Description
Fresh orange cake with orange vanilla bean icing is a vibrant and zesty sheet cake that's a breeze to whip up and even easier to enjoy.
Ingredients
Scale
For the cake:
- 4 oranges, zested and juiced (1 1/4 cups juice)
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
- Additional butter for pan
Orange vanilla bean icing:
- 3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
- Orange slice candy, optional
Instructions
For the cake:
- Butter a sheet pan with sides (jelly roll pan), and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pour the cake mix into a large mixing bowl.
- Strain the orange juice to remove big chunks.
- Add the orange juice, orange zest, eggs, and melted butter to the bowl.
- Mix together with a whisk until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Pour into buttered pan, and use a spatula to spread it out. The consistency is a little different than a normal cake mix, so you need to be sure to spread the batter to the edges; it won't go there on its own.
- Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden and the cake springs back when touched.
- While the cake is baking, make the icing.
For the orange vanilla bean icing:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, orange juice (unstrained -- the pulp is pretty), orange zest, and vanilla bean paste.
- Add 1 cup of powdered sugar, and whisk it all together until you get a smooth wet paste. This is the time to get all of the lumps out.
- Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, whisking after each cup, until you get a soft icing consistency, around 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. The icing should be thin, but not run off of a spoon dipped into it. Ice the sheet cake in the pan after it has cooled completely.
- Garnish with orange candy slices if you'd like.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: cake, orange cake, cake mix recipe, easy dessert recipe, dessert