This Orange Loaf Cake is exceptionally moist, bursting with fresh orange flavor, and topped with a luscious orange glaze icing. It’s made with oil and yogurt instead of butter for a perfectly tender cake every time. Plus it’s super easy to make - no mixer required!
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We make a lot of dessert recipes around here, but if you’re looking for the one single recipe that’s easy, fits every occasion, and gets rave reviews, this Orange Loaf Cake is an answer straight from heaven. Whether you call it orange loaf, orange cake, or orange bread, it’s that elusive recipe that never fails to impress (even for beginner bakers!).
The inspiration for this recipe started with our Lemon Yogurt Loaf Cake, but honestly the orange loaf has become my new favorite.
🏅 Why this recipe is the best
I cannot overstate how AMAZING this orange loaf recipe is. Let me share just a few of the reasons…
- It’s incredibly moist and tender. This is thanks to making it with oil and yogurt, plus a bonus orange simple syrup that you add when it comes out of the oven.
- The easy orange glaze takes the flavor over the top and makes it look beautiful!
- No mixer required! This is a simple cake recipe that just requires a couple of bowls and some utensils.
- It fits every occasion, whether a dinner party, bridal shower, picnic, pool party, weekend breakfast, midday snack, and the list goes on.
🍊 Ingredients
A full list of the ingredients is in the recipe card below, but here are a few noteworthy tips:
- Oranges: Let me start by saying *only fresh oranges*. Store-bought juice is just not the same. For tips on how to choose the best oranges, see the FAQ section below.
- Yogurt: Choose a whole-milk yogurt (the extra fat adds moisture to the cake) and bring it to room temperature before baking.
- Oil: Some loafs are made with butter, but they tend to be more dense, dry cakes. This loaf cake recipe is made with oil instead, which keeps the cake tender and moist.
- Eggs: Bring these to room temperature before baking too. If you’re in a hurry, place them in a shallow bowl with warm water to speed up the process.
For the icing, don't substitute the cream or half & half with milk. The extra fat helps cut the powdery taste of the sugar and gives it a slightly creamy consistency.
⏲ How to make orange loaf cake with oil
Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a standard loaf pan (approx 9x 5 x 3-inch) with non-stick baking spray.
Wet and dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil, orange zest, and vanilla. Then in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Combine: Slowly and gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
Bake: Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Orange syrup: While the cake is baking, microwave the orange juice and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is translucent. When the cake is finished and still warm, use a fork or wooden skewer to poke holes in the cake about ¾ of the way down the cake. Leaving the cake in the loaf pan, pour on the syrup and let it soak in until cool.
Orange glaze: Last but not least, combine the glaze ingredients and pour over the top of the cooled cake.
👨👩👧👦 For a crowd
If you are making this orange cake for a crowd, I highly recommend making each batch one at a time instead of doubling or tripling the batter in the same bowl. The more batter in the bowl, the more you will need to mix it. The more mixing, the tougher the cake. So play it safe and make each loaf on its own.
📋 Variations and toppings
There are a lot of fun ways you can bake and serve orange cake depending on the occasion. Here are a few ideas that work well!
- Full Loaf Pan: Great for dinner parties, casual gatherings, and serving a crowd.
- Mini Loaf Pans: Great for serving small groups of 2-4, making a cute display for a party, or giving as gifts.
- Mini Bundt Cakes: Makes the cutest single serving dessert and is a fantastic option for special occasions such as bridal or baby showers. Plus they make a great Easter or Mother's Day dessert. We use this pan to make our mini bundt cakes.
Although the fresh orange glaze is topping enough on its own, you can also add extra toppings to take this loaf cake to the next level!
- Fresh berries: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries - you name it!
- Berry topping: Try a drizzle of this mixed berry sauce or a heaping of shortcake topping (chopped strawberries, sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice).
- Whipped cream: Homemade is my favorite way to go.
- Orange curd: This recipe already has tons of orange flavor, but can you really have too much?
- Ice cream: A simple scoop of vanilla is reminiscent of a creamsicle.. but better!
