This week’s recipe is a redemption story.
Well, it’s as much of a redemption story as a cake can have.
It had to have been at least eight years ago that I first attempted to make a whole orange cake. I saw it online somewhere and thought the idea of dropping whole oranges into a food processor and then turning them into cake was really cool.
At the time, I followed the recipe’s directions to the letter, quartering some oranges and throwing them, peel and all, into my food processor, before adding some other ingredients and plopping it into the oven.
It came out and smelled absolutely delicious. The color was outstanding. I was so excited.
And then we tried it.
It was so disappointing—just the bitterest cake I ever tasted.
So I didn’t share the recipe in this space and kind of just chalked it up to a viral recipe that wasn’t as good as advertised.
But then, a few weeks ago, I came across another whole orange recipe. This one was a bit different, because it called for removing the pith from the oranges before using them. Brilliant.
So, with newfound optimism that I might be able to bake a very orange-y cake that might still be sweet, I tried a recipe from the blog “Two Kooks in the Kitchen” by Cheryl Avrich and Jenna Ursini. You can find the original post at https://twokooksinthekitchen.com/whole-orange-cake-super-moist/. I added a little extra salt and extra vanilla in my version.
Whole Orange Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 2 large seedless oranges (I ended up using three smaller ones)
- 3/4 cup butter cut into pieces
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- zest from one orange
- juice from half of one orange
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-inch springform pan by spraying it with cooking spray, and set it aside.
- To prep the oranges, start by peeling them. Using your knife, scrape off as much of the pith from the peels as you can and discard it. Set the peels aside for later. Also carefully remove the majority of the pith from the oranges, and cut them into chunks.
- To start the cake, add the butter, sugar and eggs to a food processor and process until the mixture is light yellow and fluffy. Dump the sugar mixture into a mixing bowl.
- Add the oranges and peels to the food processor (it’s totally fine if there’s still some butter/sugar/egg in there). Process until everything is very fine.
- Pour the orange mixture into the mixing bowl.
- Fold the flour, baking powder and salt into the wet ingredients, mixing until it’s just combined.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool until you can comfortably handle the pan, and then carefully remove it from the springform.
- When the cake is completely cooled, add all of the glaze ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Once it’s smooth, add more powdered sugar if it’s runnier than you like or a little more orange juice from the other half of the orange if it’s too thick.
- Pour the glaze over the cake, and let it set up before serving. Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
This wasn’t overly sweet, but it definitely wasn’t bitter. It was very well balanced, and I thought the addition of the glaze was good to help with that.
The cake was moist and absolutely beautiful. I took this to a get-together with friends, and it was very well received. I think this would be a great dessert for a tea time or dessert at the end of a dinner party, along with some coffee.
And I’m glad I gave this recipe another try. Sometimes second chances are the best.
This piece first appeared in print Sept. 10, 2026.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
