Orange Pound Cake is so soft and fluffy! Flavored with fresh orange juice and zest, you won’t believe how tasty this bright citrus dessert is. This pound cake recipe is great for practically any occasion, and the homemade orange glaze is to die for!
Make sure to try my Classic Pound Cake Recipe if you want to get back to basics, or my fan favorite Kentucky Butter Cake!
Orange Pound Cake with the Best Orange Glaze
Today we’re going to talk about Orange Pound Cake. Now, before you yawn and click away, let me explain to you why I love this moist, fluffy pound cake so much. It may not have the most enticing name in the baking world (I’m looking at you, Salted Caramel Cupcakes), but it’s still worthy of your attention!
Pound cake, of any kind, is always a solid dessert choice. It stores well, it’s light yet still indulgent, etc. (Speaking of which… have you tried my Banana Pound Cake recipe or this Sour Cream Pound Cake? Good stuff!)
Anyhow, bringing it back to the theme of citrus, this specific homemade pound cake is totally spruced up and not boring at ALL. The addition of orange zest and juice makes the cake itself bright and sunny, and the homemade orange glaze is sooo sugary-sweet and addicting.
You’ll crave a slice of this soft pound cake for days – that’s a guarantee!
What You’ll Need
Okay! Now that you’re good and hungry, it’s time to cure those sugar cravings. Here are the ingredients that you’ll need to make a perfect orange pound cake:
- Butter: Let it come to room temperature – you can use salted or unsalted, whatever you prefer is fine.
- Sugar: Regular old granulated sugar is my go-to for this recipe.
- Eggs: These are the binding agents for your cake batter.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds extra sweet flavor.
- Orange Zest and Juice: Freshly-squeezed orange juice works best for this recipe, though store-bought orange juice will work in a pinch.
- Flour: I usually use all purpose flour, but you could try this pound cake with gluten free flour if needed.
- For the Glaze: You’ll need a simple mix of powdered sugar, orange zest, and orange juice. Whisk the powdered sugar carefully so that it doesn’t fly everywhere – I like to add it in half cup portions.
How to Make Orange Pound Cake
First you’ll whisk the batter together and get this orange pound cake baking in the oven, and then you’ll whip together a simple orange glaze. Prepping both components will take a total of… drumroll please… 10 minutes! That’s it. Fabulous, no?
These are the simple steps to follow for pound cake perfection:
Preheat the Oven to 350°F: Coat a 9×5 loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with a long strip of parchment paper so the edges hang over, making it easy to remove the cake from the pan. Coat again lightly with nonstick spray.
Cream the Butter and Sugar: In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. This usually takes about 3 minutes. Add in eggs, vanilla, and zest, and mix until combined. (Scrape the sides as necessary.)
Add Flour: Turn the mixer to low and stir in the flour until incorporated. Finally, add the orange juice, mixing until smooth.
Bake the Cake: Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, until the center is set. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, and then remove it from the pan before glazing.
Make the Glaze: Whisk all of the glaze ingredients together. Pour over the cooled cake and enjoy!
Tips for Success
The best desserts are the ones you can “taste-test” while baking. I’m not advocating that you should sneak a spoonful of two of this glaze… but I also won’t tell if you do.
Anyway, here are a few more relevant tips on this orange pound cake recipe that might come in handy:
- Use Parchment Paper: It can be difficult to remove the cake from the pan without it sticking or crumbling. A healthy dose of cooking spray might do the trick, but using the parchment paper ensures that your cake makes a smooth exit!
- How to Prevent Burning: If you notice the edges of the cake are browning too fast, tent the pan with foil and continue baking.
- Glaze Alterations: You can add more or less orange juice to achieve the consistency you prefer in your glaze. (Less to thicken it, more to thin it out.)
- Let the Cake Cool Before Adding Glaze: If the cake is still warm, the glaze will become runny, and you’ll have a bit of a mess on your hands. (Cheesy pun intended!)
- Possible Add-Ins: Dried fruit could be good (maybe cranberries?) and chopped walnuts are always an option.
