The snow starts to melt and all of a sudden I am craving everything fresh and fruity. This Orange Blossom cake is exactly that. Fresh and fruity with a subtle floral hint, these orange blossom cake layers baked up to fluffy perfection. Paired with a zesty orange marmalade filling and a tangy whipped cream cheese buttercream frosting, this Orange Blosson cake was summer fresh and fruity floral perfection.
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Orange Blossom Cake Baking
Warmly scented wafts of orange blossom floated through my kitchen as the cake layers baked. I was hit with the most gorgeous fragrance of buttery summer when the oven door opened.
The KitchenAid whizzed and whirled as it creamed together butter and cream cheese in tangy delight. And the marmalade jar pop sang out as it unsealed abruptly ready to be spread on top of those waiting, those wanting, cake layers. This orange blossom cake was practically singing!
What is Orange Blossom Water?
Orange blossom water is the product of water distilling the blossoms from orange trees to produce essential oil. It has a remarkable and delicious floral scent and a bitter orange taste.
Don’t confuse it with orange extract, which uses the actual orange fruit itself, orange blossom water gets its scent and flavor from the petals of an orange tree. It is often called orange flower water as well.
How Do I Bake With Orange Blossom Water?
Much like almond extract, or rosewater, a little goes a long way. If you are looking to add a flair of orange blossom to your baked goods, start small and add a teeny bit at a time. I started with a tablespoon in the cake batter and added a half tablespoon at a time until I achieved the desired flavor. In total, this cake only uses 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water.
What Can I Use Instead of Orange Blossom Water?
If you simply are not able to get your hands on orange blossom water and you still want to make this cake. Which I suggest you should, it was simply divine. The best alternative would be orange zest.
Grab a few oranges and with a zester or microplane side of a cheesegrater, zest approximately 2 tablespoons worth of orange zest. Add the zest into the cake batter at the same time the recipe calls for the orange blossom water.
Cream Cheese Buttercream Tips & Tricks
Over my years of experimenting in the kitchen, I have learned two things with dairy-free cream cheese buttercream frosting. The first is that it is delicious. Like so very darn yummy. Dairy-free (even lactose-free or plant-based) cream cheese has come a long way in the last few years and there are some really great options. Secondly, cream cheese frosting is softer than a typical American buttercream.
That being said, if you find your cake layers slipping around a bit when you are stacking them, stop what you are doing and put them in the fridge to firm up. Heck, throw it in the freezer for 10 minutes if you’re in a decorating rush. This will allow the frosting to set slightly and give the cake some stability as you continue to stack and decorate. If you feel a tad bit nervous, no need to do 6 layers as I did on this cake, stick with 3.
I think we’ve covered our Orange Blossom cake basics and you should be ready to bake, stack, and devour this amazingly delicious summer-inspired cake. Make sure you come back and let me know how it turned out!
If you gravitate towards fresh fruity and/or citrus flavors, you will enjoy these recipes too:
Orange Blossom Cake
- Total Time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Yield: 10 Slices 1x
Description
A fresh and fluffy orange blossom cake bursting with sweet floral flavor and paired with the most delicious whipped cream cheese buttercream frosting. Perfect for any spring or summer celebration.
Ingredients
Orange Blossom Cake
- ¾ cup dairy-free milk, room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tbsp. orange blossom water *
- 1 ¾ cup cake flour, sifted *can sub with gluten-free 1:1 baking blend
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. fine sea salt
- ⅛ tsp. baking soda
- ⅔ cup dairy-free salted butter, room temperature
Filling
- 1 ¼ cup orange marmalade
Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 cup dairy-free salted butter, room temperature
- 1 pkg. (8 oz.) dairy-free cream cheese, room temperature
- 8 cups icing sugar
- 1 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Orange Blossom Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray and prepare three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper.
- In a small mixing bowl whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and orange blossom water. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer and with the flat beater attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and give it a quick mix together for approximately 1 minute.
- In small pieces, slowly add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix on low until it looks like coarse sand.
- Slowly pour in approximately half of the liquid mixture and mix on low for 2 minutes.
- Pour the remaining liquid mixture in and mix on medium for another 2 minutes. Scrap the sides of the bowl when necessary.
- Divide the cake batter into the three prepared cake pans and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the cake layers to cool for 10 minutes and then invert them on a cooling rack to fully cool.
Cream Cheese Buttercream
-
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, approximately 10 minutes.
-
Add the icing sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and mix on low until combined.
-
Turn the mixer up to high and let mix for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl when necessary.
Cake Assembly
-
Level each cooled cake layer in half with a cake leveler or serrated knife. This is optional.
-
Place one leveled layer of orange blossom cake on a cake board, plate, and/or cake turntable. Top with approximately ¾ cup of buttercream and ¼ cup of orange marmalade.
