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Bright citrusy Italian orange cake is made with seasonal fresh oranges! We’ve got whole oranges inside the batter and deliciously sweet candied oranges on top! The perfect way to celebrate this beautiful citrus fruit!
The orange cake of my dreams!
This Italian orange cake has been on repeat since the beginning of this year. Partially because I wanted to perfect this recipe and partially because I couldn’t stop eating slices full of this cake for every meal of the day!
Warm nutmeg scented vanilla cake with real orange segments and zest running through the batter. It takes me back to when we were in one of the coastal towns of Cinque Terre. We tucked into a little corner bakery off the cobblestone street to get out of the drizzle one morning. And in my broken Italian, I asked the lady to give me a slice of their most popular cake. She told me it was their Sicilian orange cake (the family that ran that bakery was originally from Sicily if I remember correctly.) This is my interpretation of that delicious, whole orange cake, inspired and partially adapted from my olive oil pound cake. Her cake was perfect as is. Tender, fuss-free orange-scented crumb cake without any icing or glaze. The kind of cake you want to eat warm right from the pan, carefree of how it slices.
I topped (or bottomed?) the cake with candied orange slices for those fancy occasions where you want desserts that has extra eye appeal. To be honest, the Italian orange cake is absolutely perfect without the candied oranges. In fact, I even prefer it that way, especially if I’m planning on serving this with warm mugs of coffee for a laidback brunch. But for those special occasions, fancy brunches, or dinner parties, when you want to really impress your guests, add slices of candied oranges. Your guests won’t believe you made this at home, and you don’t even have to tell them how easy it was to do.
Ingredients for Italian Orange Cake
- Whole oranges: Oranges are a great form of vitamin c. I start with whole oranges and remove the orange zest using my favorite zester. Once that’s done, grab a paring knife and remove all of the pith and peel from the oranges. If you use the white pith, your cake will have a bitter flavor in the background. I personally don’t mind a bit of that orangey flavor and usually leave a tiny bit of the pith on.
- Large Eggs: we’ll fluff the eggs with the sugar in this recipe. The eggs add structure to baked goods.
- Granulated Sugar: regular granulated or cane sugar work best for this recipe.
- All-purpose flour: both bleached and unbleached flour will work for this recipe. I usually only keep unbleached flour on hand, so that’s what I used.
- Flavorings: We’ll use a pinch of salt, ground nutmeg, and vanilla extract to boost the other flavors in this orange cake.
- Leavening agent: we’re adding a tablespoon of baking powder to this cake. If it seems like a lot, keep in mind that we’re using fresh pulsed oranges in the cake batter. The cake batter will be a bit dense and requires a bit more leavening than ones that don’t have fresh fruit in them.
- Olive oil: Olive oil adds the perfect flavor to this cake recipe.
- Yogurt: I used regular whole milk yogurt for this recipe.
How do you make candied oranges?
Did you ever have those sugared orange fruit slices as a kid? Homemade candied oranges remind me so much of those – only these pack a more orange flavor punch!
You’ll need equal parts sugar and water to make the simple syrup. Once the sugar and water are boiling, we’ll add thinly sliced oranges to the mixture and let it simmer until the oranges soak up the liquid and the bitter pith of the oranges mellows out. Once the oranges have soaked, remove and line your pan with the slices. Keep the syrup! You can immediately use it to make cocktails, mocktails, or save it to glaze the cakes candied orange slices before serving.
How to make Sicilian whole orange cake:
- While the oven is preheating, start preparing the cake batter. You’ll want to start by zesting the remaining oranges. Then, we’ll use a paring knife to remove the white pith from the oranges. If you don’t want the cake to make a powerful bitter flavor, it’s important to remove all of the pith. If you don’t mind a hint of bitterness, remove all but a little bit.
- Cut the oranges and remove the seeds. Then, add the zest and chopped orange pieces to a food processor and blend until it breaks down into applesauce-like consistency. We’ll use this fresh orange juice mixture in the cake.
- Get the eggs and sugar going in your stand mixer. You want to incorporate a lot of air into this batter, so whisk them together for a good 5 minutes or until the mixture is airy, light, and fluffy. Then, stream in the extra virgin olive oil slowly as the mixer is running. Add the dry ingredients, followed by the yogurt. And finally, we’ll flavor it with vanilla and the prepared pulsed orange mixture.
