This vegan orange cake is loaded with vibrant orange flavor in every bite and on top goes a yummy orange marmalade frosting. You need just one bowl and 10 ingredients to make it.
Citrus is a marvelous flavor in desserts, like this vegan lemon yogurt cake, vegan clementine cake and vegan orange rolls. This vegan Orange Cake is a dessert I've baked over and over for many years, after first finding the recipe in the Joy of Cooking. Over the years I've made some tweaks and, most importantly, I've multiplied its deliciousness by doubling the recipe and slathering it with a fluffy, decadent orange marmalade buttercream frosting.
This is a delicious cake, full of orange flavor in every bite. It has a tender crumb that's perfectly but not cloyingly sweet, and the marmalade buttercream is soft and fluffy and to die for.
It is also a rather easy cake to make: it should take you no more than 10 minutes to throw the ingredients together and perhaps another 10 to whip up the frosting, if that. It's also a one-bowl recipe because you can throw all your ingredients for the cake in one by one, and then rinse out the bowl and use it to whip up your frosting.
Best of all, you can even make your vegan orange cake a tad boozy, as I sometimes do, by subbing a couple of tablespoons of the orange juice with an orange liqueur.
Ingredients
- Flour. I sometimes use unbleached all purpose but when I'm feeling a little extra-healthy, I use whole wheat pastry flour. Both give great results that are quite comparable. You can also use half and half if you're undecided.
- Oranges. You need both the orange juice and the orange zest for this vegan orange cake. I use the pulpy juice, so if you want to just toss your oranges in a blender and juice them, go right ahead. Or just buy fresh squeezed orange juice that's pulpy off the shelf at your grocer's. You will need a whole orange to zest, though.
- Orange marmalade. This is for the frosting, and it's wonderful.
- Oil. Use a flavorless, neutral oil, like avocado oil. In vegan cakes, oil not only subs for butter, I think it makes the cake more moist, which is a win-win.
- Baking soda. There is no baking powder in this recipe and 2 teaspoon baking soda is all you need for the leavening.
- Vinegar. Use either apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
- Pure vanilla extract
- Sugar. I use turbinado, which makes the crumb darker, but any granulated sugar will work.
- Powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar, for the frosting.
- Vegan butter for the frosting.
How to make Vegan Orange Cake
- Because this is a one-bowl recipe you don't have to worry about mixing the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, then merging them. Add the wet ingredients -- the orange juice, zest, oil, vinegar, vanilla and sugar -- to a bowl, beat with a whisk until combined, then throw in the dry ingredients and mix.
- Scrape the batter into two 8- or 9-inch cake pans lined at the bottom with parchment paper and oiled. Bake for 30-35 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes in the pan, then unmold and continue cooling the cakes on racks before frosting.
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How to make Orange Marmalade Buttercream Frosting
- Make sure the butter is at room temperature -- not hard nor melted, but soft.
- Combine the orange marmalade in the bowl with the butter and whisk, then begin to add the powdered sugar, half a cup at a time. Beat in the sugar after each addition and taste as you go to adjust the amount of sugar up or down to your liking. For this cake I used two cups of powdered sugar and it was perfect. More sugar will make the buttercream stiffer.
- Use an offset spatula or a butter knife to frost the cake.
Top tip
If the powdered sugar has been standing around for some time and is clumping together, run it through a sieve before adding it to the frosting to make sure the buttercream is perfectly smooth and fluffy.
Vegan orange cake FAQs
The orange cake is delicious without the frosting and you can definitely serve it plain. Sift some confectioners' sugar on top for a pretty look.
Using just olive oil would overwhelm the orange flavor. I recommend using an unflavored vegetable oil, like avocado oil.
The cake will keep in the fridge for up to five days. For longer storage freeze slices, individually wrapped, in a freezer-safe bag or container. You can also tightly cling-wrap the whole cake, place it in a freezer-safe bag, and freeze for up to three months.
More vegan cake recipes
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Recipe card
Vegan Orange Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the vegan Orange Cake:
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour (can use whole wheat pastry flour or half all purpose and half whole wheat)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups orange juice (sub two tablespoon of the orange juice with an orange liqueur if you like)
- Zest of an orange
- 2 cups sugar
- ⅔ cup avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the vegan Orange Marmalade Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup vegan butter (2 sticks)
- ½ cup orange marmalade
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the orange cake:
- Place the orange juice, zest, sugar, oil, vinegar and vanilla in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a whisk or the whisk attachment of the stand mixer to mix for one minute or until everything appears to be well-mixed.
