Vegan Orange Cake made in 1 Bowl and just 8 ingredients! Easy Moist Citrusy Vegan Cake. Soyfree Palm-Oil-free Recipe.
Weekend calls for some cake sitting on the counter. And this citrusy 1 bowl orange cake makes it very easy to have some around. Esp when glazed with some boozy marmalade glaze! Right?
We end up with a bottle of orange juice or a orange something mix juice every now and then. Hubbs gets some, drinks it a few times and forgets about it. Sometimes he gets it just because there should be something to drink for visitors. And I tell him, we always have water or I can make lemonade. Why get the whole juice bottle, esp when both of us don’t really like it and since packaged juice is just.. that, packaged and questionable. I was brought up in the Orange city in India(yes there is such a city!). Those juicy sweet fresh oranges now appear only in my dreams. The juice from those oranges, so fresh and sweet, also in my dreams. After decades of trying many different options, the sour juice just doesn’t cut it for me. So anywho, I use up the leftover orange juice in this cake. 1 bowl, easy, 8 main ingredients, 2 tbsp oil, vegan orange cake! What do you do with excess juice?
I generally use carton orange juice and the juice varies between brands, types and hence the flavor in the cake. For stronger orange flavor, add zest of an orange to the batter or use orange marmalade frosting. This cake is like a basic sponge cake that needs a moist and flavorful frosting or glaze to make it shine. For more moisture in the cake, add a bit more oil to the batter.
More Cakes from the blog.
- Cream Cheese Marble Pound Cake
- Basic Vegan Yellow Cake
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Marble Cake
- Soy-free Mini Pound cake
- Vegan Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate PB Ganache
- Gingerbread Cake
One Bowl Vegan Orange Cake
Ingredients
Dry:
- 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat pastry flour or use Spelt flour
- 1/2 cup (62.5 g) unbleached white flour or all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp starch like corn or arrowroot
- 3/4 cup (90 g) powdered sugar I powder raw sugar and use, Add 2 to 4 tbsp more for sweeter.
- 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) baking soda
- a generous pinch of salt
Wet:
- 1 cup (248 ml) orange juice
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180ºc. Line a 8 or 9 inch cake pan with parchment, or grease well and dust with flour.
- In a bowl whisk all the dry ingredients until combined well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix until smooth. Pour the batter in the prepared cake pan.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or a toothpick from near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing.
- Add frosting of choice like vegan cream cheese frosting, or with whipped coconut cream and fruit, or make a boozy marmalade glaze.
- For the boozy glaze: Mix a tbsp of liquor in a 1/4 cup of orange or apricot marmalade or preserves of choice. Heat for a few minutes until bubbling. Use as glaze or serve with each slice.
- For a regular glaze: Use a tbsp orange juice mixed with the marmalade, or mix 2 to 3 tbsp orange juice with a 1/3 cup or more powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
Watch this week: Kidnapped at Birth – “I was taken from my mother at birth. I’m trying to remember her. This is my story.”
A beautiful poem by a British Farmer turned vegan.
A list of Meat and Dairy farmers who went vegan and became vegan activists.
Brin says
January 1, 2019 at 9:26 amLooks so tasty!
I only have a 10 1/2 inch pan… Should I use the same temperature and time?
I would love to make the cake!
Richa says
January 1, 2019 at 11:33 pmit will prob need 5 mins less time
akriti sharma says
January 22, 2019 at 4:55 amIs it okay if I use all purpose flour only?
Richa says
January 22, 2019 at 9:17 amyes
akriti sharma says
January 26, 2019 at 5:15 amHi! I weighed my all ingredients. But my cake came out sticky and I could squeeze it in a ball. It kept sticking in my mouth. What am I doing wrong?
Richa says
January 26, 2019 at 11:05 amwhat flour were you using, what was the consistency of the batter before baking?
If the batter was too flowy then it probably needed more flour. Or it needed extra baking time. Was it gummy in the middle or all over?
Flours can absorb liquid differently, so you might need to add a bit more depending on that.
BunnicusRex says
March 28, 2019 at 8:20 pmIt’s in the oven now, preliminary rating of 5🌟s because the batter was delish & literally every recipe I’ve made from you has been divine.