- When the batter is well combined, pour batter into your prepared pan and bake the cake until it is completely set. Test the cake using a toothpick. You want the toothpick to come out clean. Crumbs on the toothpick are fine; you don’t want any liquidy batter. Allow the cake to cool before attempting to remove it from the pan. You don’t want it to collapse, so just let it rest in the pan. Then allow it to completely cool on a wire rack.
FAQs about this recipe
Absolutely not! You can make this Sicilian whole orange cake as is without the orange slices, and it’s absolutely delicious. Just keep in mind that the cake will cook faster without the orange slices. You’ll want to start checking on it around 35 minutes. Use a toothpick to check and make sure there isn’t any wet batter in the center of the cake.
I’ve only tested the recipe in a 9-inch springform pan, so I am unsure if this will work in anything else. My best guess is that you could possibly use a 9×3 round cake pan if you aren’t planning on lining the pan with orange slices. If it’s not a nonstick pan, I suggest buttering the pan very well and also lining the bottom with parchment so that the cake turns out easily.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure.
I’ve only tested the recipe with regular whole milk yogurt, but I think that the greek yogurt can also work here. I haven’t tested the recipe with dairy-free yogurt.
Leftover cake can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. If it’s particularly warm or humid where you live, you may want to store the cake in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge at least 45 minutes before serving. I find it tastes best at room temperature.
If you like this cake recipe, you might also like:
- One Bowl Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake
- One Bowl Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Cinnamon Apple Crumb Cake
- Glazed Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake
Bright Citrusy Italian Orange Cake (Sicilian Whole Orange Cake)
Ingredients
Candied Oranges:
- ¾ cup water
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 10 ounce oranges (~2 oranges) sliced into ⅛- ¼ inch slices
Orange Cake:
- 2 medium oranges
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg optional
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 tablespoons plain yogurt room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- CANDIED ORANGES: Combine the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. When boiling, lower the heat to medium-low, gently add in the orange slices, making sure they are mostly covered in the syrup, and simmer for 15 minutes, stir and move the slices around often so that all of them soak evenly. Once cooked, turn off the heat, remove from heat and allow them to cool for several minutes until you can handle the slices with needle-nose tongs or with your fingertips. Prep while the oranges are soaking in syrup.
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray on the bottom, up the sides, and line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Zest the remaining two oranges using a zester. Remove all of the white pith from the orange using a paring knife and cut the oranges into small pieces (remove seeds and any additional pith to keep the cake from being too bitter.) Place the cut-up orange segments and zest in a food processor and pulse the oranges until they break down into an applesauce-like consistency. Arrange the soaked orange slices in the springform pan in a scaled overlapping pattern; set aside. Do not discard the syrup.
- MIX: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip together the eggs and granulated sugar until it pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly stream in the olive oil with the mixer running. Add the flour, kosher salt, nutmeg, and baking powder and combine on the ‘stir’ setting. Add the yogurt as the mixer is running and continue to mix until incorporated. Then, add the vanilla, pulsed orange mixture, and stir until the batter is combined.
- BAKE: Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth out the top of the cake and bake the cake for 47-57 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before attempting to remove it. Run a knife along the inner rim of the springform pan to help release the cake. Release the spring and remove the rim. At this point, allow the cake to cool completely before attempting to level it with a serrated knife. Once cooled, place a plate over the cake, gently flip, and peel back the parchment paper. At this point, you can brush any remaining orange syrup on the cake to give it a beautiful sheen. Slice and serve!
Notes
- Leftover cake can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. If it’s particularly warm or humid where you live, you might want to store the cake in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge at least 45 minutes before serving. I find it tastes best at room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
What oranges do you use for the candied oranges?
I DOUBLED THIS RECIPE, USED A HALF SHEET PAN, USED WAXED PAPER WHICH WAS SHORTNINGED AND FLOURED, WHILE I FOUND OUT HOW TO MAKE CANDIED ORANGES, DOUBLED THAT TOO, WITH THE SIMPLE SYRUP, POURED THE BATTER OVER THE CANDIED ORANGES, WAITED THE 47 MINUTES TO TAKE THE PERFECT SICILAN ORANGE CAKE OUT OF THE OVEN, AND HAD NO PROBLEMS TURNING THIS HALF SHEET CAKE OUT WHEN READY, BRUSHED THE SIMPLE SYRUP OVER THE ORANGES, AFTER THE TIME GIVEN, AND IT LOOKS GREAT! CAN’T WAIT TO SERVE THE CROWD FOR ALL FAMILY AUGUST BIRTHDAYS ON THE 29TH! MAMA MIA IT LOOKS AND SMELLS GREAT!!!
