Citrus is a marvelous flavor in desserts, like this vegan lemon yogurt cake, vegan clementine cake and vegan orange rolls. This vegan Orange Cake is a dessert I’ve baked over and over for many years, after first finding the recipe in the Joy of Cooking. Over the years I’ve made some tweaks and, most importantly, I’ve multiplied its deliciousness by doubling the recipe and slathering it with a fluffy, decadent orange marmalade buttercream frosting. This is a delicious cake, full of orange flavor in every bite. It has a tender crumb that’s perfectly but not cloyingly sweet, and the marmalade buttercream is soft and fluffy and to die for. It is also a rather easy cake to make: it should take you no more than 10 minutes to throw the ingredients together and perhaps another 10 to whip up the frosting, if that. It’s also a one-bowl recipe because you can throw all your ingredients for the cake in one by one, and then rinse out the bowl and use it to whip up your frosting. Best of all, you can even make your vegan orange cake a tad boozy, as I sometimes do, by subbing a couple of tablespoons of the orange juice with an orange liqueur.
How to make Vegan Orange Cake
Because this is a one-bowl recipe you don’t have to worry about mixing the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, then merging them. Add the wet ingredients – the orange juice, zest, oil, vinegar, vanilla and sugar – to a bowl, beat with a whisk until combined, then throw in the dry ingredients and mix. Scrape the batter into two 8- or 9-inch cake pans lined at the bottom with parchment paper and oiled. Bake for 30-35 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan, then unmold and continue cooling the cakes on racks before frosting.
How to make Orange Marmalade Buttercream Frosting
Make sure the butter is at room temperature – not hard nor melted, but soft. Combine the orange marmalade in the bowl with the butter and whisk, then begin to add the powdered sugar, half a cup at a time. Beat in the sugar after each addition and taste as you go to adjust the amount of sugar up or down to your liking. For this cake I used two cups of powdered sugar and it was perfect. More sugar will make the buttercream stiffer. Use an offset spatula or a butter knife to frost the cake.
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