Sicilian Whole Orange Cake (Using an Entire Orange: Peel, Juice and Pulp)
Sicilian whole orange cake is a moist and delicious crowd-pleasing dessert. It is called a whole orange cake, because the entire orange is used, peel and all. Perfect for any occasion, but such a treat with a cup of tea or coffee.
My mother found the original Sicilian orange cake recipe for this divine baked treat on an Italian website, and I can’t even begin to describe how moist and fruity it is.
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The orange scent that fills your kitchen as it bakes is also heavenly! It contains a whole orange, peel and all (no seeds), and you’ll need another orange if you make the glaze.
The original recipe calls for an ingredient that’s mostly only available in Italy, so my mother adapted it for the rest of us and even added some yogurt, and the result is fabulous!
Many of you have asked…
What is Paneangeli or Pane Degli Angeli?
Paneangeli is the brand (translating to angel bread). Pane degli angeli means “angels’ bread” alluding to how light the product makes cakes and bakes. However, in plain English, the packets contain a vanilla-flavored baking powder.
I also use Paneangeli in this orange olive oil cake with ricotta.
To me, when I smell it, it makes me feel like I’m in Italy because it’s used in so many cakes and pastries. Sorry for the pun, but the aroma is heavenly! Getting ready for Christmas? Try these authentic Italian Christmas recipes which are great all year long!
Another Italian treat: maritozzi con panna (cream buns.)
Just know that the texture of this cake is different than a typical American cake: it’s more dense and heavy, but it’s meant to be that way. The whole orange cake also has a lovely glaze made with orange juice that soaks into the top of the cake, and works perfectly with blood oranges, too. I made a whole blood orange bundt cake to test them out (more than once)!
Tip: I once accidentally boiled the glaze into a syrup (forgot it was on the stove) and when I glazed the cake, it hardened and gave the cake a candy-like topping. I loved it! If you’d like to try this, just simmer the glaze an extra 6 or 7 minutes or so.
Everyone who’s tried it, loves it. Honestly, it’s just such a unique and crowd pleasing cake! Here’s a recent review (edited May 2023) which is only one of almost 2,800 reviews averaging 4.8 stars!
“Amazing, moist, delightful!
My whole family went back for THIRDS, didn’t last very long in our kitchen! Thanks for sharing” -Tianna
Gluten free diet? Try my gluten free recipe of this Sicilian Orange Cake!
It even gives perfect results when I make a gluten free whole orange cake. Of course, you can probably guess what I’m going to say next: you really need to use the best oranges you can get your hands on for this Sicilian whole orange cake recipe to turn out as deliciously as possible. If you can find organic, sweet, juicy oranges without a super thick rind, you’ll have it made. And if you ever have kumquats, try the same recipe to make these kumquat cupcakes.
Another of my most highly used recipes: authentic Italian tomato sauce (ready in minutes)
Just be sure to make this orange cake before citrus season is over! I’m sure there are other recipes for orange cake using fresh oranges, but I’d bet that this just may be the best orange cake in the world! It’s also perfect without the glaze as many have added in the comments and reviews.
Speaking of reviews, take a look at all the rave reviews and comments, many bakers declaring it is the best cake they’ve ever made!
Edited Dec. 2020: I’ve just made a cranberry twist to this recipe!
Edited February 2019: I’ve made this orange cake recipe in a loaf tin, and it’s perfect. I’ve also made it in a bundt tin and the amount of batter for one recipe makes a short bundt cake. If you want a larger cake, make 1.5x the recipe.
Speaking or oranges, did you know arancini means little oranges? Try my popular Sicilian rice ball recipe!
Can I Freeze this Sicilian Whole Orange Cake?
Yes, this orange cake freezes beautifully! I often have pieces in the freezer because it freezes so well!
Now adding my Sicilian Whole Lemon Cake, too! I’ve adapted this recipe for a Meyer lemon cake, too! It’s fantastic!
Do I Have to use a Food Processor to Make this Orange Cake?
I’ve been asked if a food processor or blender is necessary to make this cake and the answer is, “yes.” Unfortunately, it would be too difficult to chop the orange as finely as needed by hand. You can see how fine the orange is processed in a photo below, however, an inexpensive food processor works great.
Want to make this cake in cupcake form? Check out my orange cupcakes recipe.
EDITED 7/2022: Daniel Coffey (a reader) left a tip for those of you without food processors in the comments below. Since it might be difficult to find, I’m adding it here:
“I…cut the peel into coarse strips and then finely diced them. I put the chopped bits of orange into the spice grinder in two batches and pulsed the stick blender a few times. I tapped it on the counter top to shake down any remaining coarse bits and gave it about 30 seconds. Scrape out and repeat for the other orange half. You can then put the juice and finely chopped peels in the recipe as normal.”
