Orange Zest Loaf Cake
Incredibly tasty, made from budget ingredients, bright and aromatic! You can bake an orange zest loaf cake from what you usually have on hand. Instead of oranges, use any citrus—tangerines, limes, lemons - adjusting the sugar to taste.
Updated : 18 December, 2025
Easy
About 30 min.
Ingredients
180 grams
Wheat flour
100 grams
Sour cream
120 grams
Sugar
70 grams
Butter
50 milliliters
Orange juice
3
Eggs
1 tablespoon
Orange zest
1 teaspoon
Baking powder
1
Oranges
1 teaspoon
Sugar
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
You’ll need the most accessible, simple ingredients. Use thick sour cream (at least 20% fat). You can replace sour cream with kaymak. The butter should be at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge in advance.
Step 2
In a bowl, beat the eggs with sugar using a mixer until fluffy and foamy, with lots of air bubbles on the surface. You can add a little more sugar if the oranges are quite tart, or less to taste. With the amount listed, the cake turns moderately sweet (especially if the oranges are sweet).
Step 3
Add the sour cream and softened room-temperature butter and beat again. The butter may remain in small flakes until the flour is added - don’t try to make it perfectly smooth at this stage. Don’t beat for too long, or the cake may not rise well.
Step 4
Sift the flour together with the baking powder. Add the flour in portions, because you may need a bit more or less - go by the batter consistency.
Step 5
Beat everything until smooth. The batter should look like thick sour cream - similar to pancake batter.
Step 6
Pour in the orange juice and add the orange zest. Mix again until smooth. The batter should be thick and sticky, but not overly dense. If the batter becomes too runny after adding the orange juice, add a little more flour - focus on consistency first.
Step 7
You can simply dust the finished cake with powdered sugar, but I suggest a prettier topping: caramelized oranges. You’ll need 1 orange and 1 teaspoon sugar.
Step 8
Wash the orange well under cold running water (a brush helps), pat dry with a paper towel, and - without peeling - slice into rounds or half-rounds.
Step 9
Grease a rectangular loaf pan with butter. Sprinkle the bottom evenly with sugar. Arrange the orange slices on top (rounds or half-rounds). Depending on your pan size, you may need more or fewer slices.
Step 10
Spread the batter over the oranges and smooth the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C / 356°F for about 40-45 minutes. Use your oven and the cake’s doneness as your guide. Turn the baked cake out onto a plate so the oranges end up on top, and serve.
Step 11
Because of the sour cream and orange juice, the cake will be slightly moist inside and not very tall - this isn’t sponge cake. Keep that in mind. If you want a lighter, more airy crumb, it’s better not to add the orange juice. Enjoy!
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