I love everything about this cake recipe- and I also love it’s uniqueness. It’s not every day that an Orange Dreamsicle Cake is on the dessert menu (but it should be)!
The cake tastes fantastic, and the light orange filling and orange cream cheese frosting are the perfect complement to the flavorful orange cake layers.
It’s flavorful, pipeable, and silky smooth! You’re going to love this recipe!
This orange cream filling is SO delicious and can be whipped up in a matter of minutes with instant pudding, cream, and flavoring!
This filling recipe always receives rave reviews and nobody would ever guess how easy it is to whip up. It’s very adaptable for a number of flavors, we use the chocolate “mock mousse” version all the time.
Love Fruity Cakes? Here are some other refreshingly flavorful popular cake recipes for you to try!
Orange Pineapple Cake– Orange Cake Layers, pineapple & cream filling and whipped orange mascarpone frosting!
Lemon Orange Cake This is such a delicious combination of lemon and orange flavors, including homemade orange curd filling!
Homemade Lemon Cake– A classic- This is a favorite year-round.
Cherry Chocolate Chip Cake– If you’ve never tried the combination of cherry cake and chocolate chips, you MUST! So good.
Lime Cake from Scratch– So fruity and refreshing!
Strawberry Cake – We love this moist scratch strawberry cake recipe!
…and SO many more! We hope that you enjoy the recipe! Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Orange Dreamsicle Cake- Delicious Homemade Recipe
This moist and delicious cake tastes just like an Orange Dreamsicle! Moist orange cake layers with orange cream filling and orange cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 1/2 cups (285g) cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoon (12g) baking powder
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 T) (169g) unsalted butter....Cut into 1/2 inch slices onto waxed paper to soften slightly (still very cool to the touch. If it becomes too soft, refrigerate for a few minutes. Do not soften in microwave
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (190g) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 1/2 cup (121g) milk
- 1 Tablespoon (10g) orange extract
- zest of 1 orange
- Orange Coloring Gel (optional) We used a small amount to tint some reserved orange cream cheese frosting so that we could apply it to the cake here and there for a swirled effect.
For the Orange Cream Filling:
- 1 small box instant Vanilla pudding (3.4oz/96g) We used Jello- Brand
- 2 c. (464g) heavy cream or whipping cream.
- 1 tsp. (4g) Orange Extract (we used McCormick)
For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 2 sticks (1 cup) (226 g) unsalted butter, let it sit out until slightly softened.
- 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (total weight 452g) I use full fat cream cheese. Using reduced fat or the spreadable cream cheese will cause the frosting to be too soft. Do not soften the cream cheese.
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) clear vanilla extract (we used clear to keep color lighter)
- 1 teaspoon (4g) orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (2g) optional - it will cut the sweetness, popcorn salt is best to use because it is fine and dissolves faster
- 6 to 6 1/2 cups (690g to 747g) powdered sugar
- Orange Coloring Gel (optional) We used a very small amount for tinting.
Instructions
For the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (This Recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.)
Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch round pans.
In the bowl of your mixer add the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
In a separate bowl, add the eggs, orange juice concentrate, milk, orange extract and zest.
With the mixer on low speed, add the slices of butter a few pieces at a time to the dry ingredients. Increase the mixer to medium speed and beat until the dry ingredients look crumbly and moistened. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl.
SLOWLY add 1/2 of the egg mixture, increasing to medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes, the batter will become thick and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add a small amount of Orange Coloring Gel to the bowl if you would like the batter to be orange. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Let the cakes cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out.
Works well for cupcakes.
Makes 6 cups batter.
For the Orange Cream Filling:
Combine the pudding mix and heavy cream and orange extract in a mixing bowl. I prefer to mix with a hand held mixer, but a whisk is just fine too. If using a mixer, start on low speed until well combined. Then, switch to high speed and whip the pudding until thick and fluffy. If mousse is too thick, mix in small amounts of heavy cream to reach desired consistency.
If mixing by hand, simply whisk rapidly for a couple of minutes or until mixture is nice and thick.
Refrigerate until ready to use. Cakes with this filling should be chilled until close to serving time.
For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting:
Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated.
Add the vanilla and orange flavorings. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat.
This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
Will frost a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake. When decorating our Dreamsicle Cake, we frosted our cake and then went back in with swirls of lightly tinted orange frosting for a pretty effect.
Hi Morris, I’m so happy to hear you like the cake recipe. As for the frosting, make sure that you use full fat cream cheese. Reduced fat cream cheese is too soft. Mixing at a high speed or for too long can make the frosting soft. Cutting the cream cheese in small pieces can make it easier for the butter to blend in. If you would prefer to soften the cream cheese a bit, it would be fine to do so. If your frosting becomes too soft you can firm it up to the spreading or piping consistency you like by refrigerating it for just a short while….check on it every 10 minutes or so. Also, some people have “hot hands” when it comes to piping. If you are going to be doing a lot of piping, fill 2 piping bags with frosting. When your frosting becomes too soft, put that bag in the refrigerator to chill and use the 2nd bag. Alternating bags works great for “hot hands” people. I hope some of these thoughts will help with your problem.
Had a great time using your recipe to make our 7yr old’s birthday cake. Orange is her favorite flavor and she loves cats! So Voila, The Orange Dreamsicle Cat Cake! :) We felt like professionals. Thank You!
I was looking for a unique sheet cake for my 50th wedding anniversary and this is exceptional! I love this. I didn’t have food coloring so did without. I’ll decorate the Anniversary one.
Colbaugh, Wow! Your cat cake is so cute, great work. Thanks for posting!
Cathy, Thanks so much for your nice comments.