🙋 Questions and Answers
The key to a good orange loaf is, well, good oranges. Please, please try to avoid oranges with thick skin - these are almost always dry and bland inside. Instead, choose oranges that are brightly colored, smell fragrant, and have a thin, healthy peel.
This loaf cake is made with oil and yogurt instead of butter, which gives it an extra moist crumb. Cakes made with oil are almost always more moist than a butter cake because canola oil doesn't solidify like butter does.
You sure can. Bake the cake, complete the syrup step, and cool the cake thoroughly without the glaze. Then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and a layer of tinfoil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the fridge or for several hours on the countertop. Prepare and pour the glaze on top once the cake is fully thawed.
If you want to freeze leftover cake that is already glazed, flash freeze it for 1-3 hours without any wrapping (this way you don’t destroy the glaze). Then wrap in plastic wrap and tinfoil, freeze for up to 3 months, and thaw on the countertop or in the fridge. The glaze won’t look perfect but will still taste delicious.
👨🏼🍳 Tips & Tricks
- Use the freshest oranges you can for the best flavor (see my notes about how to choose oranges in the post).
- Zest the oranges before juicing. This microplane is my favorite for zesting.
- Use room temperature ingredients, specifically the eggs and yogurt. It helps them to fully incorporate into the batter and helps the cake rise evenly.
- Use whole-milk yogurt instead of fat-free or reduced. The extra fat makes the cake more moist.
- Don’t skip poking holes in the cake because this helps it absorb the syrup more evenly. The syrup is an extra step, but well, well worth your time!
📖 Other great desserts
- Raspberry Crumble Bars - A simple shortbread crust layered with raspberry jam and a buttery crumb topping... what could possibly be wrong with these?
- Blackberry Swirl Cheesecake - Lemon crust, creamy filling, and a beautiful blackberry swirl make this the perfect spring cheesecake.
- White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake - A tender bundt cake with pockets of tangy raspberry and a luscious white chocolate glaze!
👋 Connect with us!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it is! We’d also love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag @borrowedbites or hashtag #borrowedbites to show us your food!
📋 Recipe
MOIST Orange Loaf Cake (with oil)
Ingredients
Orange Loaf Cake
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon fresh orange zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Orange Syrup
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup orange juice freshly squeezed
Glaze
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon heavy cream or half & half
- 1 tablespoon orange juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a standard loaf pan (approx 9x 5 x 3-inch) with non-stick baking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil, orange zest, and vanilla.
- Slowly and gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Orange Syrup
- While the cake is baking, microwave the orange juice and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. The syrup is finished when the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is translucent.
- Once the cake is removed from the oven, allow it to cool for 10 minutes. Use a fork or wooden skewer to poke holes ¾ of the way down the cake. Leaving the cake in the loaf pan, pour on the orange syrup and allow it to soak. Cool completely in the pan.
Orange Glaze
- While the cake is cooling, combine the glaze ingredients and mix until smooth. Once the cake is cooled completely, remove it from the pan and place on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. Pour the glaze on top, allowing it to drip down the sides (the sheet pan will catch the drips).
Notes
- Use the freshest oranges you can for the best flavor (see my notes about how to choose oranges in the post).
- Zest the oranges before juicing them. This microplane is my favorite for zesting.
- Use room temperature ingredients, specifically the eggs and yogurt. It helps them to fully incorporate into the batter and helps the cake rise evenly.
- Use whole-milk yogurt instead of fat-free or reduced. The extra fat makes the cake more moist.
- Don’t skip poking holes in the cake because this helps it absorb the syrup more evenly. The syrup is an extra step, but well well worth your time!
Nutrition
All nutrition information is provided by a third party and is an estimate only. Use your own nutritional calculator for more specific measurements.
Leena says
I made this exactly as per recipe and the cake was just delicious. But the cake texture was like a steamed cake - a bit pudding-like instead of fluffy. Any idea why?
Danielle says
With baking it’s so hard to troubleshoot, but I will try. My two guesses would be that it wasn’t baked quite long enough and/or you cut into it when it was still warm. Did the texture look like the slices in the pictures? They really capture what it should look like. Let me know if you have any other questions.