Sicilian Whole Orange Cake
adapted by Lidia Conte from Pan d’Arancio from Allaciate il Grembuile
I highly recommend using a scale for this recipe and if you are deciding cups or weight, ALWAYS weigh!
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
Ingredients
- eggs
- sugar
- flour
- Pane Degli Angeli (baking powder)
- butter
- Greek yogurt
- orange
- (vanilla)
- GLAZE: orange juice and sugar
Directions
Make the whole orange cake batter
Prepare an 8″ springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.
Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and creamy.
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, or blender, process the whole orange until it is almost pureed. It should look like this~
Add the processed whole orange to the cake mixture (along with the vanilla if you used baking powder) and stir until evenly combined Put the batter into the prepared tin.
Bake the cake
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 run a thin knife around the perimeter and 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 the hot glaze over the top of the warm cake and allow to cool completely before cutting. Yes, it’s hard to wait, but the moist orange cake will cut more easily if it’s cool first.
Enjoy the Sicilian whole orange cake!
Love citrus? Try making this lemon posset, but using oranges (or an orange/lemon combo) instead! It’s honestly one of my favorite desserts! It’s similar to orange boodle, but even easier, which is saying a lot.
Oh, and I just keep making this recipe using all sorts of fruits. In addition to the whole lemon cake I shared above, I’ve also made whole apple cake, pear cake, peach cake, blood orange cake, kumquat cake (and kumquat cupcakes) and tried lime, but the rind was too bitter. I will post here when I tweak the recipe to make it work.
Aaand I’m updating to add apricot cake, mandarin orange cake, and whole Meyer lemon cake, which is divine!
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Sicilian Whole Orange Cake
Special Equipment
- 1 packet Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder (Italian)
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)
Glaze
- 2 ½ oz orange juice freshly squeezed juice of one large, organic orange
- 3 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
- I've received lots of emails and messages about the discrepancy in the measurements between metric and cups: THIS RECIPE WILL TURN OUT BEAUTIFULLY WHETHER YOU USE EITHER MEASUREMENT, which isn't normally the case (I normally recommend metric as it's more precise.)
- Measurements are NOT critical in this cake recipe. For some reason, it's extremely forgiving.
- I do not line the sides of the pan, but for perfect results, you may.
- Thousands of reviews can't be wrong.
- I've made this orange cake recipe in a loaf tin, and it's perfect.
- I've also made it in a bundt tin and the amount of batter for one recipe makes a short bundt cake. If you want a full size bundt cake, make 1.5x the recipe.
- Yes, it's hard to wait, but the moist orange cake will cut more easily if it's cool first.
- When I published this recipe almost a decade ago, it was the ONLY WHOLE ORANGE CAKE RECIPE in ENGLISH online. My mother found it on an Italian website (which I credit.) This is the original in English.
Nutrition
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This cake was incredible. I might even say my favourite cake I have ever had. It’s so refreshing, filling yet leaves you not feeling so bad! Only thing I changed the second time is I think in Western Europe, you should only used half the rind, since oranges are not as sweet as in Italy or warmer climates. Other than that, amazing recipe.
Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear it and so glad you like it! CC
Hi, I want to make this but I need an unconventional substitute for the Greek yogurt since we’re not going to the store during this time. Would Ricotta cheese work?
Thanks!!
Hi, I desperately want to try making this cake but I don’t have a food processor. Do you have any suggestions for what I could do instead/how I can get around this issue?
Hi Sophia, do you have a blender? That may work, but it will be difficult to get the right texture before it’s completely blitzed to just pulp. The cake would still taste good and turn out, though. So I’d suggest doing that. Doing it by hand would be too difficult.
We just grated the rind, cut the orange into 8 and squeezed out the juice as well as a few bits – worked perfectly.
Good way to be flexible, Ida! Glad it worked! :)
Christina, has anyone tried this recipe with cake flour? Thats what I have well I have a little all purpose left but I am trying to conserve that for bread and cookies.
I’m sure it would be fine, Maia. It’s a super flexible recipe from my experience and others’ comments here. I even made a gluten free version which was fabulous!! Let me know how it turns out!
I want to make this cake but I’m confused about the measurements. You specify 1 3/4 cup flour. A cup of flour is 130 grams, so 275 grams is over 2 cups.
Hi Ellen,
This is why I would never list cups for baking if I could. If you are weighing the ingredients, the measurements are spot on. What I did was weight the flour then measure it in cups (I’m always saying that cups are inaccurate because I could get 1 3/4 cups and someone else gets 1 1/2 and others get 2 after weighing some flour as I did; it also depends on the flour, how packed etc.) So essentially, you don’t need to worry about a thing if you are weighing your ingredients.
