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Orange Velvet Cake

Last Updated On: September 11, 2024 | Published: August 30, 2024 by Melissa Diamond | 20 Comments
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You are going to LOVE this moist, soft, and flavorful homemade Orange Velvet Cake!

Orange Velvet Cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.

We've made many versions of "velvet cake" over the years, from lemon velvet cake to white velvet cake, chocolate velvet cake and more. These velvety soft cakes all share a secret ingredient- softened cream cheese in the cake batter!

Why we Love It

How to Make Orange Velvet Cake

You can find the full, printable recipe at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans. We like to line the bottom of our pans with circles of parchment paper.
  • Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
  • Wet Ingredients: In another bowl combine the milk, vegetable oil, ½ cup thawed concentrated orange juice, orange extract, and orange zest. Set aside.
Wet Ingredients for Orange Velvet Cake.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, add the softened unsalted butter and softened cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth.
  • Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
Mixture of butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
  • With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet). Slightly increase the mixer speed just until combined.
  • Divide the batter between the three prepared pans.
Orange velvet cake batter in pans.
  • Bake at 325 degrees F for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
orange cake layers, cooling

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Once the layers cooled, we frosted our cake with orange cream cheese frosting. This is a simple, delicious recipe with softened cream cheese and butter, orange extract, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

We love any excuse to use cream cheese frosting. This flavorful recipe is no exception-so good!

Decorating the Cake

Decorate the cake however you like! After filling the cake layers with orange cream cheese frosting, we applied a crumb coat (thin layer) of frosting around the sides and on top. At this point, we like to freeze the cake for about 10 minutes to firm up the frosting before applying the final layer of frosting.

We used a cake comb to create designs in the frosting. Working vertically from bottom to top, I created a wavy line with the comb. Then, the next one was the mirror image of the first. Just repeat that all the way around.

Then, we piped rosettes and shells around the top border using a large (1M) star tip.

Orange Velvet Cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.

Recipe FAQs

Yes, just as with the majority of our cakes from (Strawberry Cake to Italian Cream Cake, Carrot Cake, and more), these layers freeze perfectly.  

When baking ahead and freezing, we like to wrap each layer individually. Place the cake on a foil-wrapped cake cardboard, then wrap with plastic wrap and tightly with aluminum foil. (When possible, we wrap and freeze the slightly warm cake layers before they completely cool.) Freeze for up to three months!

To thaw, place the wrapped layers on the kitchen counter for 30-45 minutes until condensation has formed. Then, unwrap and continue thawing to desired amount. (Some decorators prefer to decorate their cakes while still partially frozen as the cakes are less fragile).

The cream cheese adds moisture and richness without thinning the cake batter. We find that cakes with cream cheese also have a really nice and velvety texture.

Cake flour is made from soft wheat and has a lower protein content. This results in less gluten formation in the cake batter, which creates a softer and more tender crumb.

More Fruity Cakes

In addition to orange cakes like our popular Orange Dreamsicle Cake, Orange Dreamsicle Cake from Cake Mix, and Orange Vanilla Bean Cake, we have many other fruity cakes to share also!

Thanks so much for stopping by. We hope that you enjoy the recipe! Don't miss our full collection of cake recipes and cake decorating tutorials!

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Orange Velvet Cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.

Orange Velvet Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe
This moist Orange Velvet Cake is named for its soft, velvety texture. You will love this rich and refreshing dessert!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 28 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 15
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Ingredients

  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened (226g) We used one 8 oz package, full fat.
  • 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (168g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar (400g)
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature (to save time you can warm them in a bowl of very warm water for 5 min)
  • 3 cups cake flour- see Notes for substitution (342g)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
  • ½ cup milk (175g)
  • ½ cup concentrated orange juice, thawed (We used frozen concentrated orange juice)-Do not add water.
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil (we used canola oil) (54g)
  • Orange Zest from one orange (Optional)
  • 1 tablespoon Orange Extract
  • Orange Coloring Gel for desired shade of orange (Optional)

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter softened (339g)
  • 16 oz cream cheese (We used two 8 oz packages cream cheese, full fat)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract (4g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
  • 7 cups Powdered Sugar adjust slightly up or down to your liking (805g)
  • Orange Coloring Gel Optional. We used a very small amount for tinting.

