Orange Bundt Cake

by Sabrina Snyder

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32 Comments

5 from 5 votes
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Orange Bundt Cake is an easy fruity spring cake bursting with fresh orange flavor made with butter and buttermilk for a rich pound cake texture. 

Vanilla Pound Cake gets a beautiful citrus flavor makeover with this new bundt Cake Recipe. Golden brown and dusted with powdered sugar, this Orange Bundt Cake is a stunning dessert for any holiday or special occasion.

Orange Bundt Cake on cake stand, sliced

ORANGE BUNDT CAKE

The next time you are making a pound cake, skip the loaf pans and bake it in a bundt pan instead. With a few adjustments, you can easily upgrade your favorite pound cake recipes into a cake fit for birthday celebrations or special occasions.

Orange Bundt Cake is a citrus flavor cake that is perfect in the winter and early spring when fresh oranges are super ripe! Enjoy this easy, delicious cake from Christmas to Easter for breakfast, brunch, or dessert! This bundt cake goes just as good with a cup of coffee as it does with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.

Every melt-in-your-mouth crumb of Orange Bundt Cake is packed with orange flavor. This bundt cake recipe uses 2 oranges for the orange zest plus fresh orange juice. Either use one of your zested oranges for the orange juice, or store bought juice if you are saving the oranges for something else.

This Orange Bundt Cake is tasty all on its own but try glazing it with honey, chocolate, or frosting for more sweetness. Make a delicious glaze for this cake by warming Cream Cheese Frosting or Buttercream Frosting before pouring over a cooled cake. For a Chocolate Orange Bundt cake, drizzle it with Chocolate Ganache.

If this is your first time making a bundt cake, the most important step is to make sure you grease your bundt pan. You don’t lose a part of your Orange Bundt Cake when you flip it over. Even with a non-stick pan, you will need to brush it with oil or shortening and dust with flour before adding the cake batter.

MORE BEAUTIFUL FRUITY CAKES

 

Orange Bundt Cake on cake stand, unsliced

VARIATIONS ON ORANGE BUNDT CAKE

  • Lemon: Easily make this a Lemon Bundt Cake by substituting lemon juice and lemon zest for the orange juice and orange zest.
  • Cranberries: Add a 1/2 cup fresh or dried cranberries to your Orange Bundt Cake for a delicious Christmas flavored dessert.
  • Sour Cream: Instead of buttermilk, you can use sour cream or greek yogurt in this bundt cake recipe. If you want a buttermilk substitute, use 3/4 tablespoon of vinegar added to 3/4 cup milk.
  • Chocolate: Replace 1/4 cup flour with unsweetened cocoa powder or stir in a 1/2 cup of your favorite chocolate chips like dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips.

Orange Cupcakes

To make this Orange Bundt Cake into citrus flavor cupcakes, line or grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Divide cake batter evenly between muffin cups. You should have enough orange cake batter for 24 cupcakes, or two batches. Bake cupcakes for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean with slightly moist crumbs.

MORE DELICIOUS CAKE RECIPES

HOW TO STORE ORANGE BUNDT CAKE

  • Serve: You can keep your Orange Bundt Cake at room temperature for up to 2 days in an airtight container.
  • Store: Refrigerate Orange Bundt Cake for up to 1 week in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap.
  • Freeze: An Orange Bundt Cake can be frozen for up to 6 months. Wrap cooled cake tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap before freezing.

Orange Bundt Cake on cake stand, sliced

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Orange Bundt Cake on cake stand, sliced
5 from 5 votes
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Orange Bundt Cake

Orange Bundt Cake is an easy fruity spring cake bursting with fresh orange flavor made with butter and buttermilk for a rich pound cake texture. 

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Orange Bundt Cake
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Cooling Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 16 servings
Calories 340 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 oranges , zested
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar , for dusting

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 10 cup bundt pan with baking spray.

