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. 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.
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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…
Getting ready for Christmas? Try these authentic Italian Christmas recipes which are great all year long!
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.
Got kumquats? Make these kumquat cupcakes.
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’re going to use a bundt tin make 1.5x the recipe.
Speaking or oranges, did you know arancini means little oranges? Try my popular 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.
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)
Make the whole orange cake
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.
Eat 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. So far I’ve made apple cake, pear cake, peach cake, kumquat cupcakes, and tried lime, but the rind is too bitter. I will post here when I tweak the recipe to make it work.
Sicilian Whole Orange Cake
The most luscious, moist and delicious orange cake you'll ever try!
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/8 c (250g) sugar
- 1 3/4 c (275g) all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (or 1 packet Italian Pane Degli Angeli vanilla baking powder)
- 1/3 c (100g) butter, softened
- 1/3 c (100g) plain Greek yogurt (yes, sour cream works, too)
- 1 large organic orange, about (300g), washed and cut into pieces (with the rind, but remove the seeds)
- (if using plain baking powder add 1 tsp vanilla extract)
Glaze
- juice of one organic orange
- 1/3 c (100g) sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
Make the whole orange cake
- 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 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.
- 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.
Make the orange glaze
Notes
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're going to use a bundt tin 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.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 233Total Fat: 6.4gSaturated Fat: 3.6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 69mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 1gSugar: 22.5gProtein: 8g
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Hi there! Might I be able to substitute the yogurt for ricotta cheese?
Hmmm, I am not sure, but this cake is so incredibly versatile that I would bet it would be okay. So many people have told me they’ve changed the ingredients and always raved about it. Let me know if you give it a try, Elizabeth!
Hi there – since “Greek Yoghurt” refers to sort of different products, depending on the country I was wondering if the Greek Yoghurt you’re using has a high or low fat content. also, could this be baked in a muffin tin? cheers, x
It is not the fat content that makes Greek yogurt different (since you can get full, low, and zero fat in regular and Greek yogurt), but the water content. Greek yogurt is regular yogurt that has been drained of liquid. So you can do this yourself if you can’t find Greek yogurt, Marie. Yes, I’ve made muffins with this recipe, you can see the baking time in this recipe.
Can you substitute sour cream for the yougart?
yes
Can I use regular yogurt instead of Greek yougurt?
You can, but it would be better if you drain it for a few hours first (Greek yogurt has less liquid). Put some paper towel in a fine sieve and put the yogurt in to drain in the fridge with a bowl underneath. You can just use it as is, the cake will still be fine, jut not exactly as it should be, though. Let me know what you do. CC
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Hi Christina,
I tried this recipe while I was trying to search for something where I could use the whole orange (peel and all). I live in India, and it is really hot and humid where I stay on the western coast, so no luck with Sicilian oranges, but I used the Valencia oranges we usually get here at my local shop.
I was baking this cake to carry to our friends’ New Year’s dinner, so made a few adjustments.
– I used two whole Valencia oranges, but saved the peel of about half of the orange for adding to the glaze.
– I replaced the sugar with the brown (moist) sugar we really like and used just about 2 cups for the doubled recipe.
– While pureeing the oranges segments with peel and all, I added 3 tsp of fresh grated ginger and a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder
– I baked the cake in two springform pans – 8″ and 9.5″ and they both raised decently with lovely cracks on the top and delightful texture.
For the glaze, I used the peel of about half an orange I had saved. I diced the peels into fine, even segments, boiled and drained it twice to get the bitterness out of the peel. Then took 2 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1 drop of orange food color and added the double-boiled and drained peels segments to it, and cooked them with this sugar-water solution on medium heat till it had a syrupy consistency.
Once the cake had cooled down and the glaze had cooled I poured half of it on the cake we took to our friends’ place and the remaining on the other cake we saved for home. It was delightful and sooooo sooooo good! Thank you!
Hi, Christina!
I have two questions regarding this recipe: which function of the oven do you use when baking this fruitful cake? I thought I would use the fan with the lower heating element, but then maybe I should bake only at 160 C.
And can I use brown sugar instead of the white one?
I am looking forward to try out this recipe, it sounds amazing! :)
Hi Zsofia, I use the fan (convection setting) 25 deg F lower as per my oven’s instructions. Cakes bake better in a fan oven. I would not use soft brown sugar as I don’t think it would turn out the same, but you can use the natural cane sugar which looks like granulated, but is more brown in colour. Enjoy!
I used brown (slighltly moist) sugar and the results were equally awesome.
I made this today and it was over and above my expectations. I must say that the directions didn’t say when to add the yogurt so I added it to the egg/sugar mixture. I didn’t have a food processor so used a hand mixer for the oranges and it did a great job. One more thing, since the glaze asked for the juice of one orange, I saved the peel and sliced it into slivers, cooked them in syrup (1/2 cup sugar/water 1:1 ratio) until thickened, and topped the cake with these candied orange peel jewels! Rave reviews all around and great presentation. Thank you! I’ll be making this again.
Hi Elona, Step #3 states: “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.” I even have a photo adding the yogurt, so not sure how you missed it because there are over 1700 reviews on this recipe. Anyway, so happy that you love it and will make it again! :) It really is a great cake!
You’re so right. After I posted the content I saw the yogurt but couldn’t edit it :)
I’ve made it about five times since then. My boyfriend can’t get enough!
One of the best cake recipes I’ve ever made. Thank you so much <3
Fantastic!! Enjoy, Elona!