In the early days of baking I used to think that orange flavored or any citrus flavored baked good won't taste good. My taste buds had been accustomed to only two flavors, vanilla and chocolate. And rarely pineapple. We used to get these orange cream filled cookies back in India, and it was never my favorite.
Strawberry flavor used to taste like some medicine to me. So I never ventured into baking recipes which called for orange juice or lemon juice. Then after a few years in the US, after tasting some citrus flavored muffins and cupcakes, slowly developed a liking to it.
The very first time I tried lemon zest and lemon juice in these vegan blueberry muffins, then the orange blueberry quick bread, then in these egg less vanilla cupcakes, then the vegan lemon poppy seed cupcakes and in quite a few recipes, all of which we started liking a lot. I personally preferred the orange-vanilla combination than the lemon flavor.
I saw this recipe for poppy seed bundt cake here. They had used orange juice for the glaze and orange zest in the cake recipe. I wanted to incorporate the juice in the cake itself to infuse a nice citrus flavor to the cake. Wanted to make it buttery too, so used butter instead of oil. Overall the cake has turned out to be a decadent and aromatic one. The combination of orange-vanilla-almond gives it such a wonderful flavor and fragrance to the cake and in the house while it was baking.
Both lemon and poppy seed and orange and poppy seed is a very good combo. Be it quick breads or muffins or cupcakes it's a winning combination. If you love orange flavored baked treats then try this orange cookies too. You would be glad that you did!
Recipe
Eggless Orange Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 and ½ cups white sugar
- ¾ cup plain yogurt
- 1 and ½ teaspoons almond extract
- 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup orange juice freshly squeezed
- 1 cup milk (I used 2%)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons Orange zest from 2 oranges
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Grease a bundt pan with oil/butter and sprinkle some all-purpose flour to coat the insides of the pan. Mix together the orange juice and milk; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, until it's light and fluffy. Add the yogurt and beat well. Add the extracts too and beat again.
- In another bowl mix together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, salt and orange zest; set aside.
- To the creamed butter mixture add the flour and juice mixture alternating between each and beating after each addition.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap it on the counter to break air bubbles, if any.
- Bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Once done remove the pan from the oven and place it on the cooling rack for at least 10-15 minutes. After about 15 minutes slowly invert the pan on a plate and remove the cake from the pan and transfer it back to the rack for it to cool completely.
My Notes
- I have used ¾th cup of yogurt to replace 3 eggs in the original recipe. You can do a portion of silken tofu and yogurt for even better results. Since I didn't have tofu, I used all yogurt. Preferably sour.
- Neither orange juice nor zest was used. 1 and ½ cups of milk was used. But since I wanted to infuse orange flavor in the cake I used part juice and part milk. Had 2 oranges at home. Used juice from it and milk for the remaining portion.
Meg says
I made this with about 2 cups of sugar, but it turned out extremely dense... please help me...thanks
Madhuram says
Hope the measurements were followed especially with baking powder and the baking time too.
Mercedes says
I tried the recipe to the t but the sugar content was too overwhelming. So much so that the sugar began to crystallize on the Bundt cake. I will be trying this recipe again with only 1/2 c of sugar. I feel like it has so much potential which is why I will try again.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Mercedes.
Rajvi says
I don't have almond extract any substitute or I can skip it
Madhuram says
Vanilla extract should be fine.
Bhajan Kaur says
The cake turned out very dense. Can I substitute the yoghurt entirely with silken tofu?
thank you. love all your recipes.
Madhuram says
Thanks Bhajan. Replacing it fully with tofu will make it even more dense.
tanisha drolia says
Can I add black sesame seeds instead of poppy as the black poppy seeds is not widely available.
Madhuram says
It won't taste good, Tanisha.
pavani says
I have a question 1 cup of butter means we have measure with measuring cup or we have to foloow the measurements on the top of the butter.Because the butter that i get have a measuring sheet covered on top of butter????
Madhuram says
You have to use the marking on the butter to measure the quantity. You have to slice it on top of the cover where it says 1/2 cup or 1 cup
Nibha says
Does it matter if I don't put poppy seeds??
Madhuram says
No it doesn't Nibha.
Prachi says
Hi,
Can I use Tropicana instead of fresh juice?
Thanks,
Prachi
Madhuram says
You can use, but I prefer freshly squeezed orange juice because.
Parnika says
Hi,
How can i make the same for 1 1/2 cups of flour?
What quantities shall I keep?
Madhuram says
You will have to halve all the measurements.
Felicia Choo says
Amazing recipe. Thanks!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Felicia.
riya says
can i use the recipe for normal sponge cake instead of bundt
Madhuram says
Yes, it should work.
Anshu says
Dear Madhuram
Made it yesterday on my mil's bday.. The cake was scrumptious.. As all ur recipes are..thanks a lot!
Madhuram says
Thanks a lot Anshu. 🙂
Lyndsey says
I didn't have yogurt so I used ricotta cheese.... and I used orange and raspberry extracts instead of vanilla and almond... I also added sliced almonds in the cake as well as the poppy seeds. And topped it with a fresh orange glaze I made using sifted confectionary sugar 1 1/2 cups and 4-5 tablespoons of orange juice.
Madhuram says
So did it turn out ok?
Karen says
Tried this, delicious cake and made a few changes 1/2 oil and margarine
used vegan sour cream. Very tasty dessert!
Madhuram says
Thanks Karen. 🙂
Jameel says
Well prepared thanks for the wonderful cake recipe I just loved it. Easy to make, hope gonna be rich in taste. Thanks for sharing it try it soon.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Jameel.