  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  3. Add the butter and sugar to your stand mixer on medium speed until lightened in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

  4. Add in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla extract and orange zest.

  5. In a bowl, combine orange juice and buttermilk.

  6. Add in half of the orange juice mixture, then half the flour.

  7. Add in the the remaining of the orange juice mixtue and the remaining flour until just combined.

  8. Pour the batter into you bundt cake pan and bake 50-55 minutes.

  9. Let cake cool at least 20 minutes before removing from bundt pan.

Nutrition Facts
Orange Bundt Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 340 Calories from Fat 117
% Daily Value*
Fat 13g20%
Saturated Fat 8g50%
Cholesterol 73mg24%
Sodium 210mg9%
Potassium 79mg2%
Carbohydrates 52g17%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 33g37%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 440IU9%
Vitamin C 2mg2%
Calcium 31mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tender Orange Bundt Cake

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Thank you for recipe the cake is delicious! Baking is not one of my favorite things to do but, we were in need of a desert. I am so very happy I found your recipe. It was so easy to follow and delivered the right amount of sweetness with the awesome touch of orange. It’s a keeper. I shared it with my daughter who loves to bake and she gave it 5 stars!

    Reply

  3. Recipe sounds delicious. I am getting ready to make this. Thankfully I love to bake and have been baking for years. Some of the directions on here would be confusing for a new baker. Add the buttermilk twice? Add vanilla twice? Mix or don’t mix the buttermilk, orange juice and vanilla? What do you do with the powdered sugar? Thanks for a nice, new, recipe. This is what my husband requested for his birthday cake! Will let you know.

    Reply

    1. That recipe card definitely was giving me some errors. I’m so sorry. I went in and adjusted everything so hopefully it sticks and you guys enjoy it!

      Reply

  4. When substituting the sour cream for the buttermilk do I use the 8 oz.carton or 3/4 cup like the buttermilk? Also should the flour be sifted before or after measuring.
    If I use a non- stick Bundt pan should I bake at 350 or 325?

    Reply

    1. So sorry, your comment was stuck in my spam filter. When substituting with sour cream, you’ll want to still use 3/4 cup. You want to sift after measuring. Yes, if you’re using a dark non-stick bundt pan, reduce the temp by 25 degrees. Hope this helps to answer all of your questions.

      Reply

  5. I am going to make this tomorrow. I have some confusion from the recipe. It sounds great, but we are told to add VANILLA EXTRACT and zest. Then to combine Orange Juice, BUTTER MILK and VANILLA EXTRACT. THEN, add ORANGE JUICE, and half the flower. THEN add BUTTERMILK. I’m sure I can figure it out….and am looking forward to maknig this tomorrow. However, just wanted to call attention that confusion, as someone who hasn’t cooked for a long time might get really thrown off. THANKS I’ll let you know how we like it!

    Reply

    1. So sorry that the recipe card was a jumble. Not sure if it was a glitch or that I needed more coffee before posting but either way, thanks for letting me know. I’ve edited it to read correctly. I really hope you’re able to try it and enjoy it.

      Reply

  7. Directions 5, 6, 7 don’t make sense. You say to combine those ingredients but then ask for them to be incorporated one at a time.

    Reply

    1. Clearly I needed more coffee before proofreading, haha! I went through and corrected the recipe card. Thanks for letting me know.

      Reply

  9. I love the orange flavor of this cake. I have made a ton of lemon cakes, but this was my first orange. I am hooked!

    Reply

  11. You say add vanilla twice in the recipe. Do you use one teaspoon one time and the other teaspoon the second time?

    Reply

  12. If your substituting sour cream for the buttermilk is the amount , 3/4 cup , the same amount ? And also is the powdered sugar just used to dust the top of the cake after it has cooled?

    Reply

    1. Same amount but you’ll want to add a little bit of water or milk so it’s not as thick. And yes, the powdered sugar is for dusting. I hope you enjoy it!

      Reply

    1. If you mean a 9×13 pan, then yes though it may take a bit longer to bake in the oven. Make sure to check the middle with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, it’s done. Enjoy!

      Reply

  14. I’ve never really been a “zester” . Is it really necessary? I am not really sure how to even do it. Is there something comparable? Please advise. Thank you, love your recipes and information.

    Reply

    1. The flavor it adds is worth it. You can always buy a microplane and that will help make the process easier. If you’re still not up for zesting, you can add orange extract as a substitute but you’ll only want to use less since they have a much stronger flavor than zest.

      Reply

  16. Do you sprinkle the powered sugar over the cake after it’s baked? Sorry, don’t see where you put the powdered sugar, couldn’t possibly be in the batter, right?

    Reply

    1. Sorry about that. Yes, the powdered sugar is used for dusting after it’s been baked. I hope you enjoy it!

      Reply