Whip up this quick and easy Sicilian Orange Cake. It’s moist, full of fresh orange flavor, and ready in no time. It’s a breeze to make and perfect for when you need something sweet fast.
Today, I’m bringing a slice of Sicily to your table with this amazing Sicilian orange cake. It’s super easy to make and tastes fantastic.
So why should you whip up this orange cake? It’s quick, the ingredients are easy to get, and the taste is just unforgettable. The only downside? You can’t stop at one slice. Trust me, you’ll be back for more.
And if you’ve got kids, they’ll not only love eating it but they’ll also have a blast helping you make it.
Interested? Let’s get started!
🥘 Ingredients And Substitutes
- Oranges: Use one whole big orange if you’re okay with a bit of bitterness. Prefer no bitter taste? Use the zest from two big oranges instead.
- All-purpose Flour: The base of your cake.
- Rice Flour: Not in the original recipe, but I add it for extra texture. Almond flour is a good substitute if you’re out of rice flour, or just use more all-purpose flour if needed.
- Eggs: Opt for eggs with intense yellow yolks for a richer cake color.
- Sugar: Regular sugar works fine, but you can switch it up with brown sugar for a caramelized flavor, or use a sweetener like honey.
- Yogurt: Adds moisture.
- Melted Butter: For richness.
- Baking Powder: Helps the cake rise.
- Olive Oil: You can swap this with another vegetable oil or use more butter. Coconut oil gives an interesting flavor.
- Salt: A little goes a long way to enhance all the flavors in your cake.
👩🍳 Step-By-Step Directions
Quick Tip: I always set out all my ingredients a couple of hours before I start. This brings everything to room temperature, which is key for a good cake.
Once everything’s ready, I beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until they’re nice and creamy.
Then, I stir in the yogurt.
For the orange flavor, if you don’t mind a bit of bitterness, just use one whole orange. If you want to avoid bitterness and really punch up the orange flavor, grate the zest from two oranges (just make sure not to grate the white part—it’s bitter).
Next, I peel and chop one orange, blend it until smooth, and add it to the bowl.
I toss in a pinch of salt and some baking powder, and mix those in.
Next up is the flour. I add it slowly while mixing on low speed.
Then comes the melted butter followed immediately by the oil.
I give everything a final mix to make sure it’s all smooth and uniform.
Now, for the baking tray. I line the bottom with baking paper and grease the bottom and sides with some butter.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), pour the dough into the tray, and bake for about 45-50 minutes.
And that’s it! If you’re into Italian cakes, you should also try making a Torta Paradiso sometime. It’s super easy and incredibly tasty.
If you like Italian cakes, I also highly recommend taking a look at the Italian Torta Paradiso. It’s very easy to make, but it will surprise you with how delicious it is.
Answering Your Questions:
Can I Use Other Types of Citrus Fruit Instead of Oranges?
Yes, you can use other types of citrus fruit, such as lemons or grapefruits, instead of oranges. Just make sure to adjust the measurements accordingly.
What Type of Yogurt Should I Use?
You can use plain, whole-milk yogurt for this recipe. Greek yogurt can also be used, but it may make the cake slightly drier.
Can I Substitute the Rice Flour With Other Types of Flour?
Yes, you can substitute rice flour with all-purpose flour or other types of gluten-free flour, such as almond flour or coconut flour. However, the texture and flavor of the cake may be slightly different.
Can I Add Nuts or Other Ingredients to the Cake?
Yes, you can add nuts, such as chopped almonds or pistachios, or other ingredients, such as dried fruit or chocolate chips, to the cake. Just make sure to adjust the measurements accordingly and mix them in gently.
Recipe Card:
Homemade Sicilian Whole Orange Cake
Ingredients
- 1 Orange Peeled. After you will blend the Orange You should get about 1 1/2 fl. Oz. Orange purea.
- Orange Zest from two oranges.
- 1 ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Rice Flour
- 3 Egg
- 1 ¼ cup Sugar
- 1 ½ cup Yogurt
- 4 tablespoons Melted Butter
- 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Pour all the eggs and sugar in the bowl and mix until you get a creamy mass.3 Egg, 1 ¼ cup Sugar
- Add into the bowl orange zest from two oranges.Orange Zest
- Peel and cut one orange into cubes and blend it until you get a uniform consistency. Add the orange to the bowl with our previous ingredients. Right after it, add the yogurt into the composition.1 Orange, 1 ½ cup Yogurt
- Add salt, baking powder and incorporate these ingredients.2 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder, ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Add the flour (all-purpose and rice flour) and mix all the ingredients at the lowest speed.1 ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour, 1 cup Rice Flour
- Add the melted butter and olive oil. Mix all the ingredients well until you get a uniform mass.4 tablespoons Melted Butter, 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
- Prepare the baking tray. Cover the bottom of the tray with baking paper, and grease both the bottom and the walls of the tray with butter.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Pour the dough into the baking tin and bake the cake for about 45-50 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Quick Note
I highly recommend reading the entire recipe to find more tips and notes about this recipe. Read Full Recipe ⇑
Notes
- If you prefer less bitterness, be careful to only zest the orange peel, avoiding the white pith as much as possible.
- Ovens vary, so start checking your cake for doneness at around 40 minutes to prevent overbaking.
- Consider adding a splash of vanilla extract or a pinch of cinnamon to the batter for an extra layer of flavor.
Dannii
I love any kind of orange dessert and this cake looks so light and fluffy.
Danielle Wolter
This sounds so incredible! I love citrus in desserts and this cake looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try it.
Gina
I love the texture from the rice flour in this cake and the orange zest aroma and flavor is just absolutely delicious. Tastes so fresh and bright!
Sharmila Kingsly
It is bursting with flavors… Totaly yumm!!
Rosemary
Love this cake. It reminds me of one I had in Greece. Nothing like fresh flavorful oranges. Yum!!
Jenny
Very tasty cake! Great use of my orange tree surplus! I used almond flour because I couldn’t find rice flour, glad you suggested the choice. the yogurt is missing from the instructions. I used only half added at the end and it was fine. I also added 1/4 tsp of vanilla because I had plain Greek yogurt and didn’t want the sharpness to come through.
Beetle
This recipe is great! Made it and my family and I loved it! (also didn’t have yogurt so substituted with sour cream and still worked out great 🙂
Jordan
5 stars but seeking a little advice. When I put this together it ended up kind of custardy instead of cakey (still tasted great, I just clearly messed something up). It was sort of like a British pudding. I was making a common mistake (for myself anyway) of treating baking like cooking and measuring a few of the ingredients by sight. I wonder if I a) Didn’t use enough baking powder or b) used to small of a tin so that the dough weighed itself down? Happy to hear any suggestions.
Victoria
Thanks for the review, Jordan.
I’m glad that you were satisfied with the taste of this delicios Orange cake, but I’m sorry that the end result wasn’t as expected, but let’s try to find the cause of failure.
One of the possible reasons why the texture of your cake did not come out is the fact that the amount of liquid ingredients was different than the ones indicated in the original recipe.
I will recommend to double-check the size of the orange and the amount of orange purea that you obtained from the orange. It may be the cause of the texture. In my case, I got about 1.5 fl. Oz from a blended orange.
Responding to your questions: If the problem was that you didn’t used the enough baking powder, then the cake will get a more compact texture with a slightly sticky core. If the problem was in a small baking tray, then, as a result, you would get a drier cake on the outside, and it bake longer because the cake will be higher.
Jordan
Thank you! I tried again. I was more careful about liquid and kept the amount of pureed orange to 1.5 fl oz this time. I was also careful to measure the baking powder correctly. It turned out very good!