Bursting with bright and fresh flavor, orange Bundt cake is mega moist with a tender crumb. A drizzle of easy orange glaze amplifies the refreshing citrus—each bite is simply delightful. Use cake flour and buttermilk for best results, and see my recipe note for how to bake this cake in a loaf pan.
We’re making moist and flavorful orange Bundt cake today. I always feel extra excited when a Bundt cake comes out of the oven. Maybe it’s the charming shape? Or the amount of glaze I’ll pour on top? Yes, the glaze—that’s definitely it. While simple to make with a short ingredient list and minimal steps, this cake is anything but. The orange flavor totally shines!
This Orange Bundt Cake Is
- Easy to make
- Bursting with orange flavor
- Incredibly moist and tender
- Bright and refreshing
- Made from perfectly pink Cara Cara oranges
- Garnished with an orange glaze similar to these glazed orange poppy seed bars
- A delicious dessert for Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or any spring/summer celebrations
How to Make Orange Bundt Cake
You’ll appreciate the ease and simplicity of this recipe. There’s no soaking syrup, complicated layers, or decorating required! I used my lemon poppy seed cake as the base—trading lemon for orange, omitting the poppy seeds, and skipping the syrup. I also reduced the sugar in today’s cake batter because the fresh orange juice from the Cara Caras is plenty sweet. Here’s an overview of the process:
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. My secret here is to use cake flour. Or, if you don’t regularly have cake flour in the pantry, use this homemade cake flour substitute where you carefully combine a particular mix of all-purpose flour and cornstarch.
- Combine the wet ingredients together. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and flavor.
- Alternately add the buttermilk and dry ingredients. For a moist crumb, rich texture, and extra tang, reach for buttermilk. It makes this cake taste extraordinary.
- Bake.
- Invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake. Let the cake cool before glazing and serving.
- Make the glaze. While delicious on its own, glaze is always a good idea. Combine confectioners’ sugar, fresh orange juice, and vanilla extract. Drizzle onto the cake.
- Slice & enjoy!
Use Any Citrus
I used Cara Cara oranges to make this Bundt cake. Have you ever had them before? I absolutely love them—besides their beautiful pink/coral hue, they have a wonderfully sweet, yet kind of tangy taste. They’re the best oranges for baking because of their sweetness and low acidity. Basically, they add sunshine to any dessert.
If you don’t have Cara Cara oranges, you can just use regular oranges. Or try grapefruit, lemon, or even lime! Any citrus works here, just be sure to use fresh juice. 🙂
More Favorite Cake Recipes
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Glazed Orange Bundt Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: serves 10
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Bright, flavorful, incredibly moist, and tender orange Bundt cake!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (315g) sifted cake flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 2/3 cups (333g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- zest from 2 oranges (about 2 packed Tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) fresh orange juice
- 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
Easy Orange Glaze
- 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 2–3 Tablespoons (30-45ml) fresh orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Lower the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick spray or grease thoroughly with butter. Set aside.
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy – about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the orange zest and juice. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour/spoon the batter evenly into the Bundt pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil if you begin to see the top browning quickly. Once done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes inside the pan.
- Invert the slightly cooled Bundt cake onto a wire rack set over a large plate or serving dish. Allow cake to cool before glazing and serving.
- Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tablespoons of orange juice, and vanilla together. It will be very thick. Whisk in 1 or more Tablespoons of juice, depending how thick you’d like the glaze. Drizzle over cake. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 5. Cover the cake tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 months. Bring to room temperature, make the glaze, and serve.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10-inch Bundt Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Citrus Juicer | Zester | Cooling Rack
- Cake Flour: Sift cake flour before measuring. If you can’t get your hands on cake flour, use this cake flour substitute.
- Buttermilk: I strongly recommend using real buttermilk in this recipe. In a pinch, you can use DIY soured milk. To do so, simply add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup and enough whole or 2% milk to reach 3/4 cup. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes, then use in the recipe. Lower fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch, but the cake won’t taste as rich and moist.
