Orange Drizzle Cake
A British orange sponge soaked in fresh orange syrup while warm, baked for 45 minutes in a loaf tin.
Photograph credit: Cake by Food-photography-by-Carys · Pixabay Content License · Pixabay
It is a cousin of the lemon drizzle, and it has a calmer, sweeter character. Orange juice has less acidity than lemon, so the syrup is gentler, and the cake itself is richer in flavour from the zest of two oranges beaten with the sugar. The result is a loaf that is fragrant, moist and golden.
What gives it moisture is a combination of butter, milk and a measure of orange juice in the batter, along with a syrup applied after baking. A double dose is intentional: the batter gives a soft crumb, and the syrup preserves it for days. The cake will keep far longer than a plain sponge as a result, and tastes better on the second day.
Make the syrup with juice and sugar and simmer it for 3 minutes. Unlike lemon drizzle, where the sugar is left undissolved for a crunchy top, this syrup is heated until clear, so that it soaks deeply into the crumb. Spoon it over the cake while both are warm, slowly, in four or five goes.
Prick the surface all over with a skewer before pouring, so the syrup reaches the middle. Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely, as it is fragile when warm. Finish with a few slices of candied orange or a dusting of icing sugar.
How to Make Orange Drizzle Cake
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Heat the oven to 175°C / 345°F. Grease and line a 900 g loaf tin.
-
Rub the zest into the 175 g sugar. Beat with the butter for 4 minutes until pale. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
-
Fold in the flour, baking powder, milk and 60 ml juice. Pour into the tin.
-
Bake for 45 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.
-
Simmer the syrup juice and 60 g sugar for 3 minutes. Prick the warm cake all over and spoon over the syrup slowly. Cool in the tin.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
Tips That Matter
- Prick the cake all over before pouring the syrup.
- Pour the syrup on while both are warm.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
Ingredient Swaps
- No self-raising flour to hand? The common home substitute is the same weight of plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150 g, sifted together well; the rise may not be identical to a bought self-raising flour.
Serve It With
Hot tea · Clotted cream · Fresh orange slices · Coffee
Leftovers and Storage
Keeps in an airtight tin for 4 days.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More British cooking and baking ideas from Weekly Delight.
Chocolate Orange Cake
Two light chocolate sponges flavoured with orange zest, sandwiched with marmalade and covered in dark chocolate…
Coffee and Walnut Cake
Two coffee-flavoured sponges with chopped walnuts, sandwiched and topped with coffee buttercream and walnut halves…
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
A dark, fudgy chocolate cake made with cooked beetroot, which keeps the crumb soft and moist.
Dorset Apple Cake
A rustic, rubbed-in cake studded with chunks of Bramley apple and topped with crunchy demerara sugar. Eighty minutes.
Jamaican Ginger Cake
A dark, sticky, moist loaf cake made with black treacle, muscovado sugar, warm spices and chopped stem ginger. It…
Rhubarb Custard Cake
A butter sponge layered with ready-made custard and topped with pink rhubarb pieces, baked until golden.