Orange Lemon Cake
on Nov 01, 2021, Updated Jul 27, 2024
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Make all your citrus dreams ✨ come true with my easy-to-make Orange Lemon Cake! This beautiful dessert combines the tanginess of oranges 🍊 and lemons 🍋, resulting in a moist and tender texture that will leave you wanting more. If you’re looking for a homemade treat without the hassle, this cake is the perfect choice. Plus, your kitchen will be filled with the delicious smell of citrus.
Why You’ll Love Orange Lemon Cake
You will absolutely love this Orange Lemon Cake because it is the perfect combination of tangy orange and zesty lemon, resulting in an incredibly refreshing cake. This cake delivers a moist texture that pairs wonderfully with a cup of morning coffee ☕️ or can be served at a friend’s brunch party.
Not only does this cake come out perfectly every 👏 time 👏, but it is so quick to bake and comes together in just 25-30 minutes. Not to mention, this is a very straightforward recipe for those of you who are not baking professionals!
How to Prepare Orange Lemon Cake
🔥 Preheat the oven to 350°F.
🥚 In a blender, combine oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, then blend for 20-30 seconds. Make sure you don’t over-blend the mixture.
🍋 Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add orange zest, lemon juice, and orange juice, and mix well.
🥣 Mix in half the flour, then add the other half along with the baking powder and mix again.
⭐ Pour the batter for the Orange Lemon Cake into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
♨️ Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
🧡 Enjoy your citrus cake!
Nonna’s Tip 🍋
To reduce the amount of oil, you can substitute 1/4 cup of oil with 1/4 cup of yogurt or sour cream for a delicious alternative.
Variations and Substitutions
This delicious and moist Orange Lemon Cake 🍰 is your baking canvas. Don’t forget to let me know in the comments what you try!
- Instead of orange zest, try using lime or grapefruit zest for a different citrus flavor.
- Experiment with different fruit juices, such as lime or grapefruit juice, in addition to or instead of 🍋 lemon juice.
- You could try whole wheat flour or a gluten-free flour blend for a healthier or gluten-free option.
- Substitute white sugar with brown sugar, 🍯 honey, maple syrup, or monk-fruit sweetener, depending on your preference or what you have on hand.
- You can use 1/2 oil and 1/2 sour cream for a healthier and still delicious version of this recipe.
- Mix in chopped nuts (such as almonds or walnuts) or dried fruits (like cranberries or raisins).
- Drizzle the cooled cake with a citrus glaze made with powdered sugar and citrus juice.
More Citrus Recipes
Best Served With
- Coffee or tea 🫖
- Other cakes (like my Apple Cake) or cookies for brunch
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A good zester is essential and a great kitchen gadget to own! I use this to zest lemons, limes, oranges, and more.
This is my favorite set. I have had mine for 10 years and need a new one. Highly recommend!
I use these bowls for everything in my kitchen. I use them to prep my ingredients, to mix batter or dough in them and so much more!
I have had my Vitamix blender for 12 years and I cannot live without it. It is hands down the best blender in the world. Definitely an investment but worth every penny.
The perfect loaf pan for making baked goods! The ceramic is non-stick and it's super easy to clean.
This set includes 1-cup, 2-cup, and 4-cup Pyrex measuring cups that are perfect for baking, cooking, and melting ingredients. They're also dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning.
Common Questions
I have not tried making this Orange Lemon Cake gluten-free, but you could try this with a gluten-free 1-to-1 all-purpose flour (for baking) instead.
You can add as much zest from each citrus fruit as you like.
If you add more lemon juice, it will affect the outcome of the cake, so for a stronger citrus flavor from whichever citrus fruit you’re using, feel free to use as much zest as you’d like.
Any oil will work for this cake. I recommend a mild-tasting oil such as grapeseed, light olive oil, avocado oil, etc. You can also use melted butter if you’d like.
To reduce the amount of oil, you can substitute 1/4 cup of oil with 1/4 cup of yogurt or sour cream for a delicious alternative.
Yes, you can certainly use butter instead of oil for this recipe.
Yes, you could add poppy seeds to this recipe!
Always check the expiry date on the baking powder and flour! If the cake comes out too dense, (not fluffy or moist) the baking powder or flour is likely old.
You can test if the baking powder has expired by adding ½ teaspoon baking powder to ¼ cup hot water. If the water bubbles up, it’s not expired. However, if it does not bubble, it’s expired and should be tossed. When using baking powder, always check the expiration date. Expired baking powder will not help your recipe rise in the oven, and you’ll have a sad, deflated cake.
Orange Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup avocado oil, any oil works
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ⅓ cup orange juice, juice of one large orange
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, (120 grams)
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Add the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla to a blender and blend for 20-30 seconds (do not over blend). Pour the blended mixture into a bowl and mix in the orange zest, lemon juice, and orange juice.
- Add 1/2 of the flour and mix. Now, add the other 1/2 of the flour + the baking powder. Mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into a loaf pan that is lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes (depending on the oven) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Best recipe out there. Among all the cakes I’ve baked this is the one recipe I always come back to. It’s an absolute family favorite. Made this for my dad’s birthday and he finished it all by himself!
Oh my goodness, Schanel, this is such an incredible comment 🥹🥰 Wow, thank you!! Your dad sounds like an amazing person with great taste 😉💕
Thank you for sharing this recipe! Super easy to make, cost effective (only had to buy eggs as I have orange and lemon trees + the other ingredients already in the pantry). I cooked the cake on bake for about 25 minutes on 180 degrees celcius. It was moist and fluffy ! I then did a quick lemon glaze ( 2 table spoons lemon juice and icing sugar about a cup ). I used canola oil which worked a treat!
Thank you Jesse for the awesome detailed review!
Needed 5 mins longer in oven @170 fan but then again my oven is not always reliable!!!
Looks incredible Ian! Ovens are so tricky — every model, make, and year varies wildly.
Great recipe for using up the odd orange and lemon left over and needing used.
In oven at the present and rising nicely. Looking forward to trying it.
I made the cake as directed. A pick inserted came out clean and the exterior is lightly browned. It had a rise but the base of the cake is dense, boardering on uncooked.
Anyone else experiencing this problem?
Hi! is anything expired? please make sure the flour or baking powder is not expired also don’t over blend.
On Instagram, the recipe you show is differnt. Twice as many eggs and flour. Plus other ingredients are a bit different. The cake is still very delicious .
Hi Jeff, yes this recipe you’re commenting on is different. This is the OTHER orange cake.