Make the most out of citrus season with this vegan orange loaf cake with a orange drizzle icing.
It's everything you want from a fruit cake. Zesty and sweet with a fluffy moist sponge!
And it's super easy to make! The beauty of loaf cakes are that you only have to bake in one tin and can put the icing straight on top and you're ready to go!
I'm convinced anyone can make this cake, even if you've never baked a cake before!
How are we making this cake vegan? We are switching eggs or butter for vegetable oil and almond milk.
If you're a regular on here you'll notice that's how the majority of cakes are made on here! They make for super fluffy and moist sponges and you can't go wrong!
I use rapeseed oil and unsweetened almond milk. Any neutral flavoured oil will work, such as canola oil. Just make sure you use an unsweetened plant milk or it will affect the flavour and sweetness of the cake!
How to make vegan orange cake:
First of all, measure out the caster sugar, plain flour and baking powder. Sift the flour and baking powder in with the sugar and gently mix.
Zest two oranges and then juice them. You should have around 2 tablespoon of orange zest and 130ml orange juice.
Measure out the rapeseed oil and almond milk, add in the orange juice and zest and vanilla essence and stir.
Add into the bowl of flour and sugar and mix together until just combined. Don't over mix.
Pour into a lined loaf tinned and gently tap on the kitchen surface to release any air bubbles.
Place in the oven for 45-55 minutes and prepare your icing. It's super simple - just icing sugar and orange juice!
You can add a bit of orange extract for a stronger orange flavour, and decorate with some extra zest on top!
Wait for the cake to cool, drizzle on top and it's ready to eat! It will make about 8-10 slices.
It's the perfect afternoon pick me up with a cup of tea or coffee! Or an indulgent breakfast. Because cake for breakfast is totally acceptable in my house!
What type of orange to use for this cake:
I used naval oranges for these, you want to use good quality oranges to get the most from their flavour. Valencia, blood or seville oranges are all delicious.
If you opt for a cheaper orange you may not get a strong orange flavour. I find cheap oranges lack in flavour, so it's worth getting good quality ones for this cake.
For more loaf cakes you might enjoy these:
Chocolate chip banana bread with peanut butter frosting
Lemon and poppyseed drizzle cake
Cinnamon and apple cake with maple icing
As always if you make this vegan orange loaf cake be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram – I’d love to see you all there!
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Orange Loaf Cake
Fluffy and zesty vegan orange loaf cake with a simple orange drizzle icing. It's super easy to make and so delicious! Perfect for a sunday bake or afternoon treat!
Ingredients
- 300g plain flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 185g caster sugar
- 125ml rapeseed/canola oil
- 200ml unsweetened almond milk
- Juice of 2 oranges (~130ml)
- Zest of 2 oranges (~2.5 tbsp)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Icing
- 90g/1/2 cup icing sugar
- 2 tablespoon orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line and grease a 9x5" loaf tin.
- Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar and and mix with a wooden spoon.
- In a separate bowl mix together the oil, milk, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Pour into the loaf tin and place in the oven for 45-55 minutes. It should be starting to turn golden brown on the edges. Do the toothpick test and once it comes out clean, its ready. If it's not, leave in for a few more minutes.
- Make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and orange juice together until it forms a thick icing. Spoon onto the cake once cooled with the back of a spoon.
- Top with some extra orange zest and serve! Will make about 8-10 slices.
- Will keep in an air tight container for 3-4 days.
Notes
I used navel oranges for this, use good quality oranges such as seville, valencia or blood.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 415Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 114mgCarbohydrates: 74gFiber: 2gSugar: 48gProtein: 4g
This cake is amazing!! I decided to cut it and to add oranges slice and apricot marmelade inside and it was amazing ?. Big thanks for this recipe. It was also amazingly simple!
This recipe was good I made it yesterday only salt was missing
Hi there
This looks awesome but do you have the measurements in cups?