But for the question of what to do with extra OJ, especially when it’s prepackaged or frozen?
Drinks! Mimosas (extra-orangey mimosas if you have frozen concentrate don’t bother with water before adding to the champagne), screwdrivers, tequila sunrises, or Madras cocktails – with apologies to the actual city of Madras, especially if crappy OJ. Otherwise, blending with vegan vanilla ice cream for a “creamsicle shake” yummmm 🍹❤️
BunnicusRex says
April 2, 2019 at 3:49 pmUpdate: turned out amazing! Used the extra-oil option for a moist-er cake, a bit more booze than required (because yum), and 100% “white whole wheat” flour since that’s what we had… but basically stuck to the recipe. Another fantastic success we’ll def make again.
Thanks! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Richa says
April 2, 2019 at 5:53 pmawesome, thanks!
Himabindu says
April 30, 2019 at 9:50 amMy husband loves orange poppy seed cake and want to bake him one for his birthday. Can I just add the poppy seeds to the mix?
Richa says
April 30, 2019 at 9:50 amyes, add poppy seeds to the batter
Himabindu says
May 2, 2019 at 6:21 pmThanks for the recipe. The cake turned out absolutely yum!! Added some orange buttercream frosting to it and hubby loved it. He even took some to work and they couldn’t believe it was homemade.
Yogi says
July 21, 2019 at 8:46 pmAny advice for using gluten free flour?
Richa says
July 22, 2019 at 10:47 amuse my gf blend from here (in the notes) https://www.veganricha.com/2018/08/vegan-coffee-cake-recipe.html
Mercedes says
August 24, 2019 at 7:26 amThis turned out perfectly! Great recipe, have shared it with family and friends. I added poppyseeds to make it into an orange poppyseed loaf. Very moist and delicious.
Richa says
August 24, 2019 at 11:29 amawesome!
Roni says
August 28, 2019 at 8:35 amHi Richa I have 9′ on 5′ rectangle bake pan (it is not a real cake pan), do I need to change sth in the recipe? Or the 9′ cake pan is a must?
looks so delicious i want to make it for my son’s birthday tomorrow!
Richa says
September 23, 2019 at 3:44 pmsorry for the late response. yes the 9 by 5 will work
Ailen says
September 19, 2019 at 1:54 pmIt’s in the oven at the moment, for those who decided to use only white flour, i had to put double the amount uf orange juice, it was way to dry, lets see what happens i hope it comes out good.
Carla Thomson says
November 13, 2019 at 12:11 amMy first attempt at vegan baking – so easy to make and came out so well. Delicious with some vanilla bean coconut yoghurt 😀
Richa says
November 13, 2019 at 12:22 amawesome!
Simcha says
December 12, 2019 at 11:05 amI’m excited to try this. I recently made your pumpkin bread and it was delicious. My 4 year old and 3 year old also devoured it. I love how your recipes are so healthy and low fat (as cakes go anyway). And that your serving sizes are so realistic! I get so annoyed when the serving is 1/12…as if I’m really only going to eat a little sliver, hah!
Summer says
December 23, 2019 at 6:41 amHello, Happy Holidays! A couple of questions if you don’t mind. Can I make this the day before it is needed? Can I use regular WW flour but not pastry with the white? And the recipe says 4 servings so I would like to double it, would cooking in two pans be better or should I do two separate recipes instead of doubling ingredients? Thank you so much!
Richa says
December 23, 2019 at 11:27 amYes, use whole wheat flour with the allpurpose flour. You can double the recipe, you will need to a add abit more flour so the mixture is not too thin. and yes you an make it a day before
serena says
January 22, 2020 at 8:58 amHi! In my usual recipe, I use around 80ml of oil, how comes you use such a small amount of oil with this!? What is the science behind it? Thanks!
Richa says
January 22, 2020 at 11:56 ammore oil will give you a more moist and decadent result. But its not necessary to make a good cake. A bit is enough for texture, flavor and moisture
Michele says
February 3, 2020 at 4:52 amDelicious! Made for dad’s birthday cake and he says Don’t lose that recipe!!! Thanks 😊
Richa says
February 3, 2020 at 11:30 amyay!
