Orange Buttermilk Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
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This Orange Buttermilk Cake features an irresistibly moist and tender crumb and a show-stopping orange cream cheese frosting, give you a double burst of sweet orangey flavor!
I was just talking to one of my best childhood friends, Steffi, in Germany. Talking to her got me thinking about many of the things I miss from back home in Europe. One small, but fond item that came to mind was triggered by seeing a jug of buttermilk in my fridge. Germany makes the best flavored milk drinks (Müller Milch) and flavored buttermilk. You can go into any grocery store in Germany and find pint-sized cartons of delicious flavored buttermilk – all kinds of different fruity flavors. I used to love getting a carton of cold, refreshing berry or citrus-flavored buttermilk and drinking it in the car on the way home from a grocery trip. So, I was looking at this jug of buttermilk in my fridge today, craving that fruity buttermilk from Germany. I was in the mood for something sweet and fresh. My eyes next caught hold of some oranges I had on the bottom shelf. Buttermilk and oranges…oh, yes! While I was tempted to just make a sweet orange buttermilk drink like the kind I would buy in Germany, I decided to go a different direction. Within 5 minutes I was whipping up a new creation: an Orange Buttermilk Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting!
The buttermilk cuts down on fat while adding a refreshing tang and creating a moist and tender crumb. Two whole tablespoons of fresh orange zest are nestled within the cake and the cream cheese frosting incorporates freshly squeezed orange juice and orange marmalade. Can you spell d.i.v.i.n.e.?
Orange Buttermilk Cake Variations
Before we get started, let me also add that you can make four alternative versions of this cake: Lemon, Lime, Mandarin, and Grapefruit. Simply substitute the zest, juice, and marmalade accordingly. Isn’t this fun??
Orange Buttermilk Cake Recipe
Let’s get started!
Combine the sugar and eggs. Whisk until combined. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
Zest an entire orange. Add the zest and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and whisk until combined. And the buttermilk and whisk to combine. Add the melted butter and oil and whisk to combine.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and carefully whisk just until combined. Careful not to over-whisk or the cake will be dense and heavy. Place a sheet of foil or parchment paper over the cake pan and press down to get the indentation. Cut just inside of the circle indentation to get a good fit. Place the circle cutout in the bottom of the cake pan. Carefully butter the top of the foil or parchment paper and the sides of the pan. Pour the batter into the cake pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake the cake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes before removing it and placing it on a wire rack. Invert the cake from the cake pan and allow the cake to cool completely. Using a large serrated knife, cut the cake in half and carefully place the layers next to each other.
Squeeze the juice from the orange you zested. To make the orange cream cheese frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, orange marmalade, orange extract, and orange juice. Beat with an electric mixer until combined and smooth. Add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until combined and smooth. This orange cream cheese frosting is out of this world!
Spread some orange marmalade on the bottom layer of the cake. Spread 1/4 of the cream cheese over the marmalade. Invert the top layer and place it over the bottom layer. Carefully transfer the cake to a cake saver and frost it with the remaining cream cheese frosting.
Slice the cake and serve.
Enjoy!
For more deliciously fruity cakes be sure to try my:
- Limoncello Cake
- Pineapple Cake
- German Rhubarb Streusel Cake
- French Almond Plum Cake
- Caramel Pear Walnut Cake
- German Apple Cake
- Cherry Marzipan Streusel Cake
- German Plum Cake
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Orange Buttermilk Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs , at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of one orange , just a little over 1 tablespoon
- 1/4 cup butter , melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil
- For the frosting
- 4 oz. cream cheese , softened
- 4 tablespoons butter , at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare a 9×2 inch round baking pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the top of the lining and the sides of the pan.Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.In a large bowl, add the sugar and eggs and whisk until combined. Add the orange zest, vanilla extract and buttermilk and whisk until combined. Add the cooled melted butter and oil and whisk to combine. Add the flour and carefully whisk until just combined, being careful not to over-whisk.
- Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack and allowing it to cool completely.
- To make the frosting: Combine the first 6 ingredients and beat with a mixer until combined and smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined and smooth.Cut the cake in half. Spread some orange marmalade on the bottom half. Spread 1/4 of the cream cheese frosting on top of the marmalade. Invert the top half of the cake and place it on top of the bottom layer. Frost the cake with the remaining cream cheese frosting.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet January 26, 2013
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
I am planning on making this for a baby shower this weekend (it is a citrus theme). I would like to make cupcakes instead of a cake. Do you have any suggestions on anything I should change, including the timing?
Thank you
Hi Patti, I haven’t tried making these as cupcakes but theoretically it should work just as well. All you’ll need to adjust is baking time. They’ll need to bake between 15-20 minutes, just do the toothpick test on one of them to determine if they need to bake longer than 15 min. Happy baking and let us know how it goes!
Oh this looks sooo good! Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to try it. God bless you and yours. In Christ, Allen.
Thanks, Allen, and happy baking! :)
Just made the Orange cake and frosting. Absolutely delicious! That being said if I’d just served up the frosting on its own I think the family would have been just as happy!
I couldn’t agree more, Fiora – give me a bowl of this frosting and a spoon and I would be perfectly content :) So glad the cake and frosting were a hit, thank you!
I really want to try this! Any tips on how to adjust for baking at 6,000 foot elevation?
Thanks,
Janet
Hi Janet, whatever adjustments you already make for most cakes should work fine for this. Here’s a link to a site about what adjustments to make for baking: http://dish.allrecipes.com/high-altitude-cake-baking/ Happy baking and I hope it turns out wonderfully!
Just took this out of the oven, and ohmiword, the aroma in the kitchen!! Waiting for it to cool so I can get that cream cheese frosting on there. Thanks for sharing this gorgeous recipe!
Thanks, Tess, I’d love to be in your kitchen right now! :) That cream cheese frosting is the best part – be sure to spread it on the cake quickly before you eat it all from the bowl (that’s what I’m always tempted to do, lol)!
I had to come back to say, “This cake was so good!!” I always love a buttermilk cake and this was no exception.
We took it to a sleepy coastal hotel and the restaurant manager kindly allowed us to have it for my mom’s birthday lunch ……. and came back for seconds after we’d shared a slice with him! Best compliment ever LOL
Tess, that’s awesome! And what a great compliment indeed, thanks so much for sharing this feedback! :)
I didnt really like this cake. Too dense. The frosting is so good though.
Did you use buttermilk or substitute regular milk?
This cake is really one of the best cakes I ever made.
Thanks for the recipe.
And I made it with weihenstephaner buttermilk have ;-)
But I also prefer mueller
Thank you so much, Anne, I really appreciate that. And I can’t even tell you how much I miss Weihenstephaner Buttermilch, especially the fruity ones!! And Müllermilch…Schokolade, Erdbeer, Vanille….Oh goodness, I’m homesick!
i am making this for my grandmoms bday today.. hope she loves it :)
Fabulous, I hope your grandma has a wonderful birthday!