How to Store Homemade Pound Cake
I like to store this orange pound cake at room temperature in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. It’ll probably keep for a little while longer in the fridge, if needed. (This cake lasting 3 days in my house would be a miracle, so the room temperature option is usually just fine!)
Can I Freeze Extra Slices?
Of course! Feel free to freeze extra slices of this tender pound cake in an airtight container for up to 30 days.
Enjoy!
Orange Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Orange Pound Cake is so soft and fluffy! Flavored with fresh orange juice and zest, you won’t believe how tasty this bright citrus dessert is. This pound cake recipe is great for practically any occasion, and the homemade orange glaze is to die for!
Ingredients
Cake
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Orange Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 2–3 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Coat a 9×5 loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with a long strip of parchment paper so the edges hang over, making it easy to remove the cake from the pan. Coat again lightly with nonstick spray.
- In bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in eggs, vanilla and zest and mix until combined, scraping sides as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and stir in the flour until incorporated and finally the orange juice, mixing until smooth.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes until center is set. (If you notice the edges are browning too fast, tent the pan with foil and continue baking.)
- Allow the cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes and then remove from pan before glazing.
Glaze
- Whisk all glaze ingredients together. Add more or less orange juice to achieve consistency you prefer.
- Pour over cooled cake.
Notes
Notes
- Use Parchment Paper: It can be difficult to remove the cake from the pan without it sticking or crumbling. A healthy dose of cooking spray might do the trick, but using the parchment paper ensures that your cake makes a smooth exit!
- How to Prevent Over-Baking: If you notice the edges of the cake are browning too fast, tent the pan with foil and continue baking.
- Glaze Alterations: You can add more or less orange juice to achieve the consistency you prefer. (Less to thicken it, more to thin it out.)
- Let the Cake Cool Before Adding Glaze: If the cake is still warm, the glaze will become runny, and you’ll have a bit of a mess on your hands. (Cheesy pun intended!)
- Possible Add-Ins: Dried fruit could be good (maybe cranberries?) and chopped walnuts are always an option.
Storage: Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, freeze airtight for up to 30 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 460
- Sugar: 51.4 g
- Sodium: 30.3 mg
- Fat: 19.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 68.3 g
- Protein: 5.6 g
- Cholesterol: 115.5 mg
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loved this recipe, but i noticed no baking powder or soda. I did add a Tablespoon of baking powder. It was excellent!
Hi Shelly –
Love all your recipes!! On this I bet you could substitute a different fruit and it would still come out great? Any suggestions?
Any citrus fruit would obviously work great, lemons, limes…
but you could also use any other fruit juice and omit the zest!
Can’t wait to try this looks delicious
I made this on Christmas and it tasted amazing! I had to foil it as suggested but the middle cooked just fine. My glaze didn’t come out so well for some reason, so I added some vanilla and melted butter (which for some reason made the orange flavor pop out more!)
I’m going to make this for Mother’s Day and give it a twist by adding a layer of vanilla ice cream and a layer of orange sherbet with mini chocolate chips to make a creamsicle ice cream cake. Then frost with whipped cream frosting.
I added craisins…delicious!
I made this yesterday, amazing! Like Orange Julius in cake form.
Love that comparison!
OK folks , just pulled this out of the oven and it’s wonderful. I had my doubts about the baking powder and soda missing. To avoid the burning, bake on convection at 325° for exactly 60 minutes. No boil needed! Brown and caramelized on the outside, moist on the inside. I did add twice as much Orange zest.
I made this tonight and it tastes great! I made it in an 8×4 pan and it took me a bit longesuggestion and my ends got a little too hard. Any suggestions for next time?
This looks yummy. I plan to make it as a gift that will be mailed so I bought tin foil pans with lids as I find they’re better for shipping. However, they are 8×3, not 9×5. Question: how full is your pan?
It was fairly full. Go ahead and make the full amount and fill the pan 2/3 full. Any extra bake separately in muffin tins 🙂