Sicilian Whole Orange Cake

The most luscious, moist and delicious orange cake you'll ever try!

Recipe by adapted by Lidia Conte on February 8, 2017

Prep time: PT15M

Cook time: PT55M

Total time: PT80M

Rating

4.78 stars (2537 reviews)

Keywords

orange cake, Sicilian, whole orange

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 ⅛ cups sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder (OR 1 packet Italian Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder)
⅓ cup butter (salted, softened)
⅓ cup Greek yogurt (plain (yes, sour cream works, too))
1 orange (approximately 1 large fresh, sweet, organic: washed and cut into pieces (keep the rind, but remove the seeds))
1 tsp vanilla extract ((ONLY USE IF USING PLAIN BAKING POWDER))
2 ½ oz orange juice (freshly squeezed juice of one large, organic orange)
3 Tbsp sugar

Cuisine

Italian

Steps

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
Make the whole orange cake
- Prepare an 8" springform pan by greasing and lining the bottom in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then grease the paper, too.
- Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.
- Sift the flour with the baking powder or Paneangeli then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt.
- In a food processor, process the whole orange until it is almost pureed.
- Add this orange to the cake mixture (along with the vanilla if you used plain baking powder) and stir until evenly combined, then put the batter into the prepared tin.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the orange cake is done before removing from the oven. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the side of the springform pan.
Make the orange glaze
- Prepare the glaze by melting the sugar in the orange juice and allow to simmer for a few minutes, just until the liquid has a syrupy consistency.
- Spoon and brush over the top of the cake and allow to cool completely before cutting.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 335 kcal
Carbohydrates: 57 g
Protein: 6 g
Fat: 10 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Trans Fat: 0.3 g
Cholesterol: 71 mg
Sodium: 194 mg
Sugar: 35 g
Unsaturated Fat: 4 g

Reviews

Elisabeth on 2025-06-15 (5 stars):
My German grandfather who's typically critical of anything non-traditional or new has been regularly requesting this cake ever since I've first made it 5 years ago. It's THAT good. Every. Single. Time! And thank you so much for providing the metric measurements, Christina! I generally don't trust cup measurements all that much so this was a huge relief for me.
Susan Forks on 2025-06-06 (3 stars):
I made this cake recipe into two loaf pans. It was good. but lacked enough sweetness to overcome the bitterness of the orange peeling. I used a navel orange.
Ana Paula Ghisellini on 2025-05-30 (5 stars):
My previous comment came without stars. This cake deserves thousands of them! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SL on 2025-05-23 (5 stars):
love this recipe. so easy and delicious
Anna on 2025-05-23 (5 stars):
I don't know if it was that I used 3 whole oranges and/or the Swerve replacement but the cake I made turned out incredibly dense, almost like a gelatin infused cake. It tasted great but was not airy or fluffy. I ranked it 5 because the less than optimal outcome was likely the fault of my modifications. Also I did not do the glaze as I incorporated more oranges into the batter and made a mascarpone frosting.
Atsuyo Sadler on 2025-05-09 (5 stars):
It is so beautiful orange flavor and nice textures of cake. All my family loved it. Thank you!
Michael Yousko on 2025-05-05 (5 stars):
Hi Christina. I’ve made this recipe several times and people have loved it. I just had a question when it comes to the whole orange. Do you squeeze the orange first before putting it in a food processor and use this orange juice for the glaze? Or do you not squeeze the orange and use additional orange juice for the glaze? I’ve squeezed the one orange and used that juice for the glaze.
Michelle on 2025-05-04 (5 stars):
Hi christina, i made this for an Easter Egg Hunt party. I used poppy seeds and two small navel oranges for the cake and another larger orange for the glaze juice. It turned out very delicious and i will make it again.
Michele Moreno on 2025-05-04 (5 stars):
Mother would love it. Mother I just made this again for a friend's Mother's birthday. She fell in love with it and asked where I got the recipe. I told her it was yours and it's one of my favorite recipes that never fails. Thank you Christina for calling your wonderful recipes. I haven't found one that I didn't like.❤️