- Loaf Cake: Instead of baking in a Bundt pan, you can bake in two 9×5-inch loaf pans. The bake time for each will be about 45-50 minutes at 350°F (177°C).
- Adapted from Make it Ahead by Ina Garten.
Keywords: orange bundt cake
I have tried many of your recipes and they have all turned out delicious. I want to try this recipe out but I was wondering how would you adjust the ingredients if I have a 9inch pan instead of 10inch. Thank you
Hi SM! We’re unsure of the exact amounts needed for a 9 inch bundt cake. If you don’t have a 10 inch Bundt pan, you can bake in two 9×5-inch loaf pans. The bake time for each will be about 45-50 minutes at 350°F (177°C).
I’ve got a 9 inch pan too & will either use 3 eggs instead of 4 (& scale all other ingredients by 0.75), or use the full recipe & make some cupcakes with the excess batter.
As good as this smelled baking, it was a fail in the moisture department. I baked it 48 minutes due to browning on the top and it was still slightly raw on the inner top. ( I even put foil loosely over it as fhe instructions said.) After taking it out, I even tented it with the foil to keep in some of that steam, which I often do with cakes since it makes it even more moist. This cake was dry, dry, dry! It just crumbled apart as you ate it. The glaze recipe was similar in that the amount of sugar called vs orange juice made a super thick like paste instead of a smooth glaze.
★
Hi Rebecca! It can be tricky to get large cakes like this to bake properly, did you bake the cake in the lower third of your oven? (see step 1) That will help the cake bake more evenly. Also make sure to spoon and level your cake flour (or use a kitchen scale) when measuring. Too much flour will dry out the cake as well. The great thing about glaze icing is you can easily adjust with a little extra OJ or sugar to make it your desired consistency. Thank you for giving this recipe a try.
Love this cake!!! So delish! Can I make the same thing but lemon instead of orange??
Hi Leah, Yes, any citrus works here!
An amazingly attractive and delicious cake! Everyone LOVED it! Lovely crumb and height to the cake, and it wasn’t cloyingly sweet.
★★★★★
I really wanted this to be great, but it fell a little short. Based on my assessment, the crumb was oily and tough. Doesn’t look like enough flour. But I weighed it. Should I not weigh it and do spoon and level instead?
Hi Lex, thank you for your feedback. This recipe has worked in the past using the weight of flour given, however it sounds like your cake could have benefitted from more flour, or less butter. If you try the recipe again, feel free to slightly increase the flour, or you could reduce the butter. (Reducing the eggs down to 3 could help as well.)
Can I use sour cream instead of buttermilk
Hi Mary, for a moist crumb, rich texture, and extra tang, we strongly recommend sticking with buttermilk in this recipe.
Could you add Cointreau? To add more orange flavor, sort of like the butter rum cake recipe. And how much?
Hi Dawn, We have not tested that addition but let us know if try anything!
I haven’t made this cake yet but I’m on a mission to find an orange cake with intense orange flavor. I’ve tried baking from scratch, using cake mixes, orange glazes, and I’ve even used orange extract to no avail. I’d like to try this cake with a bittersweet chocolate glaze as this combo is a favorite of mine. Thanks for your mouth-watering recipes!
I am confused. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of buttermilk but the notes call for 3/4 cup when souring milk… Which one is the right one?
Hi Molly, if using real buttermilk, which is recommended here, stick with 1/2 cup. Enjoy!
So this is the first recipe of yours that I have had difficulty with. Mine came out very dense, despite fresh ingredients and following instructions carefully. I am wondering if homemade buttermilk is the culprit?
Hi Barbara! Did you use a low fat milk to make the homemade buttermilk? Whole or 2% is best. Other than that, it could be a few things. First, make sure your baking powder and soda are fresh. We find they lose strength after just 3-4 months. Use proper room temperature butter and other room temperature ingredients. Make sure you spoon and level the cake flour, too! Here’s a helpful post about preventing dense cake.
I did use 1% even though the recipe said not to :). I read the article you sent and maybe my butter was too soft and/or I over-mixed. I will try again. ( and despite it being dense, we ate it all anyway!). Many thanks for responding so quickly.