I love citrus-flavored cakes and this Sicilian orange cake is one of the freshest-tasting treats that I've ever made. It takes less than 30 minutes to make and is always on my mind once June arrives.
If you have summer get togethers with your family and friends, this cake makes a fabulous option for you. It's great for sharing with people you care about, as well as being great for the warm weather.
Made with freshly squeezed orange juice, this loaf cake tastes super fresh. Nothing artificial, no orange food coloring, just delectable flavors.
Some other orange treats that you'll love are my vegan chocolate orange macadamia nut clusters , vegan blueberry orange cake loaf and vegan orange almond cake. They're all so tasty!
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Why You Will Love This Cake
- Amazing Texture - The consistency of this loaf cake is incredibly moist and light like my vegan strawberry chocolate chip cake and vegan cherry chocolate cake. If this is how you like your cakes to be, then you're going to be in foodie paradise after you've tried it.
- Strong Flavors - This recipe screams 'summertime' and has all the zesty flavors that you'd expect a Sicilian orange to have. This along with the contrasting buttercream frosting creates a dessert which is truly unforgettable.
- Easy to Make - Making this cake is super simple. Here is what you need to do. Make the cake batter, pour it into the prepared tins, bake the cakes and decorate. It really is that easy!
- Allergy Friendly & Plant Based - This vegan Sicilian orange cake recipe is completely vegan and dairy free.
Ingredient Notes
- Apple cider vinegar - This is the most important ingredient in this recipe. It is solely needed as one of the two items that you will need to make the vegan 'buttermilk'. Mix with the plant milk and let it work its wonders!
- Baking powder & Baking soda - These vital leavening agents will react with the buttermilk to create an amazing, soft and airy cake texture.
- Canola oil - You may have heard of rapeseed oil before. This is the same thing as canola oil for those of you that are wondering. What you call it depends on which part of the world you're from.
- Two medium oranges - The combination of the freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest is just unbelievable. They create strong, powerful flavors which make the cake so zesty and moreish. Don't use concentrated orange juice. Only freshly sqeezed for this recipe like in my vegan chocolate orange cheesecake and vegan cranberry orange muffins.
- Powdered sugar - You will use this for both the buttercream frosting and the glaze.
See recipe card for full information on individual ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you're not a fan of orange flavored recipes, but you love the concept of the loaf cake, you change the flavor. Other citrus fruits such as, lemons and limes work great and all you need to do is swap out the orange juice and zest for the juice and zest of your other chosen fruit. Just make sure that you use the same amount. My vegan lemon olive oil cake and vegan lemon poppyseed cake have very similar methods to this cake and they taste amazing.
- You can make this orange cake entirely gluten free by making one simple adjustment to the recipe ingredients. Use a 1:1 gluten free baking-specific all-purpose flour in the place of the regular all-purpose flour. All the other ingredients can remain the same. You can get this substitute flour in most large grocery stores these days.
How To Make Sicilian Orange Cake
For the full method, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1: Grease two loaf cake tins well with dairy-free butter.
2: Mix the apple cider vinegar into the soy milk until it curdles.
3: Combine the dry ingredients inside a large bowl.
4: Pour the curdled 'buttermilk' into the dry mixture.
5: Add in the remaining wet ingredients.
6: Next, fold the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients. Don't mix at all. Keep folding until everything is smoothly combined and there are no pockets of flour.
7: Equally, pour the folded mixture into two greased loaf pans. Bake inside the oven.
8: Remove your cakes from the oven and allow them to cool fully.
Expert Tips
Make vegan buttermilk - Instead of adding the soy milk and apple cider vinegar separately, you can make vegan 'buttermilk' by mixing a little bit of apple cider vinegar into soy milk. In comparison to plant milk alone, buttermilk possesses acidity. This gives a vegan cake a much lighter texture and a better crumb. Buttermilk also helps to break down gluten.
