The tanginess of oranges juice, the subtle sweet notes, and the bitterness of orange zest make this cake a perfect teatime treat. Oranges are the true summer delight. They are full of flavour and juice, perfect for a cake recipe like this. Or making refreshing iced tea and a big batch of orange marmalade, as I did. Also, please bear with us on this picture-heavy post, but it could not restrict me to one-two frames; the cake was a stunning beauty.
About Oranges For The Cake
The common orange or the navel orange is the best for making this eggless orange cake. You can cut the orange with the skin into perfect round slices, grate it for zest, or squeeze the whole orange for juice. In India, the navel orange is sold as imported orange, or Australian orange can be used. Avoid using the local variety of mandarin orange (Santara or Nagpur orange) for this cake recipe. The mandarin orange is tough to juice, and the skin is bitter. The Kinnow orange from the Northern region of India is also a good choice for this cake recipe. They are very similar to navel oranges. On many occasions, I have baked this cake with Kinnow oranges from my hometown in Uttarakhand. But always use FRESH ORANGES for making this cake. No artificial flavour, colour, or essence will give you the taste of real oranges.
My Tried & True Tips
There are a few points in this teatime cake recipe where one needs to be very careful to avoid D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. Dry Ingredients: It is important to combine dry ingredients nicely so that baking powder and soda are mixed evenly with the flour. Olive Oil: I prefer extra virgin olive oil for my cake recipes. The olive oil gives a moist and light texture to the cake. If you do not have olive oil, use any flavourless oil such as – canola oil, rice bran oil, or refined oil. Or if you like the flavour of coconut oil, you can use it as well. Orange Juice: The one key ingredient that can make or break your cake is orange juice and zest. Stick to fresh orange juice for making this cake. Avoid using tetra-pack orange juice, as it will alter your orange cake’s texture, taste, colour, and aroma. And you cannot miss the orange zest. Room Temperature: Make sure all the ingredients, especially curd/yogurt is at room temperature before preparing the cake batter. Do not add cold or straight-out-of-the-fridge ingredients to the batter. Do Not OVER MIX: This cake batter does not require hours of whisking or mixing. Once everything is moistened and combined well, stop mixing. Folding the cake batter for a longer duration does not make it light and fluffy it does exactly the opposite. Baking Tin: From a bundt pan, or rectangular loaf pan to a simple round cake tin, you can bake the orange cake in either of these baking pans. Make sure to grease the pan well or line it with parchment paper. Baking Time: Baking a delicate fruit cake like this one for a long time is a crime. If the toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean with minimal crumbs, that is the signal to pull out the cake from the oven.
Cake Decoration
I have layered the cake with simple heavy whipping cream and fresh oranges. You can simply dust it with icing sugar or glaze it with orange-sugar syrup. Either way, it tastes delicious and will become your favourite teatime cake.
Watch Orange Cake Video
More Teatime Cake Recipes
Lemon Pound Cake Eggless Peach Cake Fresh Strawberry Cake Eggless Tutti Frutti Cake Eggless Whole Wheat Cake Eggless Semolina (Suji) Cake Subscribe to our weekly newsletter or follow us on Youtube for video recipes.
