If you're looking for an easy (and delicious) way to use up oranges this citrus season, this orange vegan cake is the orange version of my popular lemon loaf.
It comes together in just a few easy steps and uses 10 simple ingredients, without the need for an egg replacement.
Serve it with a cup of tea or coffee or with a generous smothering of homemade vegan orange curd.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
Here are all the simple ingredients you need to make this vegan orange cake recipe from scratch:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Oranges: If possible, organic oranges are best since we're using both the juice and the zest. Otherwise, wash them very well first. If you decide to use blood oranges, your vegan orange loaf will have a deeper orange color. Also, always use fresh orange juice (not the bottled stuff) for the best orange flavor.
- Olive Oil: I purposely made this orange cake without butter (vegan butter of course), as oil makes for a fluffier crumb. The oil keeps the cake moist, tender, and fluffy for days. You can use light olive oil, or another neutral oil such as canola oil, or sunflower oil if you're not a fan of its flavor.
- Non-Dairy Milk: My go-to for most vegan cakes is soy milk as it comes very close to dairy in terms of protein content. Together with apple cider vinegar, it forms vegan "buttermilk". This will help the cake to become super fluffy and light. Feel free to use almond milk or oat milk if you need to.
- Light Brown Sugar: I use light muscovado (not to be confused with dark muscovado) in baked goods as it is less refined than most other sugars and gives a subtle caramel flavor. You can use cane sugar, coconut sugar, or soft brown sugar in its place.
- Vanilla: You can either scrape out a vanilla bean or use vanilla bean paste. This adds another layer of flavor to the orange loaf.
- Organic Powdered Sugar: This forms the base of the standard icing which is flavored with freshly squeezed orange juice and orange zest. You can use blood oranges to give the glaze a wonderful peachy-pink hue.
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🥣 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make this eggless orange cake. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the bottom of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, rub together the zest and sugar. This is a tip I picked up from The Loopy Whisk. Essentially, this allows lots of the natural oils from the oranges to be released and flavor the sugar. If you're using a vanilla pod, rub it into the sugar here also!
Next, whisk the olive oil into the orange sugar mixture. Don't worry if it appears split at this stage, it will come together when the other wet ingredients are added.
Add the "vegan buttermilk" (dairy-free milk with apple cider vinegar) and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Carefully fold in the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, baking powder, and sea salt) until "just combined". Don't be tempted to over-mix the batter!
Pour the cake batter into a cake pan lined with parchment paper and add a thin strip of vegan butter on top. You can also dip a knife in olive oil and run it down the middle of the cake (this helps it crack beautifully down the center!). Bake in a preheated oven for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out almost clean with a few crumbs but without any raw cake batter.
Whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth and set aside. It only takes a couple of minutes to prepare the glaze. If it's sitting on the counter before your loaf is baked, cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming on top of the icing.
Let the cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Pour the orange glaze on top of the cake, letting it drizzle over the edges. You can use as little or as much as you like, then decorate with orange slices or segments.
💭 Recipe Tips
Use unwaxed oranges: Organic if possible. Waxed fruits are generally not vegan due to their coating. It's also a good idea to go for organic if you can as you'll be using the orange peel.
Use a microplane grater to get the most out of the zest of the orange, and use only the orange zest, not the bitter white pith underneath.
Measure in grams: With any baking, accuracy is key, and measuring in grams will always be more accurate.
Declump the sugar: Light muscovado sugar can sometimes "clump" together. Get your hands into the dry ingredients and work out any lumps of sugar as these can create spots when baking.
Use a parchment paper sling: A parchment sling covers the bottom and sides of the loaf pan, making it so much easier to lift out your vegan loaf cake once baked. King Arthur Baking shows detailed images of how to create a parchment sling.
Use a serrated knife to slice your cake. I like to carefully mark out the cuts first, before cutting through for the perfect slices!
💬 FAQs
Place the cake in an airtight container or wrap well in plastic wrap. Store it at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Yes, you can freeze this cake in an airtight container and defrost it a couple of hours before serving. I usually slice it into servings and separate them with pieces of parchment. This way, there's no need to defrost the entire loaf when you're craving a slice!
If you want to frost this cake instead of glazing it you can also use vegan cream cheese frosting for some orange creamsicle flavor vibes!
