This Portuguese Orange Cake is moist and fragrant, with the most alluring bright orange flavour.
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1This Portuguese Orange Cake recipe is authentic.
2Portuguese Orange Cake is moist and fragrant, with the most alluring bright flavour.
3Other Citrusy Desserts You’ll Love
4Portuguese Orange Cake
This Portuguese Orange Cake recipe is authentic.
It was shared with my by my friend Cherie who is married to a Portuguese man with a major penchant for the orange cake of his country. I realize it hasn’t even been a week since I posted a Lemon Pound Cake recipe, but I don’t often hearanyone complain about too much cake.
Cherie bakes it regularly and it’s a treat I look forward to when I pop by for play dates – our sons were born on the same day in the same hospital!
Portuguese Orange Cake is moist and fragrant, with the most alluring bright flavour.
It leans slightly more toward bitterness than the tartness you might expect from citrus desserts – this is owing to the lashings of zest beaten into the batter. Don’t worry, it’s not bitter-bitter, just enough to be intriguing.
It’s a sponge cake of sorts, with egg whites folded in at the last minute to lighten the batter, but with more moisture than the airy sponge cakes you may have had. Both the zest and juice of three oranges are involved, so it is wonderfully orange-y.
Make sure to bring all of your ingredients to room temperature before you bake – cold eggs or oranges will cause the butter to seize up.
Serve with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, a fluffy dollop of whipped cream, or a scoop of softened vanilla ice cream. Leftovers freeze well!
Other Citrusy Desserts You’ll Love
- This moist Blood Orange Cake with pretty blood orange glaze.
- A wonderful Portuguese Orange Cake recipe – very delicious.
- This Lemon Curd Cake is definitely a must-try for citrus lovers.
- Lemon Curd Cookies can’t be missed either.
- Love citrus, love chocolate? This Chocolate Orange Cake is for you.
- This Cranberry Lemon Cake is a long-standing favorite.
Of course, can’t forget this recipe for orange pound cake with orange glaze, baked in a pretty bundt pan.
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Portuguese Orange Cake
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 40 minutes mins
Servings 9
Dessert
Portuguese
Keyword Orange Cake, Portuguese Orange Cake
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup 150 grams butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups 250 grams granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs separated, room temperature
- 3 large oranges room temperature
- 2 cups 9 oz/250 grams all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease an 8×8″ baking dish or line with parchment paper.
Beat butter and sugar on medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each. With mixer on low speed, add the zest and juice from all three oranges. The mixture will appear curdled at first – that’s ok. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until it comes together, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
In a separate bowl, whisk flour and baking powder. With mixer speed on low, gradually beat into the butter mixture until just incorporated.
In another bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the cake batter to lighten it up, then gently fold in the rest. (Use a light hand so you don’t deflate the whites.) Scrape batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, until top feels springy when gently pressed and tester inserted in centre comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 382kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 6gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 185mgPotassium: 141mgFiber: 2gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 631IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 2mg
Keyword Orange Cake, Portuguese Orange Cake
Last Updated on February 20, 2024 by Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD
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30 Comments
maria
4 years ago
best orange recipe ever! have made this 3 times and everything is perfect. light, fluffy, full of flavour and such an easy recipe compared to others which use sooo many ingredients or sour cream or buttermilk…so glad you shared this!
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Andrea
4 years ago
Can this be doubled? I need a bigger cake
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Oktavia
4 years ago
Delicious !, I love the orange flavor is coming through very well. I made in a cake form size 8,5‘x8,5‘ and it was to small. I would recommend 1-2inches bigger size than I’m using. I also just add only 200g of sugar and it’s still was to sweet. Next time i will just add only 150g should
Be enough. Because the orange I had was sweets already. Anyway So fluffy and delicious… yum yum yum ! ?
7
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Maggie
4 years ago
Can you freeze this recipe
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Dan Melendez
4 years ago
Just a thought, what do you mean by fold the egg whites after being whipped?
-1
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Tanya Mills
5 years ago
Hi! I’d love to try this cake out. 🙂 Just wondering how much zest to add. All the zest from the 3 oranges? Thanks!
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