-
Repeat with the remaining layers and apply a thin coat of buttercream all over the cake. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Remember that if at any point the cake or frosting starts to feel unstable, stop what you are doing and place both in the fridge to chill.
-
Cover the cake with another layer of buttercream and very roughly smooth the sides with a cake smoother.
-
Decorate the cake as you please. I used the tip of my offset spatula and very lightly dragged horizontal lines from the bottom going up and around the entire cake. The bottom has a little bit of Drenched In Diamonds glittery sugar and the top is covered with thin orange slices and fresh flowers. Enjoy!
Notes
* Use 2 tbsp. of orange zest if you do not have orange blossom water
- Prep Time: 2 Hours
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 1097
- Sugar: 125 Grams
- Sodium: 814 Miligrams
- Fat: 56 Grams
- Saturated Fat: 29 Grams
- Unsaturated Fat: 22 Grams
- Trans Fat: 3 Grams
- Carbohydrates: 149 Grams
- Fiber: 1 Gram
- Protein: 5 Grams
- Cholesterol: 129 Miligrams
Keywords: orange blossom cake, orange blossom cake recipe, dairy free orange cake, orange cake recipe, dairy-free orange blossom cake recipe, summer cake, citrus cake recipe, summer citrus cake
I can’t wait to make this
Can you convert the cups to grams as I’m not sure what the English measurements would be
Thank you
Hi Amy, I will have to do this for my new recipes! Thanks for letting me know. In the meantime, here is a measurement converter that might prove helpful.
I made this cake for a girlfriend’s birthday last weekend and it was a hit! Light, fresh, fluffy, and that buttercream was good enough to eat by the spoonful.
★★★★★
Yay! This cake packs such a fun citrus burst of flavour doesn’t it?!
Tasty cake with a real orange blossom punch. Easy to follow the recipe too.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you made this one. It’s probably my favorite flavour so far this year!
I tried this with the orange zest like you suggested because I didn’t have the orange blossom water. It was subtle but still really delicious.
★★★★★
I’m glad you tried it out with the zest. Thanks for letting me know Jennifer!
I made this cake for a birthday and every single person LOVED it! Safe to say it was a huge hit! Bursting with citrusy flavours! The orange marmalade & cream cheese frosting between every layer made every bite deliciously moist! Perfect spring cake to bake! I’ll be making it again for sure!
★★★★★
This review has made my heart smile. It’s quite possibly my favorite cake flavor of the year so far and I am over the moon to hear it was enjoyed. Thank you for taking the time to bake it up.
Oh my, this cake tasted SO good! The cake rose so nicely in the oven. It was fluffy, moist, and a delicious orange flavour! I used orange zest, and doubled the quantity for the recipe, as I saw another comment say it was a subtle taste. By doubling the orange zest quantity, the cake was packed full of that delicious orange flavour. My house was an orange field as this cake baked!
My only concern was with the cream cheese frosting. I don’t ever put shortening into my frostings, but I decided to follow the recipe. Personally, I found the frosting to be way too runny and unstable. Although I put the cake in the fridge periodically, so the icing would harden/stable a bit, it did not help. I ended up scraping the frosting off and resorted to my regular cream cheese frosting recipe, which does not call for shortening. However, I did save the initial frosting and used it as the glaze/icing for homemade cinnamon buns, and it was HEAVENLY and worked perfectly for those!
★★★★
Thanks for your feedback Shalomi, I really appreciate it! And I really appreciate you leaving the recipe a rating and review. Great idea to use the icing for a cinnamon bun glaze!
I wish my cake was as beautiful as yours Katie but it sure did taste amazing! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
The fun is in the practicing. And the eating too of course!
The lightest cake layers I’ve ever baked. I’m hooked on this method now.
★★★★★
I love love love the reverse creaming method too!
I have been searching for an orange blossom cake recipe and this one was so incredibly delicious. My husband sang my praises.
★★★★★
I am so thrilled to hear you gave this one a shot Haveeta!
Can’t wait to try this recipe soon! I’d also like to attempt it for my in-laws anniversary cake using regular dairy products…would this work?
Hi Liz, yes, regular dairy products will work great!
Nice article. I just shared it on Facebook. Keep up the good work.
★★★★★
I absolutely love all of your recipes and would give a 100 stars. I do have a quick question. Would grapefruit work for this recipe? My husband brought a bunch home and I am trying to use them up.
★★★★★
Fresh grapefruit sounds delightful. You could certainly try replacing the milk in this recipe for grapefruit juice. You could also try a grapefruit curd using my lemon cake recipe.
Cam you make this with actual dairy ingredients?
Yes, you absolutely can!
Amazing. One of the best cakes ive made/had!
★★★★★
That absolutely thrills me to hear. Thank you for sharing Kimberly.