🍰 More Vegan Cake Recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Orange Loaf Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 180 ml (¾ cup) soy milk *note 1
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 200 g (1 cup) light muscovado sugar *note 2
- 3 tablespoons orange zest 3 large oranges *note 3
- 1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 120 ml (½ cup) olive oil or neutral oil such as rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 60 ml (¼ cup) orange juice freshly squeezed
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder sifted
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Orange Glaze *note 4
- 90 g (¾ cup) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegan yogurt or orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest 1 orange
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F). Lightly grease an 8" loaf tin and place a sling of parchment paper into it to help lift out the cake once baked. To make the vegan "buttermilk" add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to a small bowl, stir, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Flavor the sugar: Add the sugar and orange zest to a large mixing bowl. If you're using a vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds and add them to the bowl as well. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar.
- Wet ingredients: Add the olive oil and whisk to combine. Then add the vegan buttermilk mixture and the freshly squeezed orange juice, and whisk again.
- Dry ingredients: Add the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl with the wet ingredients in 2 parts, and whisk until just combined and there aren't any visible pockets of flour - be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Bake: Transfer the cake batter to the prepared loaf pan. Place thin strips of vegan butter or a knife dipped in olive oil down the center of the loaf, this will help the loaf to crack in the center once it bakes (*note 6). Bake for 45-55 mins. Check the cake is ready by inserting a knife or toothpick into it, which should come out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack.
- Make the glaze: Meanwhile, add the powdered sugar, yogurt or orange juice, and orange zest to a bowl and whisk until smooth.Once the cake has cooled, place a sheet of parchment paper under the cooling rack to catch any icing. Pour the glaze on top of the cake, you can add more or less depending on your taste.
Notes
- Soy Milk: Swap for almond milk or oat milk.
- Light Muscovado Sugar: Swap for coconut sugar, cane sugar, or soft brown sugar.
- Oranges: Use organic if possible, or wash them very well before use.
- Orange Glaze: You can double the glaze recipe for a thick glaze.
- Use a parchment paper sling: A parchment sling covers the bottom and sides of the loaf tin, making it so much easier to lift out your vegan loaf cake once baked.
- Adding a thin line of butter slices down the middle of the batter helps to create a lovely crack in the center of the cake. Thanks to CloudyKitchen for the idea.
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My first time trying an orange cake,so after mich nagging from my kids I thought since we have much oranges let's try this one and wooow,I love it,thank you for sharing.I adjusted the zest and used honey iand reduced the quantity sugar
Hi Michelle,
So lovely that your kids convinced you to give it a try, thank you so much for your feedback!
Flavor is awesome but mine didn't rise for some reason... Very claggy, as Paul says on the British Baking Show. Oh well I'm still eating it!
Hi!
So glad you’re still enjoying the flavor, even if the texture didn’t turn out quite right! If it didn’t rise and came out dense, it might be worth checking if your baking powder is still active.
You can test it by adding about 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to a small bowl of hot water. If it bubbles up right away, it’s still good.
I’m nor vegan but I have vegan friends and colleagues, and this recipe has become my go-to whenever I need to bring a cake for any occasion. I can’t thank Christina enough for this. Even my (non-vegan) boss once told me this cake reminded him of his childhood!
Personally, I keep it simple and don’t do the glaze, I pour I bit of orange juice at the end instead.
Hi Esteban,
That’s so wonderful to hear, thank you for sharing! It’s amazing that the cake brings back such nostalgic memories for your boss, and I love your twist with the orange juice at the end!
This cake is amazing and easy to make! I had some oranges I didn’t know what to do with and this worked out great! I used an 8x8 pan because I didn’t have a loaf pan and cooked for around 30 minutes.
Hi Jessie,
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback, and for sharing the pan size and baking times you used 🙂
Can you make this in a cake pan or 8x8 square pan?
Hi Jessie,
Yes you can! Just be wary it will need less baking time, i'm not sure exactly how much but I would check it at the 30-35 minute mark.
I tried the recipe but mine looks white and not orange like yours. I used cane sugar instead of brown, but everything exactly like your recipe. Its moist but not as much as it should be.
Please reply as I would like to make moree
Hello!
Yes brown sugar will darken the color, and it also adds a tad more moisture.
Thank you for your quick response. I will try it again today.
Christina,
This is another amazing recipe. The instructions are so well written and can’t wait until the cake is cooled down. Smells already delicious.
Love Heike
Hi Heike!
Thank you so much for your lovely review, appreciate you!
I must tell you. I've been making this cake for years now and it's my favourite! ♥️ I am even known for it, haha. People love it always. Thank you for this recipe.
I do use rice oil, I always use this in my cakes. So I don't really know how it should taste, so I might try it with olive oil sometime 😁
I forgot the 5 stars! ⭐
Oh, and I mean rice bran oil 😬
♥️♥️
Hi Nicole,
Oh that is wonderful! Thank you so much for your lovely feedback 🙂
Oops! I forgot to add the glaze before I set it out on 12/24, but it was flavorful enough without the glaze. I used 3/4 the amount of sugar the recipe calls for and it was still a soft, fluffy, and flavorful cake.