Let me know how it turns out! CC
This reciepe is amazing! My husband is italian and he loved it so much!!! Thank you❤️❤️❤️
Wonderful to hear, Naz! Thank you for letting me know! Stay safe!
This looked like a good recipe; I loved the idea of using the whole orange, not just juice and zest. However, I never use scales when backing and unless you really get the measurements wrong, a cake will turn out good if not great. I was worried about the amount of baking powder in this recipe and I was right; as a rule, it’s one tea spoon per egg; with as much liquid this recipe has, it may need even more. This was an unprecedented epic fail for me, very disappointing as o was really looking forward to a nice lovely cake and should have trusted my instinct and added more BP. Lovely flavor though.
Hi Nada,
Let me respond to each of your points in order:
1. This doesn’t just look like a good recipe, it’s an excellent recipe. I can say this because it’s not mine, my mother adapted it from an Italian blogger, so don’t think I’m being big-headed.
2. Glad you liked the idea of using the whole orange. I do too!
3. You never use a scale when baking? This is a problem because cups are simply inaccurate (for baking) and will often give poor results compared to weighing ingredients.
4. Not sure why you were worried about the baking powder in this recipe because it’s “spot on.” I say this because my mother and I (separately) and so many other readers around the world have made this recipe with perfect results and rave reviews (simply scroll down and read them in both the comments and the reviews.)
5. You were not right about the baking powder; see #4 above.
6. Sometimes you can break rules with no dire consequences. Btw, I’ve never heard of this rule.
7. Not sure what you mean about “as much liquid as this recipe has,”; again, no more baking powder is needed. See #4, again.
8. I’m so sorry this is the first time you’ve had an “epic fail” in baking, I’ve had many, and most of the time, I’ve managed to make a blunder and measured something incorrectly or forgotten a critical ingredient. Hey, I’m human it happens. I would guess that given so many of us have made this cake so many times (some of my readers have made it countless times, too), that the reason for your “epic fail” is that you most likely also made a mistake. That mistake could be as simple as not using a scale, but I would bet there was another, as this cake is quite forgiving.
9. Again, whatever your reasoning is for your instinctual baking powder premonition, it is unwarranted as the amount of baking powder is correct. See #4.
10. So glad you loved the flavor!
In closing, I’d like to say that it makes me sad when it’s very clear that a recipe is solid given the sheer number of rave reviews, but I still receive comments stating that it’s a bad recipe (your initial insinuation stating it,”looked like a good recipe.” I would suggest trying the recipe again, but use a scale and double check everything you do.
Stay safe,
Christina
Whoa! No need to be so defensive! She didn’t like the recipe…it didn’t work for her for whatever reason. Be the bigger person, and let it go.
Hey Donna, my issue with her review was that she was completely blaming the recipe; not a possibility that she may have erred. I’m tired of people bashing FREE recipes that we work so hard to share, especially those that have excellent results for hundreds of others. It’s also my site and don’t need to be told what to do with my responses, but thank you anyway. Hope you have a good day! CC
Totally agree with you.
Made this and I am very careful to follow recipes exactly at first attempt.
Wow it tastes so good .
By the way I also tried it using blood oranges .
Thanks, Martin! I’m actually making one today with blood oranges my friend gave me from her tree! Looking forward to seeing the color of the cake! :)
Well answered!
Thank you, Dawn! 👍🏻
Hi!
I plan on making this cake later today, but can’t find the bottom to my springform pan (which means I made a cheesecake and left it somewhere!) Will it turn out ok in a regular circular cake pan?
Yes! It’s turned out in every type of pan I (and many others) have used! :) I do that all the time, btw. #frustrating!
Hi Christina,
I made your cake today and the flavor was fantastic! I had to modify the recipe because my boyfriend is vegan, it changed the texture a bit since I used flaxseed meal “eggs”, vegan butter and vegan yogurt. I also don’t have a scale, therefore was a bit blind with the flour amounts. I felt like if I added all the flour the recipe called for, it would be too dense but it ended up being too moist. I’ve read about the cups and weight confusion, so I was just wondering all together how would you make this vegan? Would you use applesauce instead of flax meal? Should I add more flour than the recipe call for in that case? How much processed orange should be added?
Sorry for all the questions! And thank you!
Thank you! Sounds like you did pretty good, Sheyla! I haven’t tried to make this vegan, so I honestly don’t know what to tell you. You probably have more experience than me! The only thing I can tell you is that I have a FABULOUS vegan doughnut recipe HERE if you’re interested :) So glad you like the cake (would love a 5 star rating if you can -it’s in the printable recipe card in the recipe) Thanks again!