges.
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Cool cake in Bundt pan for 15-30 minutes.* Place a plate over the top and flip over to release the cake from the pan.
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For the cream cheese frosting, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth.
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Add the orange juice, vanilla and orange extract and continue to beat until incorporated.
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Spoon the frosting into a Ziploc bag and cut the tip off the end.
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Once the cake has cooled completely, squeeze the frosting in a zig-zag pattern over the top of the cake.**
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Top with additional candied orange peel if desired.
*Note: the cake may drop after it rests for a bit, but that’s totally fine.
**Note: make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting. Otherwise the frosting will melt