Hi Mar, I don't have measurements in cups. All my baking recipes are in grams because it is much more accurate which I think is really important. You can probably find some kind of conversion on google though. Thanks, Tamsin xo
SO, so, so amazing! The cake was so light and fluffy! I also really enjoyed that almost all these ingredients were pantry items or items I always have on hand, which made it a very easy and accessible recipe! Beyond delicious I will definitely be making it again! (It's already half gone and it's only been a day!) Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi Taylor, thank you so much for your comment. I'm so glad you enjoyed it and found the recipe accessible and easy! I need to make a fresh batch asap! 🙂 Tamsin xo
This was AMAZING!! the whole family loved it so much! thank you for creating <3
Hi Annie, thank you so much for letting me know, so glad you all enjoyed it 🙂 Tamsin xo
This recipe is amazing ! I didn’t have everything so I used some buckwheat flour in addition to regular flour and added almond extract as I didn’t have vanilla. I also have a larger loaf pan so I made the recipe 1,5x. But it turned out amazing ! It’s so great to have a loaf recipe that works so well and is a good base for other flavors. Thanks for the recipe
Super delicious cake. Wow. I added ⅛ cinnamon and ⅛ cloves and it really helps kick up the orange flavour!
Hi Shannon, sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing! Tamsin xo
This was so easy and delicous! I definitely recommend it. I'm going to try it s muffins next time.... easier to portion and share instead of etng it all myself 😉
Hi Lisa, thanks for your comment! So glad you enjoyed it, it's definitely hard not to eat it all! Would love to know how the muffins turn out, Tamsin xo
Hi! could I replace APF for oat flour or ww flour?
Hi Matias - I have only tried this with apf but if you want to make it gf I would do a direct swap for gf apf! Thanks, Tamsin
First vegan cake I’ve ever made and turned out perfectly! Thanks for the recipe and being so thorough covering the different types of oranges to use
Hi Tasmin,
How can I make this Gluten Free?
Thanks
Hi Darcee, I don't do much gf baking but you should be able to do a direct swap for an all puropse gf flour x
How do you cut/ put parchment paper in your mold that has angles? Thanks for your answer...
Hi Lily, you can just fold/squish it down in the corners and the weight of the batter will keep it down, or cut two pieces, one that goes across the width and a thinner piece across the length. Here is a post I just found that might help 🙂 https://www.framedrecipes.com/line-your-loaf-pan-with-parchment-paper/
My flat mates are vegan so I’ve been branching out with my baking to accommodate their diet and omg this was SO DELICIOUS. If I wanted to convert it to a muffin tray do you think it would work?
Hi Kate, thank you so much for your comment - so glad you all enjoyed it! yes it should be fine to cook as muffins, probably for about 20-25 minutes 🙂 Tamsin xo
Using what I had at home I swapped the oil for melted vegan butter and used oat milk instead of almond... It was delicious!! I didn't even get around to icing it before the family demolished it.
Looks delicious! This will be tonight's dessert... 🙂
Can I add some coconut, and, if so, should I change some of the amounts of the ingredients?
Hi Ines, sorry for the late reply. What kind of coconut are you wanting to add? If you made it, I hope it turned out for you! Tamsin xo
Baking tonight! 🙂
Excellent! Quick question - will it freeze successfully?
Hi Rolfe, I haven't tried freezing this exact cake but I'm pretty sure it will be fine! Just wrap it well once it's fully cooled 🙂 Tamsin xo
@Tamsin, thanks, I’ll freeze half and let you know how it turns out.
Rolfe
Sure
Great recipe but what could you replace the refined sugar with? I thought maple syrup or rice syrup may make the mixture too sloppy
Hi Sandy, I have not tried this recipe with any replacements, I don't usually bake refined sugar free. I would suggest swapping for a coconut sugar or something similar instead of a liquid though. However I don't know how this would turn out. Tamsin xo
Could this work with tangerines?
Hi Tracey, yes definitely just use the same measurement of 130ml 🙂 Tamsin xo
Oh my, we devoured it within less than one day! This was my first attempt at making a vegan cake and it exceeded my expectations, will definitely come back to try out your lemon poppy seed recipe as well!