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This simple glazed Orange Pound Cake has orange flavor in every bite: zest and juice in the cake, an orange glaze, and orange icing! It’s the perfect homemade pound cake recipe with a tender moist crumb – you’re going to love it!
Easy Orange Pound Cake Recipe
Our neighbors often bring us oranges from their tree and I get super excited to make orange desserts with them. I’m an orange dessert superfan and love all citrus recipes, especially once I discovered lemon desserts like lemon bars and lemon pie and orange frosting.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Orange Pound Cake is a homemade cake using triple the orange flavor. There’s citrus flavor in every bite of this from scratch bundt cake!
- This is a pound cake, which means it’s dense and thick (not fluffy and light). It’s super moist from a glaze soak and icing.
- The cake is filled with orange zest and juice.
- The cake is drenched with an orange syrup before the frosting goes on.
- The frosting is an orange powdered sugar glaze.
Ingredients Needed
- Fresh Orange Juice – I don’t recommend store-bought orange juice. Fresh orange juice has tons of flavor!
- Orange zest – this is where a ton of that orange flavor comes from. Don’t skip it! (Learn how to zest citrus)
- Unsalted Butter – pound cakes need lots of butter – make sure it’s softened.
- Buttermilk – I love the flavor that buttermilk gives the cake.
- Eggs – You need 5 large eggs – these helps the pound cake rise as well as lend structure and moisture to the cake.
How to make Orange Pound Cake
- Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
- With an electric mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Combine buttermilk with orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla extract in a measuring cup.
- Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Beat just until it comes together. Do not overmix!
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.
- Make the orange glaze by simmering orange juice and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
- Once done, cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out cake onto a wire rack. Use a pastry brush to spread the glaze evenly over the tops and sides of the cake. Let dry and cool completely before drizzling with frosting.
- Make the frosting by whisking powdered sugar with orange juice and drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.
Expert Tips
- Be sure to cream the butter and sugar long enough. It should be light and fluffy.
- If you want even more orange flavor, add some orange extract.
- Use just the orange part of the zest, not the white. The white is bitter.
- I used mandarin oranges but you can use naval oranges or any kind you like.
- You can also bake this as two loaves in two 8.5×4-inch loaf pans.
- Be sure to remove the cake while it’s still warm – it will come out of the pan easier.
- Store the cake loosely covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
FAQs
Is a bundt cake the same as a pound cake?
No – they’re baked in the same pan (a round fluted pan) but a bundt cake is often light and fluffy whereas a poundcake is dense and heavy.
What causes a pound cake to be dry?
When there is not enough moisture in the cake it will turn out dry. That’s why we use 5 eggs, buttermilk, and make sure not to pack our flour or over bake the cake.
What’s the best flour to use for pound cake?
All-purpose flour is the best to use for a pound cake – be sure to measure it correctly by weighing it or spooning it into the measuring cup then leveling it off, never packing it.
Orange Pound Cake
Orange Pound Cake is the perfect sweet and citrusy cake that’s a good alternative to lemon! Use up your oranges to make this easy bundt cake with triple the orange flavor.
Recipe Video
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
For the pound cake:
- 3 cups (372g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- ¾ cup (177ml) buttermilk
- ⅓ cup (79ml) fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons orange zest (1-2 oranges)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon orange extract optional
For the glaze:
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (60ml) fresh orange juice
For the frosting:
- 1 cup (113g) powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons (15-30ml) orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray (use the kind with flour for best results).
- Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Combine buttermilk with orange zest, orange juice, vanilla extract and orange extract (if using) in a measuring cup.
- Add the flour mixture (with the mixer on low) in three parts alternately with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Beat just until it comes together. Do not overmix!
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.
- While the cake is baking, make the glaze by heating granulated sugar and orange juice in a small pan over low heat. Bring to a simmer and stir. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and let sit until cake is done. It will thicken as it cools.
- Once done, cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out cake onto a rack. Use a pastry brush to spread the glaze evenly over the tops and sides of the cake. Let dry and cool completely before drizzling with frosting.
- Make the drizzle by whisking powdered sugar with juice and zest. Use 1-2 tablespoons of juice for desired consistency. Leave the cake on a rack. Drizzle over cake and let dry, about 30 minutes. Carefully transfer cake to a serving plate.
- Store loosely covered for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
- Be sure to cream the butter and sugar long enough. It should be light and fluffy.
- If you want even more orange flavor, add some orange extract.
- Use just the orange part of the zest, not the white. The white is bitter.
- I used mandarin oranges but you can use naval oranges or any kind you like.
- You can also bake this in two 8.5×4-inch or two 9×5-inch loaf pans. Baking time will be between 35-50 minutes.Be sure to remove the cake while it’s still warm – it will come out of the pan easier.
- Store the cake loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 573kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 132mg | Sodium: 287mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 59g | Vitamin A: 750IU | Vitamin C: 10.6mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2.2mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Fantastic cake and very moist with all the delicious glaze etc. Highly popular with the family and the recipient of the gift! Thank you!
(I wrote a different review for a different cake that was gluten free – please delete or ignore!)
Overwhelmingly popular with a little raspberry sauce on the side! I took it for Christmas dinner to my sister in law who has celiac. She was really, really happy. Thank you!
First off, I have been baking good cakes, pies and breads for 30+ years.
Second, I hate leaving negative reviews, but it had to be done.
I followed this recipe to the letter and it was the driest cake I have ever had in my entire life.
I was so ashamed to serve this to my dinner guests. One even choked on it. That’s how dry it was.
Needless to say, it went in the garbage. Waste of my money and time. Just a note…all ingredients were fresh.
Sounds like you may have over baked it. This has never been dry when I’ve made it. It’s quite denser than a normal cake, as it’s a pound cake, but it shouldn’t have been dry. Did you use the glaze? That keeps it super moist as well.
Very good. Enjoyed it. Helped use up lots of oranges. Mine was a little dry but I probably baked it 5 minutes more than I should.
Spectacular and utterly delicious! Thank you 😋
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