Whole-Orange Snack Cake

Did I add triple sec to the glaze? I did.

I swapped out the butter for olive oil, mostly because I am lazy and didn't feel like cleaning the mixer after creaming butter. It came out moist and tasty with a tender crumb and allowed us to feel okay about calling it breakfast.

This cake is super easy to make and makes the house smell great. The cake itself isn’t too sweet so the glaze is a good addition. I used tangerines because I had some left over from something else and it turned out well. I was skeptical about including the peel but I was pleasantly surprised - not too bitter, nice and tangy!

A wonderful version of this concept is Molly Wizenberg's olive oil marmalade cake, which shares the method of blending a whole piece of citrus, but has you boil the oranges first: https://orangette.net/2010/02/we-ate-this-cake. I've made it with oranges, grapefruit, and lemons, all delicious. And being olive oil based, it stays moist for days...if it lasts that long

I did this recipe twice and I have to admit that I am NOT a baker, but it looked easy enough. First time I used blood oranges. This produced the ugliest cake ever. Blue-green algae colored batter and peto-pink glaze. A truly foul combination that looked even worse the next day. Frankencake. Next try was with tangelo, which made a pretty cake and put tangerine slices on top of the glaze and sprinkled a bit more zest. Much, much better. Both cakes tasted and smelled great.

Using brown sugar instead of white add a whole other dimension.

I finally found my orange cake recipe. My old recipe was picking up Hostess orange cupcakes at the store. A perfect size for snacking. And making this was even easier than driving to the grocery. I even like the confetti like orange zest in the glaze more than the doodles across the top of that cupcake.

We love this cake. I took someone’s tip and added a little butter to the glaze and made more of a frosting the second time. It’s great both ways. I also added a little cardamom on the cake batter both times. So good!

Loved this cake, amazing flavor. I only had one egg so substituted with 1/4 cup full fat yogurt and it was perfect. Will be making this again!!

We love this cake. I've made it 4 times in the past two months. So good for tea and for dessert. I am allergic to milk, and this is really easy to make dairy-fee with almond milk and unsalted Miyoko's cultured butter or Unsalted Earth Balance sticks.

An easy way I learned to remove seeds from an article on making marmalade: Cut the citrus into wedges from stem-to-flower; take a knife and cut off the pith in the center; remove the seeds. (all of the seeds are along the core) If you're making marmalade, you can then easily slice the wedges.

Added vanilla and cardamom to orange sauce. Eggs were ginormous Used half and half mix of olive oil and butter Used 1/2&1/2 in lieu of milk Used TJs Cara Cara oranges Added zest to batter not glaze. Used glass baking dish w parchment Delicious.

I haven't made this yet, but a note: Florida oranges have less pith (the bitter white stuff in the peel), so maybe would make a less bitter cake than California oranges.

I replaced the glaze with a more substantial frosting by adding a couple of tablespoons of butter to the sugar and juice. Added a richness without much extra effort.

Saw this recipe on Instagram and immediately made it. Delicious! I left off the glaze and it was a perfect snack cake.