Is the orange juice concentrate prepared or use at full strength?
Hi Lori, It is used full strength.
Thanks for replying! This looks so delicious!! I’m making it for a upcoming birthday – I will let you know how it turns out! Always looking for something new or unique. Thanks for sharing!
Not sure if I read something wrong but the pudding amount is listed as a small pkg and gives ounces (1 small box instant Vanilla pudding (3.9 oz/96g) ) – that came to 3 boxes of pudding for me – so when I made the filling it was so thick it made my mixer stop mixing! I ended up pulling 2/3 of the filling from the bowl and added the remaining 1 cup of whipping cream in the container – still very pasty and THICK! Taste was good but everything seemed to be too thick for my hand held mixer to deal with. I will attempt this again and make some adjustments to the amounts needed. Thanks again for sharing :)
I’ve made this cake several times, and it was amazing. I’m gonna try for cupcakes this weekend, and pipe the filling in. Hopefully it turns out just a lovely.
Hi Heather, Thank you so much for your nice review of the recipe. Your cupcakes should turn out great.
Hi! Will be making tomorrow and I only have 9” pans. What would the baking times be? Also, can you use fresh orange juice vs. store bought or would the flavor be too subtle? Thanks for your help.
Hi Barb, To get the depth of orange flavor needed, frozen orange juice concentrate is needed, as well as 1 Tablespoon orange extract in the batter and 1 teaspoon in the orange cream filling. This recipe makes 6 -6 1/2 cups batter. Bake at 350 degrees, I have not baked this in 9 inch pans with this amount of batter so keep an eye on it and check at 30 minutes. It will be done when a toothpick into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Hi! This cake looks delicious. Just a quick question..once the cake is fully assembled, do you refrigerate it? I will be making it a day in advance. Thanks!
Hi Jessica, You will need to refrigerate the completed cake. The filling and the frosting are perishable. Remove from the refrigerator an hour or two before serving so the chill will be off the cake. Hope you enjoy it.
Melissa,
I’m very excited to find this cake recipe. A friend absolutely LOVES Orange Creamsicles and has been requesting a cake. I finally found a cake to make for her. All the recipes I found started with a boxed cake mix and I rarely use mixes. Her birthday is in July so I’ll be making it then. I’ll comment again once I’ve made it.
Thanks!
Trish
This recipe was very good I got rave reviews about it. It was delicious and moist the tutorial about the reverse creaming method was very helpful. There wasn’t one slice left I made it for my husbands birthday on Memorial Day.
Hi Crystal, Your cake looks wonderful! I am so happy everyone enjoyed the cake. Thanks so much for your nice review!
Sorry I left you two reviews I didn’t see the first one so I left another I wanted people to know how great this recipe is. Also it makes great cupcakes as well. Thank you I really have found over this last 6 months that I enjoy baking and decorating I am getting better each time and your tips definitely help. Thank you for your kind words 😊
This cake was so moist and delicious. It tasted just like an orange creamsicle. I made it for my Husbands birthday that was on Memorial Day and there wasn’t one piece left. I also like how you left the tutorial for the reverse creaming method. Also this recipe works great for cupcakes as well I made another batch of the batter and made cupcakes.
Hi Crystal, We are always happy to have another post. Glad you added that you also made cupcakes. Great looking cake!
Thank you for an incredible group of recipes. I used cake, frosting, and filling to make a push-pop cake for my niece’s birthday. I used LoRann oils for all three – orange or orange cream (1/2 of whatever you called for extract). The whole thing was absolutely delicious – separately and together. I look forward to making a straighter cake in the future – or cupcakes or whatever else!
The inside of the cake! I used 4.5″ springform pans to make the tall push-up shape, but the pans weren’t good quality and leaked, so a couple of layers sunk. HOWEVER, your filling is so rich that it helped “patch” up some sinking and made it possible to even stand up. Thanks again.
Hi Emily, Such a great idea to make this cute push pop cake. I’m sure your niece was thrilled when she saw it. Thanks so much for posting your photos and a review of the recipe.
Well I just made the cake and realized I used AP cake instead of cake flour! Think that will be ok?!
Hi Kalli, I really think it will be okay- the texture may be a little different-not quite as fine- because cake flour uses a wheat that has less protein (which develops less gluten) but I think you’ll still be happy with it!
Sounds yummy!
When my kids were growing up I did a “cheater” version using an orange cake mix and substituting fresh OJ instead of water. Delish!
Melissa, what would you think if I used a 9″ x 13″ pan and used both the cake and frosting recipes, omitting the filling? Would too much of what makes the cake great be lost? Thanks for your help!
@Karin, I like that idea!
@ Susan, I really do love the orange cream filling but the orange cream cheese frosting is delicious also- If you’re looking for a great orange cake, I still think that you would be happy with this recipe even without the filling.
Thank you so very much for the quick reply!!
I look forward to making this for my M-in-Law’s 90th birthday cake. In your April 1st reply to Barb you say 1 teaspoon of orange extract is needed for the batter. Please clarify – is it 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon of extract? Thank you for the recipe
Hi Nadine, Thanks for letting me know. It is 1 Tablespoon orange extract in the cake batter and 1 teaspoon in the orange cream filling.
This was a fantastic recipe! I wish I had thought to trim the dark brown edges off of the pretty orange cake before I frosted it. Would make for a prettier slice. But the flavors were great. I doused the cake in an orange simple syrup before frosting and it kept it nicely moist. My son said he wants this for his birthday cake next year!
Hi Kim, Beautiful presentation of your cake!! I’m thrilled your son requested it for his next birthday! Thanks so much for posting.