Gluten Free Orange Cake
This gluten free orange cake is moist, tender and so easy to make. It’s topped with a fresh orange buttercream frosting and is a total crowd pleasing recipe. Plus, you can easily make it dairy free!
My gluten free lemon cake is one of my most popular and favorite recipes from the blog, so this Summer I wanted to create a fresh variation!
This gluten free orange cake is packed with fresh and bright flavor. The cake is moist and tender with a delicious orange buttercream. We’ll be using orange juice, orange zest and orange extract to ensure a really well rounded flavor.
This cake is not like a Mary Berry orange spice cake, but if you want to add some additional spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. If you love this recipe, try my carrot cake, orange olive oil cake or one of my 10+ best gluten free cake recipes next!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- One bowl
- Dairy free friendly
- Moist & tender
- Perfectly sweet
Key ingredients
Flour. For this recipe, we’ll use a mix of gluten free all purpose flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour) and almond flour. If you need to make it nut free, you can sub the almond flour with an additional 1/2 cup of GF all purpose flour, so use 3 1/4 cups total.
Sugar. I highly recommend just regular old white sugar for this cake. You can try subbing for a refined sugar free option like coconut sugar, but that will make the color very dark and can change the texture.
Eggs. You need 4 large room temperature eggs for this recipe. Be sure they are at room temperature or the cake can get clumpy when you mix the butter and eggs. You cannot sub the eggs for an egg replacer to make this vegan. But yes, butter, eggs and vanilla are all gluten free.
Butter and oil. I love using a mix of butter and oil for cakes because it creates a light and fluffy texture but also a rich flavor.
Orange. You’ll need fresh orange juice, orange zest and orange extract here. If you do not have orange extract, you can sub for more orange zest. Same with my gluten free orange cranberry bread!
How to make orange cake
Prepare cake pans. Grease and line two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans or three 6 inch cake pans and set aside. Please be sure to grease and line as you do not want the cake to stick!
Preheat. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients.
Add dry ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours, don’t scoop right from the bag. Whisk until smooth.
Taste. Give a quick taste and add more orange zest or extract as desired. Do not add more orange juice as this will throw off the liquid/dry ratio.
Add to pans. Transfer to your prepared cake pans, trying to fill each as evenly as possible.
Bake. For 8 or 9 inch pans, bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, for 6 inch pans, bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
How to make orange buttercream
Beat butter. To make the buttercream, add your softened butter to a bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 2-3 minutes.
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Add sugar. Add in the powdered sugar in 2-3 batches. Beat until smooth and creamy.
Add flavor. Add in the orange juice, zest and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.
Adjust. If it is too thin, add more sugar, if it’s too thick add in more orange juice or a splash of milk. For a stronger orange flavor, add in more zest or some orange extract. Try my orange olive oil cookies next!
How to store and freeze
How to store after baking and decorating. Once the cake is frosted and decorated, be sure to keep it covered either on a cake stand with a cover or in a container if it’s sliced.
You can store at room temperature or in the fridge, but if you store in the fridge, the texture will firm up a bit.
How to freeze. You can freeze this gluten free orange cake after it bakes and before you frost it. Simply bake the cake as usual, let it cool completely, then wrap each layer in plastic wrap.
Place each layer in a freezer safe bag and freeze until you’re ready to frost.
Why did my cake sink in the middle?
The main reason this may happen with this recipe is if you underbake it. Be sure to keep the oven closed while baking and check with a toothpick.
The toothpick should come out clean with a few moist crumbs, but it should not be wet.
Frequently asked questions
Are gluten free cakes healthy?
They can be! But they can also be loaded with just as much refined sugar and oil as a regular gluten filled cake, so don’t be fooled.
This recipe is totally gluten free and safe for Celiacs, but I would not classify it as healthy because of the high sugar content.
Do gluten free cakes taste different?
If done correctly, no, and I’m not just saying that! A gluten free cake can be just as moist, flavorful, tender and delicious as a regular cake. Like my gluten free lemon drizzle cake!