Zou says
February 9, 2020 at 5:30 pmCan I use this recipe to make orange muffins in a 12 cup muffin pan? Thanks!
Richa says
March 8, 2020 at 3:00 pmyes
Sb says
February 21, 2020 at 2:56 amBest way to store this? For serving in a day or two…also does it freeze well with glaze?
Came out yummy! Substituted white spelt flour for all the flour and coconut sugar for the sugar.
Richa says
February 21, 2020 at 11:43 amrefrigerate. havent tried freezing
Amal Biggers says
May 28, 2020 at 3:26 amI cooled the cake and cut it in small pieces. I froze the pieces on parchment paper. Once frozen, I pit them in a gallon ziplock bag. Perfect.
Suthi says
April 1, 2020 at 3:20 amI used self-raising flour and omitted the baking soda but the cake did not rise. What did I do wrong? Thanks.
Richa says
April 1, 2020 at 12:16 pmsometimes the the leavening in the flour gets old and that might cause it to not be enough. this also happens if baking powder is too old, suddenly the cakes wont rise much or rise at all as the baking powder is too old to sustain enough leavening
Auj says
April 14, 2020 at 10:02 amHi, is there something I could use instead of the vinegar, like lemon juice? Or could I omit the vinegar completely?
Vegan Richa Support says
April 21, 2020 at 10:15 pmlemon juice would add to the lovely citrus tang – just double the amount
Vegan Richa Support says
April 21, 2020 at 10:22 pmsure lemon juice works just use double the amount you would have used for the vinegar
Kendra says
April 18, 2020 at 9:54 amHi Richa, I made this cake with success and my family finished in seconds!I have googled all over eggless recipes but all using 1/2 cup oil. That is so much fat. Seldom I see using only 2 tbsp of oil in an eggless cake which works. I am so lucky to find yours. Hope you can create more low fat eggless cake recipes!
Vegan Richa Support says
April 18, 2020 at 11:34 amexcellent!
Neerali Parag says
April 23, 2020 at 6:26 amHi Richa
Thank you for this super simple quick recipe. I made this with my 5 year old today with Whole wheat flour and self raising flour. It was slightly damp in the middle, and not as spongy as yours looks in the pics, should I have still added a bit of Baking powder to the self raising?
Nicole says
April 25, 2020 at 9:09 pmMine is extremely dense and did not rise much at all, even though I added the amount of baking powder indicated. I’m so disappointed!
Richa says
April 25, 2020 at 10:43 pmThe baking powder might be old. If the baking powder doesn’t do it’s job then it will be dense. Did it rise during baking and then fall? That would mean too much moisture or it needed more flour. Flours can absorb moisture differently so batter has to be adjusted. What was the consistency of the batter?
Cheryl Cross says
May 27, 2020 at 12:39 pmI Love this recipe. I cut it into 8 servings and freeze so I don’t eat the whole thing in a day! Keeps very well. I love adding the boozy marmalade. I use a spoon of marmalade and a splash of brandy in the microwave for 15 seconds for a heavenly glaze and warmth. I’ve also melted the marmalade with a square of dark chocolate. Perfect cake for a solo baker.
So many wonderful recipes, thank you Veganricha.
Amal BIGGERS says
May 28, 2020 at 4:50 amWe loove this cake. Thank you!
Vegan Richa Support says
May 28, 2020 at 9:54 amGlad you enjoyed this recipe!
Karolina says
June 8, 2020 at 10:12 amGreat recipe, thank you!
I didn’t need a vegan cake but egg free so i just swapped oil for 4 tbsp of melted butter. All other ingredients I followed your instructions and measurements. I juiced 3 premium oranges and kept any bits in it. Also added zest from one of them into the batter. My cake turned moist, fluffy and unlike some eggless sponges -didn’t flop! I used 8’ springform. The only thing I will change next time is the amount of sugar, will increase to maybe 120g or a bit more, as I had that floury aftertaste.
Ceinwen says
June 14, 2020 at 3:34 pmI just made this with all purpose I bleached flour and only 1 tbsp olive oil. I made it in an 8.5” loaf pan and baked for 40 mins. I also added a little orange zest. It was amazing. My husband ate the whole thing!!
Vegan Richa Support says
June 15, 2020 at 2:10 pmFabulous !! thanks