We have spent a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen lately in search of the BEST scratch Orange Dreamsicle Cake.
I’m excited to announce that we have found it, and this amazing homemade Orange Dreamsicle Cake recipe belongs in your Recipe Box too!
There are few cakes that spring to mind for summertime parties more quickly than this Orange Dreamsicle Cake recipe. When I think of summer, I think of desserts with fruit, and ice cream!
This cake truly lives up to it’s name, it tastes EXACTLY like a Dreamsicle! This light, flavorful citrus cake couldn’t be more perfect for summer gatherings.
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.
We’ll leave our cake recipe below along with links to the Orange filling & Orange Cream Cheese frosting that we loved so much.
I’m sure other filling and frosting combinations would work well also, but try these first! They are wonderful.
*This moist cake is stable enough for fondant, and versatile enough for cupcakes. I would highly recommend injecting the cupcakes with the orange filling! YUM!
***This recipe calls for a mixing technique known as the Reverse Creaming Method. This refers to the order that the ingredients are added to the recipe. The result very moist cake with a tight crumb.
The reverse creaming method of mixing results in a cake that is slightly denser than if you were to make this recipe using the traditional method of mixing. We spell everything out in the recipe instructions, but if you’d like to watch a video on the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing, see our free video here: Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.
You can find our delicious Orange Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe that we used in this recipe here: Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
It’s flavorful, pipeable, and silky smooth! You’re going to love this recipe!
You can find our EASY Orange Cream Filling Here: Orange Cream Filling
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.
To create the swirled orange cream cheese frosting for this cake, we first frosted the cake with our un-tinted orange cream cheese frosting, reserving some for tinting later.
Then, we went back over the frosted cake with our orange frosting, applying it sparingly here and there, and we textured it with an offset spatula. (I’ve also made this cake with the orange tinted orange through and through and that looks great too– just go with what you’re in the mood for!)
Thanks for stopping by! Don’t forget to check out our other tried and true cake recipes and frostings in our Recipes section, and free cake decorating tutorials in our Free Tutorials section! For full access to our entire cake decorating video tutorial library, you should consider becoming a member of My Cake School! You can find all of the details here: Joining Information
Love Fruity Cakes? Here are some other refreshingly flavorful popular cake recipes for you to try!
…and SO many more! We hope that you enjoy the recipe! Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Orange Dreamsicle Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 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.
Directions
- 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.
Orange Dreamsicle Cake (Find the Printable Version Above)
INGREDIENTS
- 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 swirl into the frosted cake for a marbled frosting look.
DIRECTIONS
- 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.
If you are looking for more cake ideas for summertime gatherings, don’t miss our roundup of favorite summer cakes and ideas!: The BEST Summer Cakes, Recipes, Tutorials, and Ideas!
Cake didn’t want to come out of pans in 10 minutes. Did release finally but all crumb came off bottom. Should I have waited longer? I prepped aluminum pans with Crisco & flour.
Hi Regina, I’m sorry you had a problem. No, you should not have left the cake in the pan longer, if it is left longer it will definitely stick to the pan. Possibly you did not use enough Crisco in greasing the pans. In the future you could cut a circle of waxed paper and place in the bottom of the pan. This will help the cake to come out.
Can Orange juice be used in place of concentrate if so how much thanks so much beautiful cake
Hi Geri, We have not tried the recipe using regular orange juice so I am not sure if the amount would change. I do think the frozen orange juice concentrate does gives it additional orange flavor. Let us know if you give it a try, I would like your opinion.
I made this cake. Froze the layers and then used the mousse filling with cream cheese frosting as posted here. It was absolutely delicious! I made it for my sister’s birthday, and she loved it. I dragged some of the orange tinted frosting down the sides, too. I forgot to take a picture!
Hi Regina, That is wonderful!! Thanks so much for posting your review!!
Is this a reliable recipe for a wedding cake tier?
Hi Patti, Yes, this recipe could be used for a wedding cake tier.
How full would you fill the cupcake liners if you made into cupcakes? Also how long to cook?
Hi Pam, Fill your cupcake liners 2/3’s full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. The cupcakes bake up with a slight dome. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
I made this cake and it was absolutely wonderful and the bride to be and groom both liked sampling this CAKE. I am definitely using it for a tier on the wedding cake with a vanilla buttercream frosting. Thanks for this recipe and I am passing it on to my friends as well.
Hi Patti, We are thrilled that you like the recipe, thank you for posting your nice review!!
For some reason it keeps falling in the middle
Hi Samantha, The most likely cause for you cake to fall in the center is under baking. It would be a good idea to get an oven thermometer to find out if your oven is heating to the temperature you have it set to. Oven thermometers can be found at Target, grocery stores or online and they are inexpensive. I hope that will solve the problem for you.
Love Dreamsycles so I was eager to make this cake. Watched tutorial and followed directions very carefully. The cake came out perfect and after frosted absolutely beautiful!!! Had friends over for dinner and everyone went on and on about the cake and how delicious it was. I love to bake and in the future any cake I bake I’ll do the reverse creaming method if the recipe allows. This is a winner for sure!!!