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans. We like to line the bottom of our pans with circles of parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds and set aside.
  • In another bowl, combine the milk, vegetable oil, ½ cup concentrated orange juice (thawed), orange extract, and orange zest. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and softened cream cheese and mix at medium speed until smooth.
  • Gradually add the sugar and mix at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears. If using Orange Coloring Gel, you can add it now or any time during the mixing process.
  • With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (We did 3 additions of the dry mixture, 2 additions of wet). Slightly increase the mixer speed just until combined.
  • Divide the batter between the three prepared pans.
  • Bake at 325 degrees F for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
  • This recipe makes approximately 8 cups of batter. Works for cupcakes also (although there will be little to no dome).

For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Mix the softened butter on low to medium speed until softened and smooth.
  • Add the softened cream cheese to the butter, mixing at low to medium speed until smooth and well combined.
  • Add the vanilla and orange flavorings. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Add coloring gel if you are tinting the frosting.
  • Continue to mix on low to medium speed until well combined and smooth.
  • Store in the refrigerator. If making the frosting in advance, allow to sit on the kitchen counter until it comes closer to room temperature. You may need to remix.

Assembly

  • Once the cake layers have cooled, place the first cake layer on a cake pedestal. Spread with orange cream cheese frosting, top with the next layer and repeat. Top with the third cake layer.
  • Frost with a thin layer of frosting. At this point I like to freeze the cake for 10 minutes before applying the final layer of frosting. Decorate however you like! We used a cake comb to create designs around the sides of the cake, and used a 1M piping tip for the top border.
  • Cream cheese frostings are softer than buttercream. If at any time it becomes too soft to easily decorate with, just pop it in the freezer for five or ten minutes to firm it up a bit.
  • This cake should be refrigerated. For optimal flavor and texture, remove the cake from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving. This will allow the cake and frosting to warm and soften.

Notes

Substitution for Cake Flour: (Using all purpose flour (plain in UK) to make Cake Flour) For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend
5 from 6 votes

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20 Comments

  1. Looks fantastic! I love your scratch orange cake so I'm sure the addition of cream cheese will knock it out of the park! :-)

    Reply

  3. when you say orange juice from concentrate, do you use the concentrate neat or do you dilute the concentrate as directed, use a cup of this and combine with the other wet ingredients for cake and add as recipe directs?

    Reply

    1. I have the same question. 1/2 cup of diluted orange juice from concentrate or 1/2 cup of orange juice concentrate, undiluted? Sounds exquisite. I'm excited to try it.

      Reply

    2. Hello- The oj concentrate isn't diluted with water. We just thawed it-did not add water- and used 1/2 cup. (Ours was the canned, frozen Minute Maid concentrated OJ).

      So it is the 1/2 cup oj concentrate, 1/2 cup milk, vegetable oil, zest and extract that are combined to make up the "wet ingredients".

      Reply

  6. I recently moved in with my beau and his two boys, his oldest is turning 13 on Tuesday. Several times he has talked about loving creamsicles. I’m a pro pastry chef and am so excited to have come across your recipe-It sounds moist & incredible!
    My Son is allergic to dairy, so I’ll be substituting the cream cheese, butter, and milk-I’ll let you know how it goes!
    💕

    Reply

  7. Can we substitute the orange juice concentrate with just regular freshly squeezed orange juice? What would the measurement (ml) be if I do so?

    Reply

  10. 5 stars
    This is our new favorite special-occasion cake! It’s sooooo rich and wonderful! Pair this with French Vanilla ice cream, and *chef’s kiss* perfection!

    Reply

  11. 5 stars
    OMG words can not describe how amazing this cake is. I just finished it (had to sneak a taste before I put it together) and I am seriously contemplating not serving it at supper. I don't want to share! JK but this will definitely be a hit! I am glad I found your site and will definitely return to try other recipes!

    Reply