Orange Cake | Best Ever Orange Pound Cake for Holidays
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1 8-inch pound cake
 
Ingredients
  • Orange zest - 1 tsp
  • Orange juice - 70 ml / ¼ cup
  • Unsalted butter - 170 gms / ¾ cup, at room temperature & softened
  • Granulated white sugar - 170 gms / ¾ cup
  • Whole egg - 3, at room temperature
  • Salt - ¼ tsp
  • Cake flour - 150 gms / 1 & ¼ cup
  • Baking powder - 1 tsp
  • Organic orange food color - ½ tsp (completely optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 170 C/ 340 F and place the wire rack at the middle level.
  2. Take the softened butter in a large mixing bowl. Break the cubes using a spatula.
  3. Add the granulated white sugar to the softened butter and start mixing the two first using a spatula.
  4. Once the sugar is somewhat incorporated into the butter, use your electric hand mixer to blend the butter & sugar together. Keep blending them for a good 5 to 6 minutes until the butter turns fluffy & pale in color.
  5. Now add the eggs, one at a time, blending after each addition.
  6. Wash the orange thoroughly. Then grate the zest out of the outer peel using a zester. Make sure to not grate the whites of the peel as it may make your orange cake taste bitter.
  7. After the zesting is done, cut the orange in half and squeeze the orange juice from both the halves using a citrus juicer, manual or electric.
  8. In another mixing bowl, add the cake flour through a sieve so that the flour is sifted while you are adding it to the bowl.
  9. Add salt, baking powder and orange zest to the cake flour. Using a wire whisk, mix them evenly so that all the ingredients are uniformly distributed.
  10. Now add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and using the electric hand mixer, mix the dry ingredients with the butter until they are incorporated nicely without any bits of dry flour left behind.
  11. Finally pour in the orange juice to the cake batter and give a final mix using the hand mixer. Your cake batter is ready.
  12. If you are using food color, then add it to the batter at this point and blend one final time to allow the color to mix evenly.
  13. Grease a 8x5x3 inch loaf pan with butter generously on all sides. You can also place a parchment paper at the bottom of the pan after buttering it for easy removal of the orange cake.
  14. Pour the prepared batter of the orange cake into the loaf pan. Smoothen the top using a spatula or spoon.
  15. Bake the orange cake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The top of the cake might crack which is a common phenomena for any pound cake, so do not worry!
  16. Let the cake cool down for 10 to 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.
  17. After the pan is cool enough to touch, use a knife or offset spatula to loosen the sides of the cake to ensure it is not sticking on any sides.
  18. Tip the orange cake out of the loaf pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
  19. Once completely cooled, cut the orange cake into slices and serve it with a light dusting of powdered sugar or fresh fruits. Enjoy!
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at http://www.flavorquotient.com/2023/11/orange-cake-best-ever-orange-pound-cake-for-holidays/