This Italian whole orange cake is moist and bursting with flavor. What makes it unique is that you use a whole orange to make it, the peel and all! It’s perfect for a light dessert after dinner or pair with your morning cup of coffee.
Why I Think You Should Make This Cake:
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Because it tastes amazing! Not too sweet and heavy, just a light cake with excellent citrus flavor.
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Because it’s fun and unique! Using the whole orange, peel and all, is so interesting. The end result is a moist cake that’s bursting with fresh orange flavor.
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Because it’s fast and easy to mix up and get in the oven. It literally takes only 10-15 minutes to mix up this cake and get it in the oven. It bakes for almost an hour but that gives you time to finish making dinner while it’s baking.
Ingredients Needed to Bake This Cake:
(Scroll down for full recipe with measurements)
- white sugar
- salted butter
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- baking powder
- all-purpose flour
- large orange, washed, cut into pieces, and pureed
- orange juice
Directions for Baking This Cake:
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare an 8 or 9 inch round pan by greasing it evenly with vegetable shortening and dusting with flour or lining the bottom with parchment paper and buttering the sides. In the pictures on this page I used an 8” pan except for the picture of me glazing the cake, that is a 9” pan. Both work great, the 8 inch is just a little taller.
- In a mixer, combine sugar and butter and mix till smooth.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat.
- Next mix in the sour cream.
- Then add the baking powder and flour and mix till smooth.
- Add the puréed orange and mix to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let rest in pan for 15 minutes and then take a knife and loosen the outside edge of the cake. Flip cake out onto a plate. Peel off parchment paper on the bottom if using and flip cake right side up on a cake platter or stand.
For the glaze:
- Mix the orange juice and sugar together in small pot and heat on the stove. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5-10 minutes until it becomes slightly thickened like syrup. Spoon over top of cake. If desired you can poke holes in the top of the cake with a kabob skewer and then pour the glaze on so it’s absorbed by the cake more. That’s what I do and it’s so good!
- Let the cake cool completely and then slice and enjoy!
I hope you make this cake and enjoy it as much as we do.
Happy Baking!
~Rachel Ballinger ☕️💕
”A lot of living happens in the kitchen.” ~ Rachel
Italian Whole Orange Cake
This Italian whole orange cake is moist and bursting with flavor. What makes it unique is that you use a whole orange to make it, the peel and all!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large orange washed, cut into pieces, and pureed
Glaze:
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1/3 cup white sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare an 8 or 9 inch round pan by greasing it evenly with vegetable shortening and dusting with flour or lining the bottom with parchment paper and buttering the sides.
- In a mixer, combine sugar and butter and mix till smooth.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat.
- Next mix in the sour cream.
- Then add the baking powder and flour and mix till smooth.
- Add the puréed orange and mix to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let rest in pan for 15 minutes and then take a knife and loosen the outside edge of the cake. Flip cake out onto a plate. Peel off parchment paper on the bottom if using and flip cake right side up on a cake platter or stand.
For the glaze:
- Mix the orange juice and sugar together in small pot and heat on the stove. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5-10 minutes until it becomes slightly thickened like syrup. Spoon over top of cake. If desired you can poke holes in the top of the cake with a kabob skewer and then pour the glaze on so it’s absorbed by the cake more.
- Let the cake cool completely and then slice and enjoy!