Would love to try the recipe but I use gram . What is the weight of 1 cup flour in gram ?
I goggle n There seems to be a slight difference in the conversion
Best cake I have ever made. So so good. I subbed Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour and used goat milk yogurt and it turned out perfectly. I will make this again!
Please it seems that 5 Tbs of oil is too little . ?
Has anyone tried making as cupcakes Or in smaller portions? I have a mini Bundt cake pan (6 small cakes that are probably equal to two cupcakes) but I’m also considering using individual loaf pans. I am curious about bake time if I did this.
I made two large versions of this cake for a fancy dinner service at our restaurant. People loved them. They look as good as the picture, very stunning, and have such a fascinating and different flavour spectrum to the usual orange cakes we all see on the net. I was nervous about what would happen blending up a whole uncooked orange but I was very pleased with the final result. Thank you so much for sharing this, I look forward to making it again and trying mandarins/adding contreau to the candy stage to see what happens
Hi
I don’t have yogurt, can I use sour cream?
I baked two of this cakes for evening dinner service at our busy café. Thank you for the beautiful recipe, these cakes look amazing and the cake has a simple and delicious flavour and texture. Very classy!
I am making this for a friend’s birthday later this week—it looks amazing! As to the oranges, I have a question: after zesting and then removing the pith and any pits, do you pulse the orange sections along with anything left in the orange (not sure what one calls the inner parts that divide the sections)? Or do you remove the orange sections and just pulse those? Thanks!
Someone was asking about a gluten free version, well I did use rice flour as I do most of the time and it worked really well. I also reduced the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup as I thought the amount in the recipe was insane and I am glad as did as the syrup provides quite some sweetness. We live not far from the Italian border and every time we spend a day in Italy we comment on how sweet their deserts are !
Thanks for the recipe, it’s now a tried one and I will bake this cake every time I need to impress!
Hi Marzia!
It was my mum’s birthday on the 25th of Jan and I baked this cake for her cause she loves oranges. She absolutely loved it and so did the rest of the family. It was a hit! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Hi Christina! So happy you decided to try this one out for your moms birthday and that she and everyone else enjoyed it! Really appreciate you circling back to leave a review 🙂
Oooops sorry, didn’t read correctly, my bad. Looking forward to making.
So are there 4 oranges total or pulse the REMAINS of the 2 original sliced oranges?
At which point do you add the candied orange slices, before or after baking?
You arrange the oranges on the bottom of the lined springform pan then add your batter ♥️
I would love to say big thank you, as I have made this recipe for my bible study meeting dinner at my house and it is absolutely perfect! Everyone love it. My husband said it was my best cake that I ever bake! Now I had bake it again as we still have plenty of oranges at home
Hi! Baked this recipe today using Greek yogurt and the cake is delicious. I have one recommendation and that is to place the springform pan on a baking sheet for baking. This will prevent a messy oven from leaking juice.
I LOVE this recipe! I made it for my friends who came to lunch today and everyone loved it! Thank you!
Hi Kathleen! I’m so glad to hear it was enjoyed by everyone! Appreciate you taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Thank you for this beautiful recipe! I was looking for a fresh fruit cake that would be simple but beautiful for mother’s day! This cake was a hit…the candied oranges gave it that gourmet look that my parents thought it was store bought but the fresh from oven warmth surprised them! I used greek yogurt and cara cara oranges and it was a fluffy citrus explosion that went well with tea. I ended up using a 1 to 1 ratio for the sugar syrup since my pan looked so shallow for syrup and it worked out for my cake and gave it that high gloss shine!
I would not describe myself as a confident baker, but this turned out spectacularly! Easily the prettiest cake I have ever made, since the candied oranges are stunning and a lot harder to mess up than icing.
It was dense and moist and had a wonderful orange flavor. I definitely will be making it again, and maybe trying a mix of blood oranges and navel oranges to see if it can get even prettier.
The only thing I think I messed up on was not making enough simple syrup to candy the oranges. I had to stir them around quite about so they were all covered, but some of the oranges got a bit frayed when I was doing it. In the future I’d probably just add more sugar and water.