- Add the baking soda, salt and flour to the bowl and mix. Scrape down the sides of the pan after 20 seconds of mixing and mix for 20 seconds more, but no longer.
- Spray two 8- or 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray or oil. Preferably line the bottom with parchment paper, or, if you don't have this, flour the pans. Divide the cake batter equally between the two pans.
- Bake the cakes in a 350-degree oven for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then slide a thin knife around the edges of each cake
- Gently flip each cake onto a plate, slide onto a rack, and continue cooling before you frost.
Make the frosting:
- Place the orange marmalade, vanilla and butter in a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until combined, around 30 seconds.
- Add the powdered sugar, half a cup at a time, incorporating well into the butter mixture after each addition. Your frosting should be smooth, creamy and fluffy.
Assemble the cake:
- Place one of the cakes, on a plate or cake stand. Dump half of the frosting on the cake, use an offset spatula or knife to spread it evenly, then place the second cake on top, taking care to ensure they line up evenly. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top of the cake, using anything that remains for the sides.
- Slice and serve.
Nutrition Information
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Olivia
Hi there Vaishali,
I am wanting to know if it is possible to make this orange cake with buckwheat flour instead of wheat flour.
Thank you in advance for your response.
Kind regards,
Olivia.
Vaishali
Hi Olivia, I haven't made this cake with buckwheat flour so I can't say for sure. If you try it I'd love to hear how it goes.
Colleen
I first made this recipe by handsqueezing 2 cups of oranges that was a huge mistake the cake fell in the center. I should have known better when the batter was too frothy. I tried it again with store but orange juice and it turned out perfect.
Rosie
THANK YOU Vaishali :)......made this for the first time a couple of days ago for a birthday cake after a lovely friend made it for me for my birthday ....OMG - this cake is DIVINE!!! Everyone loved it so much. I accidently added 2 tblspns of vanilla instead of 2 tspn to the cake batter because I wasn't paying attention at that measuring moment and thought (oh no I will have ruined it' 🙁 .... but amazingly it was still fine!! ;). This has definitely become the top of the list of fave special occasion cakes for sure in our household!!! xxx 🙂
Nancy
Best cake EVER
Vaishali
So awesome you made it!
Maria
Hi Vaishali,
Can I cut down on the 2 c sugar and 2/3 c oil in this recipe? If so, how much?
Thanks!
Maria
Vaishali
You can--replace up to half a cup of the sugar or a fourth of a cup of oil with apple sauce. I wouldn't cut down on it too much though. Better to eat it as it is meant to be, but eat less. 🙂
Kadi
Hi! Can I bake and frost this 1 day ahead? Or will the frosting go ugly? ? Sorry if it's been answered, I couldn't find. Thank you! ?
Vaishali
Yes 1 day ahead is just fine!
Kadi
Thank you! Also in the post part it says we'll need to use zest of one orange but in the recipe part it's not there. Should I add zest of one orange to the batter?
Vaishali
Yes and added. 🙂
Adrienne
can i sub sugar to a swerve or stevia?? i am an anti sugar person so i was wondering if there would be any good alternatives of the sugar...if honey or maple too works?? thanks for the recipe i am anxious to try this!
Vaishali
I would go for maple syrup— stevia would make the cake dry.
Susan
Which vegetable oil? Olive oil work? Thx!
Vaishali
Olive would add a strong flavor, so I'd recommend something like avocado, which is flavorless. At a pinch, virgin coconut oil would work better with the flavors here.
Keren
HI, thanks for this great recipe! I made it today for my friends birthday. I only had one tin so did the whole batter in one go and didn't cook it for quite long enough so it was a little under but it would have been absolutely perfect and will be next time I do it! My butter cream icing split though - did anyone else find that? It was my own homemade marmalade which has quite a high liquid content so perhaps the citrus liquid was too much?? It didn't matter it was delicious and looked beautiful despite the splitting (i covered the top in toasted coconut flakes...) thank you. A real find.
Vaishali
So happy you tried! Not sure why the icing split, it could be the liquid. Happy you enjoyed the cake. 🙂
Jane
Wonderful recipe, so fresh tasting. Because I am allergic to any form of margarine, I’ve been afraid to try vegan butter. I placed a thin layer of marmalade between the layers and dusted the top (through a pretty doily) with powdered sugar. It worked very well.
Vaishali
Hi Jane, marmalade only sounds great. I sometimes serve the cake without any frosting and it still works. So happy you tried it!