Vegan Orange Zest Cake, light and moist!

This Vegan Orange Zest Cake is so light and moist, and the vegan orange butter icing, with strands of chocolate on the top, finishes it off perfectly!

Oranges are such a feature during the holiday period, making this cake a great addition to all the festive foods. Especially if you are like me and do not like Christmas Cake!

This is a really easy cake to make, and I often make one so I can freeze it, that way I always have one to hand. Then you can get it out to defrost whilst making the icing and top whilst still partially frozen. Just leave to finish defrosting before serving.

This cake recipe calls for the zest of 1 orange. I have a great little tool to do this but you can still achieve the same effect by gently grating the peel on the orange with the small holes on a box grater.

Making the Vegan Orange Zest Cake

It’s really easy to whip the cake batter up in just a few minutes. And baking it for exactly 25 minutes has never failed me. However, as everyone’s oven is different, I would suggest testing with a skewer when the baking time is up.

I use a 900 g / 2 lb loaf tin but a different size tin could also make a slight difference to the cooking time.

Start by greasing your tin really well.

Then preheat the oven as per recipe directions and pour the cider vinegar into the milk. The milk will go a little lumpy, but that’s how it should be.

Then place the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together, then stir in the orange zest. Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix in before adding the ‘lumpy’ milk mixture. Beat together well.

Pour the cake batter into the greased tin and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Check by inserting a skewer in the middle of the cake to ensure the cake is cooked through. If the skewer does not come out clean, bake for a further 5 minutes, and test again.

When cooked, the cake will have started to shrink back from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes, in a cool place, thus speeding up the cooling process.

I like to run a knife around the sides of the cake whilst in the tin and use the knife to gently ease away from the bottom of the tin.

You can also hold the tin and give it a little shake up and down to ensure the cake has loosened from the bottom. I have never had an issue with it sticking when I have shaken it loose. So I hope you don’t either!

Then turn out onto a serving plate.

Icing the cake

You will need 1 quantity of my Vegan Orange Butter Icing, orange segments, and chocolate to melt for drizzling over the top.

Spoon the icing on the cake and spread. If you have chilled your icing beforehand, running a knife under warm water will help you spread it, if necessary.

Then place the orange segments on the icing. I like to put them facing different ways but you can do this in whatever pattern you like.

When working in a warm kitchen, I usually place the iced cake in the fridge for 15 minutes or so as the icing can become quite soft. Thus helping the chocolate to set quickly when you add it.

Then, to finish off, melt the chocolate and drizzle over the top to form strands in a random pattern! You can do this before placing it on the serving plate but I like the way it goes over the plate too. I think it adds to the finished look!

Please drop me a line in the comments box below, I would love to hear your thoughts when you make this orange zest cake. ????????

Happy Cake Making and ENJOY! ????