Vegan Orange Cake

4.95 from 37 votes

The best vegan orange cake with heaps of orange flavor and a gorgeous color. Light and fluffy and topped with a gorgeous orange buttercream frosting.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Cakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 541kcal

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare two 8-inch* (see notes) cake pans by spraying with non-stick spray and lining the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
Sift the all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda and salt and mix in.
Add soy milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, orange extract and orange zest and mix it into a batter. Don't overmix.
Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool for a few minutes in the pans before removing them from the cake pans and placing on a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, salt and orange extract to the bowl of a stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth.
When the cakes are cooled frost the cake and decorate with orange zest and orange slices around the sides (optional).

Measure the flour correctly. For best results weigh your flour or use the Spoon and Level Method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife.
Orange extract. If you can't get orange extract then you can use orange juice instead, but orange extract is highly recommended as it's concentrated which provides the perfect flavor for this cake. Using orange juice would reduce the orange flavor.
Orange zest. Around two small oranges will provide 2 Tablespoons of orange zest for the cake. If your oranges are large you might get enough zest from one orange.
Frosting. If orange frosting on top of orange cake seems like too much orange flavor to you then you might prefer to frost this cake with a simple vegan buttercream frosting or just serve it with some vegan whipped cream.
Baking pans. This cake can also be made in 9-inch cake pans. The baking time can reduce to 25 minutes.
Storing. Keep the cake covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for a few days or covered in the fridge where it will last for up to a week. The cake is also freezer friendly.