The key is to follow the recipe as written because each ingredient was chosen with care!
Why is it dry?
Gluten free baked goods have a (not so accurate) reputation of being dry, but when made correctly, this cake should be anything but dry!
One reason it may turn out dry is if you measure the flour incorrectly. You want to be sure to spoon and level the flour into your dry measuring cups. Don’t scoop from the bag or you may end up with more flour than you actually need.
More cake and cupcake recipes you’ll love!
- Gluten Free Red Velvet Cake
- Best Vanilla Cake
- Birthday Cake
- Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes
- Almond Flour Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Strawberry Cake
If you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. If you make this recipe, be sure to tag me on instagram and leave a comment below!
Gluten Free Orange Cake
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ cups fine white sugar
- ⅓ cup oil any plain oil will work
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- ⅔ cup milk room temperature
- 1 cup fresh orange juice room temperature
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1-2 teaspoons orange extract
Dry
- 2 ¾ cup gluten free all purpose baking flour
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Buttercream
- 2 sticks butter
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Grease and line two 8 inch round cake pans or three 6 inch cake pans and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flours, don’t scoop right from the bag.
- Whisk until smooth.
- Give a quick taste and add more orange zest or extract as desired. Do not add more orange juice.
- Transfer to your prepared cake pans, trying to fill each as evenly as possible.
- For 8 inch pans, bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, for 6 inch pans, bake for about 55 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, add your softened butter to a bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the powdered sugar in 2-3 batches, beating until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the orange juice, zest and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.
- If it is too thin, add more sugar, if it’s too thick add in more orange juice or a splash of milk. For a stronger orange flavor, add in more zest or some orange extract.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, frost and enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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Fluffy, soft and delicious orange flavour. I’m not GF and this tasted like a beautiful soft cake to me. Made for a kids birthday party and was a hit.
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This is a great recipe. I followed it but omitted the almond flour since my daughter is allergic to nuts, and it was delicious. Since I wanted to take a dessert to our monthly family dinner I decided to try cupcakes. I baked them at 350 degrees for just shy of 30 minutes and they came out great.
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So glad that worked well! Thanks, Maria!
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Delicious cake and wonderful icing – everyone loved it! I will say, the print page has the wrong bake time, but the main page has the correct timing – I’m thankful I caught that. Very good recipe, though!
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Thanks for pointing that out – I’ll look into it!
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Ok its done tastes great one little problem i have lines and wholes in the cake what did I do wrong?
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What do you mean by lines? Holes can be a result of over mixing.
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I think I over mixed but it taste and smell so good, I’ll be careful next time, thank you
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First time ever making a gluten free cake, its in the oven so keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you for the recipe my kitchen smells like an orange orchard
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Let us know how it turns out!
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My friend requested this orange cake recipe but with chocolate frosting instead of the vanilla/orange one it calls for. I was a bit hesitant on how it would turn out but it was delicious and everyone loved it. The texture and moisture of the cake was perfect, everyone couldn’t believe it was GF. I followed a chocolate buttercream frosting recipe fr0m one of Claire’s chocolate cake recipes. I used 1 tsp of the orange extract and felt that was the perfect amount in conjunction with the orange juice and zest also in it. I would make again!
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Thanks, Krista! So glad it was a hit, I’ll have to try it with the chocolate buttercream sometime!
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Cake turned out beautifully. My oven even ran hot (hadn’t baked a cake in this oven) and still turned out amazing and moist (glad I checked it though at 35 min). Your cakes are truly amazing. Love the lemon cake as well. The only thing I will change is the frosting, I simply don’t like American buttercream. Far too sweet..and it didn’t seem to hold up with British butter (unlike when I have made the lemon cake in US). Can’t wait to work through all of your cakes.
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American buttercream is definitely very sweet! But so glad you loved the recipe, let me know what other frostings you try, I need to start experimenting with more!
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