This vanilla orange loaf cake recipe is bursting with flavor, made with orange zest, vanilla bean, orange syrup, and a sugar glaze. Easy to make quick bread that doubles as a cake, to be served for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients for Orange Loaf Cake
Oranges are the main flavor profile of this moist loaf cake. The orange zest will offer a stronger citrus taste to the cake over just adding juice to the cake. Naval or cara cara will all work for this recipe and also the Orange Ginger Honey Cakes. You can also use blood oranges to make a blood orange loaf cake.
Orange Marmalade is added to the batter to give even more orange flavor to the cake. This is an optional add in or can be swapped for freshly squeezed orange juice.
Vanilla is the second main flavor used in both the orange loaf cake and icing. The bold vanilla comes from scraping the seeds out of a vanilla bean. Using beans over extract ensures a rich vanilla in every bite. Try vanilla bean paste if you don’t have a vanilla bean.
Sunflower Seed or Neutral Oil instead of butter ensures the cake will be moist and tender. The neutral sunflower oil inhibits over production of gluten resulting in a softer texture, also allowing the orange taste to shine through.
Heavy Cream offers a high fat content to the batter for even more moisture and richness. It can be substituted for equal weighted amounts of creme fraiche or sour cream in this recipe.
Tips for Making a moist Orange Loaf Cake
- Rub the orange zest into the granulated sugar with a fork to allow the zest’s oil to be absorbed by the sugar. This step enhances the orange flavor in the cake.
- Eggs and heavy cream should be at room temperature in order to create a smooth cake batter.
- Don’t over mix the eggs and sugar, keep an eye on them and stop when the mixture is lighter in color and slightly foamy.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Over working the batter can cause the final texture to be too crumbly.
- Use a microplane to zest your oranges. The zest of one whole orange measures about the same as one packed tablespoon.
- Brush the orange syrup over the top of the orange loaf cake while its still warm. Once you remove the cake from its pan, brush a thin coating of syrup across the sides of the cake as well.
- Try to keep from making the icing too thin. Thinner icing will run off the sides of the cake and a slightly thicker icing will coat the top with just a little drizzle down the sides.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the vanilla orange cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. It can also be kept in the fridge to prevent drying out after a few days. Place cut slices on their side in tupperware to prevent smooshing the icing.
To freeze this cake, skip the icing and wrap the whole cake or cake slices in freezer safe plastic wrap. I would wrap the slices individually. Add another layer of aluminum foil on top of the plastic wrap to prevent additional moisture from seeping into the cake. Frozen loaf cake should stay fresh for up to 3 months. Allow frozen cake to thaw to room temperature before icing and serving.
Yes, you can swap out the orange zest and juice for either lemon, lime, or grapefruit.
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Vanilla Orange Loaf Cake
Equipment
- 9×5 inch loaf pan
- electric hand mixer
- pastry brush
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- zest of 3 large oranges
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 180 grams heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean pod split and seeds scraped, *or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon orange marmalade, *or 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 125 grams sunflower oil, *neutral oil
Orange Syrup
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 100 grams fresh orange juice
Vanilla Orange Icing
- 150 grams powdered sugar, *adjust to desired icing thickness
- 2 tablespoons orange juice, *adjust to desired icing thickness
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or ½ vanilla bean pod
Instructions
Vanilla Orange Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 F(160C). Butter and flour the inside of a 9×5 inch loaf pan and line the center with overhanging parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the granulated sugar and orange zest in a large mixing bowl. Massage the zest into the sugar with a fork until the sugar has started to absorb the orange oils.
- Next, add the eggs to the sugar and using an electric hand mixer, whisk together for about 2 minutes on medium speed, until thicker and paler in consistency.
- Add in the heavy cream, vanilla, almond paste and marmalade then mix again to distribute.
- Pour in the oil slowly while continuing to mix.
- Add the dry ingredients into the liquid mixture and fold with a silicone spatula until no flour streaks remain.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Place the pan on the middle oven rack and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, make the orange syrup. Place the sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan on medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Once the cake is baked, place it on a wire rack to cool. Immediately glaze the top of the warm cake, by painting with a thin coating of orange syrup using a pastry brush.
- Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the loaf pan. Transfer the slightly warm cake to a serving dish and brush the sides with a thin coating of orange syrup.
- Allow the cake to cool completley before adding the vanilla orange icing.
- To make the icing, whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Consistency should be a thick but spreadable icing. Add a tablespoon of orange juice and stir again for thinner glaze or add ¼ cup more of sugar for a thicker glaze. Spoon the icing over the top of the cake and serve.
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