Orange Drizzle Cake

This light and refreshing Orange Drizzle Cake is the perfect balance of sweet and citrus flavours. The sponge is infused with a delicious orange drizzle and topped with a thick layer of white icing. For the decoration, I kept things simple and grated orange zest on top.

Citrus season is here! I know that seems weird doesn’t it, given it’s January and freezing cold outside 😅 But I have to say that a light and zesty bake is a nice change from all the chocolatey, rich bakes at this time of year. Drizzle cakes are a British classic when it comes to citrus baking, with lemon drizzle being the OG. But have you tried an orange drizzle cake before!? It has all the same delicious elements of a lemon drizzle but you literally just swap the lemons for oranges in the recipe. Oranges are still part of the citrus family, but they’re less sour than lemons and contain more natural sweetness.

About this Orange Drizzle Cake

• Fresh orange used to make the cake, drizzle and icing
• The perfect balance of zesty and sweet
• Soft, buttery and light sponge
• Topped with a thick layer of icing
• Made using only 7 ingredients!

To make this orange drizzle cake you will need

• Butter – choose either unsalted butter or a margarine baking spread. I love to use Stork Original because it makes cakes light, fluffy and soft.
• Golden caster sugar – adds sweetness and locks in moisture.
• Eggs – you’ll need 3 large eggs to make this orange drizzle cake. You could instead use 4 medium eggs.
• Vanilla extract – orange and vanilla pair beautifully, so I’ve added a teaspoon of vanilla extract into the sponge.
• Self-raising flour – the raising agent in self-raising flour will help the cake rise. You can substitute for 300g plain flour + 1.5 teaspoons baking powder.
• Oranges – you’ll need 2 large oranges to make this recipe. The zest and juice is used to make the sponge, drizzle and icing.
• Icing sugar – mixed with fresh orange juice to make the icing.

3 tips for baking orange drizzle cake

1. Use a large 2lb loaf tin. This recipe will make enough cake mixture to fill a large 2lb loaf tin. It’s important to use to same size tin, otherwise the baking time will be affected. Here is a link to the exact loaf tin I used.
2. Do not open the oven door too early whilst the cake is baking. Opening the oven door will allow the hot air to escape and this sudden change in temperature can cause the cake to sink in the middle. As a rule of thumb, leave the cake in the oven for at least 50 minutes before checking if it’s ready.
3. Don’t worry if the cake cracks on top. This can happen when the oven is too hot or the cake is placed too high in the oven. But honestly don’t worry if this happens, the texture or taste won’t be affected. Besides we’re going to coat your orange drizzle cake in icing anyway 😉

How to prep your loaf tin

Here are the steps I follow to prep a loaf tin:

1. Lightly grease the loaf tin with butter or cooking spray.
2. Cut a piece of greaseproof paper that is long enough to line the base and long sides of the tin.
3. Press it into the base and sides of the tin, scoring the edges so they are sharp and straight.
4. Leave enough greaseproof paper hanging over the long edges to help you lift the cake out.

Quick links to equipment & ingredients

Orange Drizzle Cake

This light and refreshing Orange Drizzle Cake is the perfect balance of sweet and citrus flavours. The sponge is infused with a delicious orange drizzle and topped with a thick layer of white icing. For the decoration, I kept things simple and grated orange zest on top.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Baking

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

• 300 g Margarine or unsalted butter I use Stork Original margarine, it makes the cake really light and fluffy
• 300 g Golden caster sugar you could also use white caster sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 3 large Eggs at room temperature
• 300 g Self-raising flour
• 1 large Orange zest and juice

Orange drizzle

• 0.5 large Orange juicy only
• 35 g Golden caster sugar

Orange icing

• 250 g Icing sugar
• 1 large Orange juice only
• 2-3 tsp Cold water if needed

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan).
• Lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin (I used this one by Circulon) and line with greaseproof paper (see notes in the post above for how to do this). Set the baking tin aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the margarine (or butter), golden caster sugar and vanilla extract together until creamy.
• Mix in the eggs one at a time, adding 2 tablespoons of the 300g flour after each egg to stop the mixture from curdling.
• Add the remaining flour, and the zest of the whole orange plus the juice of half of the orange. Fold the mixture together until smooth and fully combined.
• Spoon into the loaf tin, smoothing it out the top. Bake for 55-60 minutes* until risen, golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Meanwhile make the orange drizzle

• Mix the orange juice and sugar together in a bowl. You can use the remaining half of the orange used to make the cake.
• As soon as the cake is out of the oven, prick it all over with a toothpick or skewer and spoon over the orange drizzle, letting it sink into the cake.
• Leave to cool in the baking tin for 30 minutes, then carefully lift the cake out and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate with orange icing

• Mix the icing sugar and orange juice together until combined. The consistency of the icing should be thick but still pourable. If it's too thick, mix in a teaspoon of cold water at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
• Pour the icing over the cake, letting it drip down the sides.
• Leave to set for 20 minutes, then decorate with orange zest. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

*If the cake starts to brown too much, you can lightly place a piece of foil over the cake after 50 minutes. 

Keyword Eggs, Golden caster sugar, Orange, Self-raising flour, Vanilla extract

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