Today we are making this deliciously moist orange pound cake recipe! We topped this moist cake with an orange flavored glaze and bright, colorful orange zest.
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This orange pound cake is a classic dessert that brings a burst of citrus flavor to your table. This cake is perfect for any occasion, combining the rich, buttery texture of pound cake with the refreshing taste of fresh oranges.
This pound cake is rich and dense, but most importantly moist and delicious. It's very similar to lemon pound cake, but slightly sweeter.
Make sure to check out some of our other summer desserts like our deliciously moist orange creamsicle cupcakes while you're in the orangey mood.
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What You'll Love About This Recipe
- Bright Citrus Flavor: The fresh orange zest and juice give the cake a refreshing and vibrant taste.
- Moist and Tender: The combination of buttermilk and sour cream ensures a wonderfully moist texture.
- Versatile: Perfect for brunch, dessert, or special occasions.
- Easy to Make: Simple steps and common ingredients make this recipe accessible for any home baker.
Ingredients
For the Pound Cake
All Purpose Flour: The base of your pound cake.
Baking Powder: Acts as a leveling agent to help the cake rise.
Baking Soda: An additional leveling agent to help the cake rise.
Salt: A tiny bit of salt in a dessert recipe helps bring out all the flavors.
Unsalted Butter: Using unsalted butter gives you more control of just how much salt is in your cake recipe. The butter should be a room temperature and soft to the touch.
Granulated Sugar: Sugar brings the sweetness to the cake and helps with the structure of the cake.
Orange Zest: Helps bring a beautiful citrus flavor to the cake. To make orange zest, simply use a small pairing knife and slice off small slivers of a fresh orange.
Eggs: Eggs help bind the cake batter and create structure.
Orange Extract: Brings the main orange flavor to the pound cake.
Vanilla Extract: Combines deliciously with the orange flavors in the cake.
Buttermilk: Helps bring a tangy flavor to your cake, while the acid in the buttermilk softens the gluten in the batter and makes your cake extra moist.
Sour Cream: Adds moisture to the batter.
Orange Juice: Fresh orange juice adds the best flavor. Again, this is an orange pound cake. The orange juice helps build on the other orange flavors for an extra orangey, citrus flavor.
For the Orange Glaze
Powdered Sugar: This is the base of your orange glaze. Powdered sugar or confectioners sugar works better than granulated sugar in glazes because the sugar dissolves smoother and better. If you don't have powdered sugar, you could put granulated sugar in a blender and blend until the sugar is super fine.
Orange Juice: In most glazes you'll use milk. But for this glaze we want to bring out more orange flavor. Substituting orange juice makes for a delicious glaze with tons of citrus flavors.
Orange extract: Again. More orange flavor. Trust me, it makes a big difference!
Instructions
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your pan with non-stick spray.
For this recipe, we used an angel food tube pan.
In a medium sized mixing bow, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
In a separate larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together by beating with an electric mixer for 3 or 4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Then add in your orange extract (if using) and the eggs, mixing well in between each egg.
Then add in the sour cream, orange zest and orange juice.
Mix everything until just combined.
Finally, start slowly adding in the flour mixture to the wet mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.
This helps keep the cake batter not too moist and not too dry to work with.
Keep alternating until you've used up all the flour mixture and buttermilk.
Once everything is mixed, pour your batter into your prepared pan and smooth the batter out with a spatula.
Bake for 1 hour, to 1 hour and 10 minutes and a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove your cake from the oven and let the pound cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and moving to a cooling rack.
Once your cake has cooled, you can start making the orange glaze!
In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, orange extract and 2 tablespoon of orange juice, and mix well.
If your glaze is too thick, you can keep adding a small amount of orange juice until it's a consistency you like.
Pour you glaze over your cooled cake and top with a bit of orange zest. Garnish with a few orange slices and serve!
Substitutions
Yogurt for Sour Cream: If you don’t have sour cream, plain yogurt can be used as a substitute.
Whole Milk for Buttermilk: In a pinch, whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar can replace buttermilk.
Lemon Zest for Orange Zest: If you’re out of oranges, lemon zest and juice can provide a different but equally delicious flavor.
Variations
Want to try some variations on this recipe? Here are some of our favorite ideas.
- Lemon Pound Cake: Substitute orange zest and juice with lemon for a zesty lemon pound cake.
- Chocolate Chip Orange Pound Cake: Fold in a cup of chocolate chips into the batter for a delightful twist.
- Orange Poppy Seed Pound Cake: Add two tablespoons of poppy seeds to the batter for a bit of crunch and a nutty flavor.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.
Storage
Have leftover pound cake? Here's our tips to keep it fresh longer.
Fridge Storage: Wrap the pound cake tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freezer Storage: For longer storage, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil, or place it in a freezer-safe bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Reheating: To reheat, place a slice in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. For a larger portion, preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C) and warm the cake for 10-15 minutes.
Recipe
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Orange Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pound Cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter 1 cup
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 4 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon orange extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
For the Orange Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon orange juice
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare either an angel food tube pan or a bundt cake pan with non-stick spray. I used an angel food tube pan for this recipe.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the orange extract and the eggs, mixing well between each egg. Add in the sour cream, orange zest and orange juice. Mix everything until just combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, and mix until all the ingredients come together.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the batter out. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan and cool on a cooling rack.
- Once the cake is cooled, prepare the glaze.
- In a small bowl, combine and mix the powdered sugar, orange extract and 2 tablespoon of orange juice. To get the desired consistency in your glaze add more orange juice a tbsp. at a time. Pour the glaze all over the top of your cake and top with a little more zest if you like.
- Garnish with thin orange slices and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
We hope you enjoy this orange pound cake with glaze as much as we do.
Lillian Collins says
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Jamie says
Aww thank you! That really means alot to me.