Hi Lisa,
Ah I'm glad it was still lovely without the glaze, thank you so much for the lovely feedback 🙂
Hi the orange olive oil loaf it’s say2/12 teaspoons twice of the baking powder.
Hi Gitaben,
You can ignore the one in brackets sorry, it automatically tried to convert it!
Can’t wait to bake this tomorrow! What is red stuff on loaf in picture? Cranberry? Rose?
Hi Laura,
They're freeze-dried raspberries. Would love to hear how the recipe goes!
Delicious flavour, moist, lovely crumb. Recipe is absolutely spot on 👌🏻. Made with EVOO, oat ‘milk’ and 50/50 light brown soft sugar & caster sugar. Highly recommend and will make again.
Hi Jen,
Fantastic, thanks so much for your wonderful feedback!
I made it according to the recipe (sans vanilla, and with coconut sugar) and it tasted magnificent 🙂 The top is crispy and crumbly and the inside is nice and moist. Unfortunately I didn't have the ingredients for the glaze, but it tastes fine without in my opinion! The orange flavour is a little subtle, but you can still taste it. Adding some extra seasonings could work well with this load as well 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi K,
Fantastic, I'm delighted to hear you loved it. I think the coconut sugar may have overpowered the taste of the orange a little, as it should have been super orangey! Maybe next time just add another tablespoon of zest to compensate and the vanilla definitely helps to enhance the citrus flavor as well. And that's a great idea about adding seasonings! A hint of ginger or cinnamon would be lovely this time of year x
Hello dear, do you think gluten free flour would work here? 🙏🏼
Hi Ivi,
I haven't tried it I'm sorry, but, I know a lot of people have success with my recipes using an all-purpose GF flour. I'd suggest letting the batter sit around 30 mins before baking to allow it time to hydrate first. I hope this helps x
Super tasty and fluffy, brought it to a party and everyone loved it! They couldn't believe this was completely vegan, even a friend of mine who is vegetarian was surprised and said she rarely finds full vegan recipes that are actually good so I already shared with her this blog!
Hi Marce!
I'm delighted to hear you all enjoyed the recipe. Thank you so much for choosing to make it for the party and for leaving your lovely review!
Excellent! I am getting used to your methods and I must say it a slay every time!
So happy you loved the recipe, Maria!
Do you think I can make a round cake? 23cm could work? Thanks
Hi Laura,
I think so, but the baking time will differ - I would check it after 25 minutes and then gauge how much longer to bake it.
Amazing! You must use good flour though (I had best results with Italian 00 flour) Orange is my favourite flavour and this cake delivers 🙂
Hi Nicole,
I'm delighted to hear that you loved the recipe, thanks so much for your feedback x
This was delicious, so moist and orangey! I was worried about the olive oil but loved the flavor. I think it would be great with chocolate chips as well, might try that next time! Also I made half the icing and that was more than plenty.
Hi Eve-Marie,
Thanks so much for your feedback, I'm so happy you loved it! Chocolate chips sound like a great idea as well. About the icing, a few people have mentioned that so I'll reduce the amount and add a note to the recipe x
Definitely going to try it. Love the way you explain all the steps and really make it sound so easy and delicious.
Hi Ale,
I'm so happy to hear that, and hope you enjoy the recipe!
Texture was amazing. The olive oil flavour was a bit too strong for me. I thought it overpowered the orange flavour a bit. Maybe it was because I used extra virgin olive oil? I think I’ll use vegetable or sunflower oil next time. But other people loved it! One person said it was the best vegan cake they’d ever had!
Hi Lydia,
I'm delighted to hear that the recipe went down so well with everyone! I personally love olive oil but if you're not a huge fan I do think a more neutral oil such as sunflower or rapeseed would be better suited or even a light olive oil which would have a milder flavor.
I just made this and it's delicious!
So orange-y fresh and sweet. Smells and tastes amazing.
The crust was nice and crispy. The inside fluffy and not too dry and not too wet.
I love it!
Thank you!
Love from the Netherlands!
Hi Nicole,
I'm so happy you loved the recipe. Thanks so much for your amazing feedback! x
Im so excited to taste this... it's in the oven right now and smells delicious!
Quick question, olive oil is in the ingredients but not listed in the steps. I just added it to the wet ingredients. Hope that's where it went!
Hi Laura,
You're absolutely right, thanks so much for pointing this out. Hope you enjoyed the recipe x