Instead of mixing, fold instead - When you have added your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients don't instinctively mix it. Many cake bakers will tell you to avoid "over-mixing". For my cakes, I prefer to avoid mixing at all. Grab a wooden spoon and gently fold the mixture over itself until there are no pockets of flour. This will produce a super light cake so be patient!
Each oven is different - Some ovens are old and some are newer so the temperature accuracy of some may be slightly off. When a skewer/toothpick comes out of your cake nice and clean, you know it is ready to come out.
Recipe FAQs
You can freeze eggless cakes like this one for up to 3 months if absolutely necessary. However, freezing the vegan cakes can sometimes negatively affects their texture afterwards. If you're storing the cakes for the shorter term, refrigerate or store at room temperature.
The orange juice which is added to the cake keeps the cake moist. This this means that there is an external factor which is causing this. It could be that the temperature of the oven is too high or the cake was left in the oven for too long.
I recommend storing this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or in the fridge for up to 4 days (also in an airtight container).
More Vegan Cake Recipes
If you tried this Vegan Sicilian Orange Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Sicilian Orange Cake with Glaze (Vegan)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 200 ml soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 200 g all-purpose flour sifted
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 50 ml canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
- Zest of 1 medium orange
For the vegan buttercream:
- 110 g vegan butter block* see notes
- 120 g powdered sugar* see notes
For the orange glaze:
- 100 g powdered sugar*
- 3-4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
Sicilian Orange Cake:
- Pre-heat your oven to 177 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit). Grease two 20cm x 10cm cake loaf tins with vegan butter then set aside.
- Make your vegan buttermilk. Measure out the soy milk then add the apple cider vinegar to it. Give it a mix then set aside for 7-8 minutes until it curdles. Measure out the other ingredients while you wait.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Combine well.
- Next, pour in the curdled soy milk, oil, vanilla, orange juice & orange zest. Don't mix at all. Using a wooden spoon, fold the ingredients together by slowly scooping the mixture over itself. Keep folding the dry into the wet until there are no more pockets of flour. This takes a little longer than mixing but it results in a much better cake. Patience is key!
- Equally divide the cake batter between the two greased loaf tins and bake in the center of the preheated oven for 20 minutes. A skewer should come out clean at this point.
- Remove your cakes from the oven and let them cool in the tins for 15 minutes. Then remove the cakes from the tins and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool fully. Don't apply anything to the cakes until they have completely cooled down.
Vegan buttercream frosting:
- Add the vegan butter block to a stand mixer or a large bowl and cream for 2 minutes.
- Next add half of the powdered sugar. Beat the buttercream mixture until it is fully combined and has began to thicken. Then add the rest of the powdered sugar. Beat again until your buttercream is nice and thick.
- Spread the buttercream in between the cake halves.
Orange Glaze:
- Add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl, then pour in the freshly squeezed orange juice one Tablespoon at a time. I recommend 3-4 tablespoons but you can choose your desired consistency.
- Spoon the glaze onto the top of the cake. Slice and serve.
Video
Notes
- Instead of adding the soy milk and apple cider vinegar separately, you can make vegan 'buttermilk' by mixing a little bit of apple cider vinegar into soy milk. In comparison to plant milk alone, buttermilk possesses acidity. This gives a vegan cake a much lighter texture and a better crumb. Buttermilk also helps to break down gluten.
- When you have added your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients don't instinctively mix it. Many cake bakers will tell you to avoid "over-mixing". For my cakes, I prefer to avoid mixing at all. Grab a wooden spoon and gently fold the mixture over itself until there are no pockets of flour. This will produce a super light cake so be patient!
- Some ovens are old and some are newer so the temperature accuracy of some may be slightly off. When a skewer/toothpick comes out of your cake nice and clean, you know it is ready to come out.
- Use a block of vegan butter instead of a dairy-free spread. I love to use the Flora plant butter block and the Naturli vegan block. These create a much thicker vegan buttercream frosting than a spread.
- Not all powdered sugar is vegan as some brands use bone char as a whitener. Be sure to check.
C says
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