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This Orange Cake is one of my favorite cakes. The texture is soft and the flavor is amazing thanks to fresh orange juice and zest!
Years ago my mother gave me a little spiral bound cookbook that her friend Marilyn Martell had put together. Marilyn was an amazing cook and baker and her little cookbook is full of county fair prize winning recipes.
Marilyn’s Orange Cake is a family favorite and I think I can honestly say it is my favorite cake ever! Any cake that wins the blue ribbon at the fair has to be good ! It is light, tender, and full of orange flavor.
Ingredients Needed
- Butter
- Shortening
- Oranges, juice and zest
- Orange Juice Concentrate, the stuff in the can in the freezer section
- Sugar, granulated sugar and powdered sugar
- Eggs
- Cake Flour. Cake flour makes a more tender, lighter cake crumb. If you substitute all purpose flour there will be a difference in texture.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Cream Cheese, make sure it is room temperature.
How to Make Orange Cake
- Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with paper that is floured.
- Cream together butter, shortening and orange zest using a stand mixer.
- Add sugar gradually, creaming until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition.
- Beat entire mixture for five minutes.
- Sift together dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and orange juice while mixing.
- Add in the orange juice concentrate. Beat only until smooth after each addition. Do not over mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean about 25-30 minutes.
- Allow orange cake to cool for 10-20 minutes and then run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn upside down onto a wire rack. If the cake falls slightly in the middle, don’t worry, more room for frosting.
- Cream together room temperature butter and cream cheese until smooth.
- Alternate beating in sugar and orange juice, beating until smooth.
- Stir in orange zest and salt.
- Beat until creamy and a smooth spreading consistency.
- Add frosting between the two layer, then apply a crumb coat.
- Pop the cake back in the freezer for about 30 minutes so the crumb coat will firm up.
- Add the final layer of frosting and garnish with slices of orange.
Tips from leigh Anne
- Don’t over mix the batter after adding the flour for a more tender cake.
- Start with room temperature ingredients such as eggs, butter and milk. Ingredients incorporate better when room temperature and gives you a lighter texture to your cake.
- I like to grease my pans and also line the bottom with wax paper or parchment paper for easier removal from the pan.
- To make sure you get the batter evenly divided between the pans, use a kitchen scale.
- After the cake is completely cool, wrap each layer in plastic wrap so that it is air tight and freeze. Freeze overnight or at least a couple of hours. The cake will frost so much easier if it has been frozen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I freeze orange cake?
Cake actually freezes really well, frosting and all. Just be sure and wrap it up airtight in plastic wrap. You can also slice the cake into pieces and wrap each piece in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. It will keep for months, but it never lasts that long at our house.
Can I use all butter?
You can but I always use half shortening and half butter, the way the recipe was written and developed.
Does Orange Cake need to be refrigerated?
The cake can be left at room temperature until ready to serfe. If you aren’t going to be eating it for a few days keep it covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Insert a few toothpicks into the top of the cake before covering with plastic wrap to prevent it from sticking to the cake.
Check out more of my favorite cake recipes:
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Orange Cake
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 1/2 cup cake flour sifted
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice minus 2 Tbsp
- 2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate
Creamy Orange Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 oz. cream cheese
- 6 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1/4 cup orange juice fresh
- 2 tsp orange zest
- dash salt
Instructions
- Cream together butter, shortening and rind. Very gradually add in sugar, creaming until light.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Continue beating for 5 minutes.
- Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with orange juice to creamed mixture. Add in orange juice concentrate. Beat only until smooth after each addition
- Bake in 2 greased and floured 8 inch round pans at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then remove to cooling rack to cool completely
- Wrap cooled cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze for an hour to overnight before frosting. (See frosting directions below)
Creamy Orange Frosting
- Cream butter and cream cheese.
- Gradually beat in sugar alternately with orange juice beating until smooth. Stir in orange rind and salt.
- Add a drop or two of orange food coloring to tint a light orange if desired
- Beat until creamy and spreading consistency.
- Place frosting between cake layers. Put a thin coating of frosting over entire cake, a crumb coat and then freeze cake for 30 minutes.
- Add final layer of frosting over entire cake. Garnish with some fresh orange slices.
Tips & Notes:
- Start with room temperature ingredients such as eggs, butter and milk. Ingredients incorporate better when room temperature and gives you a lighter texture to your cake.
- I like to grease my pans and also line the bottom with wax paper or parchment paper for easier removal from the pan.
- To make sure you get the batter evenly divided between the pans use a kitchen scale.
- I always set my timer for five minutes before the recommended bake time in the recipe.
- After removing from the oven, allow cake to cool for about 5-10 minutes in the pan and then remove cake from pan and place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition Facts:
Caitlin says
Am I able to omit the 2 tbsp of orange concentrate? I don’t have any on hand and was planning on making this now.
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
You could but that is where the orange flavor comes from.
Lisa says
For years I have made my grandmothers orange cake recipe but it never turned out right and my grandmother had passed so I couldn’t ever figure out what went wrong or what tweaks she may have made to her recipe. Then I found YOURS ❤️ It is our go-to recipe for grandma’s orange cake and though it’s not hers, I still feel the joy I had as a child when she made it for all of our birthdays
Deanna Menchaca says
What is the reason for not using orange juice? Just curious.
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
You get more intense flavor from the concentrate.
Jenn Butler says
Hi Leigh Anne! I was wondering what you mean by “1 cup orange juice; fresh squeezed 2 less tbsp”? Does that mean if you’re working with fresh squeezed then use 2 less tbsp so 1 cup minus 2 tbsp?
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
Sorry for the confusion. You are going to take out 2 Tbsp of juice from the cup of fresh squeezed orange juice.
Annie says
Absolutely lovely! For years my mom has talked about her grandma’s orange cake, but we didn’t have a recipe. I gave this a whirl as a surprise for her birthday and she said it tastes exactly like she remembered. I weighed all of the ingredients and it came out perfectly. This one is going in the family cookbook. Thank you!