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Orange Juice Cake is a moist, buttery Bundt cake made with orange juice and a sweet citrus glaze. This easy homemade cake is perfect for holidays, brunch, dessert, or any special occasion.
If you love bright citrus flavors, this Orange Juice Cake is a recipe you’ll want to make again and again. It’s incredibly moist, packed with fresh orange flavor, and finished with a sweet orange glaze that soaks into every bite.
Whether you’re looking for an easy Bundt cake recipe, a spring or summer dessert, or a homemade cake that’s full of citrus flavor, this Orange Juice Cake is sure to become a favorite.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Incredibly Moist and Tender
The combination of orange juice and a buttery glaze creates a soft, moist cake that stays delicious for days, making it perfect for baking ahead.
Bright Fresh Citrus Flavor
Every bite is filled with sweet orange flavor that makes this cake feel light, refreshing, and perfect for spring and summer.
Easy Enough for Any Occasion
Whether you’re baking for a holiday, Sunday dinner, brunch, or simply because you’re craving something sweet, this cake is easy to make with simple ingredients.
Beautiful Without Extra Decorating
A Bundt cake naturally looks impressive, and the orange glaze adds the perfect finishing touch without requiring fancy decorating skills.
Perfect for Sharing
This cake serves a crowd, making it a wonderful dessert for potlucks, family gatherings, church events, and celebrations.
Ingredient Notes:
- Yellow Cake Mix Box – Using a cake mix keeps this recipe simple while creating a soft and fluffy cake every time.
- Lemon Instant Pudding – This is the secret to an incredibly moist cake with a tender crumb.
- Vegetable Oil – Oil helps keep the cake soft and moist for several days.
- Water
- Eggs
Orange Juice Glaze Ingredients:
- Powdered Sugar – key ingredient for any frosting or glaze.
- Butter – unsalted and melted.
- Orange Juice – Any brand of your favorite orange juice will work for this recipe.
Directions:
Step One: Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Then prepare a Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. I spray mine heavily.
Recipe Tip
If you don’t have a Bundt pan you can make this in a 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 25-28 minutes.
Step Two: Next use an electric mixer to mix cake mix with dry lemon pudding mix, oil, water, and eggs.
Recipe Tip
Make sure you are adding in dry pudding powder, not prepared pudding.
Mix until smooth then pour into prepared baking dish.
Baking Instructions:
Step Three: Now bake your cake for 38-40 minutes or until cooked through and a toothpick can come out clean.
Step Four: While you cake bakes prepare your orange juice glaze. Mix powdered sugar, melted and cooled butter, and orange juice until smooth and creamy.
Recipe Tip
When adding cold juice to warm butter it could cause your butter to harden again. If this happens plus place your mix in the microwave to melt your butter.
Step Five: Now poke holes into your cake using a fork or skewer.
Step Six: Pour orange juice glaze over cake filling holes in cake. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes then slice and serve.
Tips for Best Results
- Grease the Bundt pan thoroughly to prevent sticking.
- Don’t overmix the batter.
- Pour the glaze over the cake while it’s still warm so it absorbs completely.
- Allow the cake to cool before removing it from the pan.
- Use fresh orange zest as a garnish for extra citrus flavor.
How to store this cake:
A poke cake is super moist and has a tendency to get soggy if it sits too long. You want to eat this cake within 3 days of making it.
Store it in the baking dish, covered, and in the refrigerator.
Can I make this Orange Juice Cake ahead of time?
This cake can definitely be made ahead of time.
Due to the nature of a poke cake, I recommend only making it 24 hours in advance.
These types of cakes need to be eaten rather soon after making or they will get too soggy.
Try some of my other Poke Cakes:
Oreo Poke Cake – Take your box cake mix to the next level! Filled with marshmallow cream and topped with a frosting loaded with Oreos. This Oreo Poke Cake is simple to make and taste amazing.
Banana Pudding Poke Cake – This Banana Pudding Poke Cake has the same flavor as the classic pudding you love but in a simple cake recipe. This cake is cooked and filled with pudding then topped off with whipped cream.
S’mores Poke Cake – A perfectly moist cake that never fails. This S’ mores Poke Cake is simply amazing. Full of flavor and topped with mini marshmallows. I pop them in the oven to broil to get them roasted just like it came off the campfire.
If you tried any of my recipes I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below. You can also connect with me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST. I would love for you to follow along and discover more amazing recipes.
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Orange Juice Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 15.25 oz yellow cake mix, ( 1 box)
- 3.5 oz lemon instant pudding , (1 box)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup water
- 4 large eggs
Orange juice glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, (melted)
- ¾ cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Use an electric mixer to mix cake mix with dry lemon pudding mix, oil, water, and eggs. Mix until smooth then pour into prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 38-40 minutes or until cooked through and a toothpick can come out clean.
- While you cake bakes prepare your orange juice glaze. Mix powdered sugar, melted and cooled butter, and orange juice until smooth and creamy. Tip: butter will form once cold so allow it to cook to not get chunky or place back in the microwave.
- Poke hole though out your cake using a fork or skewer. Pour orange juice glaze over cake filling holes in cake. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes then slice and serve.
Notes
- Make sure you are adding in dry pudding powder not prepared pudding.
- When adding cold juice to warm butter it could cause your butter to harden again. If this happens plus place your mix in the microwave to melt your butter.
- Make sure to not poke your holes to deep that they puncture the bottom. This way the juice stays in the cake and can not run out.
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If you don’t have a Bundt pan you can make this in a 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 25-28 minutes.
My aunt used to make this cake and used the juice concentrate to make the glaze. This was many years ago, so I can’t remember if she added water or not. Can one just use store bought juice or do you need to use fresh squeezed oranges. Is it apparent that I don’t bake often?