I loved creamsicles as a kid!!! I made an orange curd filling, an orange cake and Italian buttercream for the outside. Not gonna lie… the cake was a bit unstable when I was assembling it BUT it all came together as soon as the crumb coat set in the fridge 
I was worried about the decoration too, as I’ve been so addicted to drip cakes! I piped my version of ombré swirls for the top — popped them in the freezer for a bit to set — then placed them on. I think the end result is simple but elegant. Do you like it? How would you put your own twist on it? 
Find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating? Check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.
I love the way the ombré of pastel orange buttercream looks right before it’s piped!
If you’ve tried this cake then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Orange Cake
A delicious orange cake filled with orange curd and covered in a creamy ombré of Italian meringue buttercream.
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 TBS all-purpose flour
- 1 TBS corn starch
- 1 cup fresh orange juice without pulp (from about 3 large or 4 medium oranges)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 TBS salted butter
For the Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (101/8 oz.)
- 2 1/2 tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup salted butter
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 4 tsps grated orange zest from about 2 large oranges
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup strained fresh orange juice (you can add the juice of a lemon if you'd like some more zing)
For the Italian Buttercream:
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 16 ounces unsalted butter (32 tablespoons) room temperature cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 drops orange food coloring
Instructions
For the Filling
Whisk together sugar, cornstarch and the flour in a heavy-based saucepan.
Add the orange juice and egg yolks and whisk to combine.
Put the saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture boils.
Cook while stirring constantly, the mixture will become thicker and clearer.
Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
Transfer to a bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and chill.
For the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 4 six inch cake pans
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cream together the butter, sour cream, and orange zest.
Slowly add the sugar, mixing until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions and scraping down the sides.
Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the orange juice to the creamed mixture, beating well on low speed after each addition. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the two prepared cake pans. (I also use cake strips on my pans for more even baking.) Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 22 min. Cool the cake layers in the pans for 10 min. and then loosen the layers by running a knife between the cake and the edge of the pan. Remove the layers from the pans and put them on a rack to continue cooling.
For the Buttercream:
Beat the egg whites and 1/3 cup of sugar until soft peaks form.
In a medium saucepan add the remaining sugar and 1/3 cup water then place on low heat.
Stir constantly until sugar melts and becomes clear.
Maintain at medium high heat until temperature reads 235-240F.
Drizzle the sugar into the mixer immediately.
Run mixer until meringue is body temperature. Add salt.
Add room temperature butter into running mixer one piece at a time. Add vanilla
Beat until butter is combined and mixture has reached a silky consistency.
I used an 869 tip to pipe the dollops, froze them, and then placed them on top. I divided my buttercream into several batches and added varying amounts of food coloring to create an ombre effect.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- To get FLAT layers that are moist inside and out try using cake strips! You can buy a set online or make your own from foil and paper towels at home. I made a whole blog post on it so check it out if you’re interested!
- If you don't want to make Italian buttercream you can use the American variety. I just prefer the smoothness and taste of the Italian variety. I know it's a pain to make two different types of frosting though!
Zahra hazari says
September 28, 2016 at 6:12 pmThis looks lovely. I’m wondering, did you bake into 4 six inch cake pans or in two cake pans and then split the 2 cakes into 4 layers? Thank you!
jkanell says
September 28, 2016 at 6:18 pmThanks so much Zahra! I use 4 six inch pans. If I tried to use two and cut them in half the batter would have overflowed when I baked them… If you have deeper pans it might work though 🙂
stacey says
March 15, 2018 at 1:47 amhow deep are your pans?
John K. says
March 15, 2018 at 4:55 pmStacey,
The pans are 2-inches deep! Hope you enjoy!
John
John says
September 29, 2016 at 6:56 pmThis cake looks so lovely! I also loved creamsicles as a kid so I totally want to try making this cake. Any particular reason you chilled the dollops and placed on top rather than just piping directly on top of the cake? I’ve seen that with buttercream flowers, but just wondering if there’s a logistical trick that I’m not thinking of behind that. Thanks!
jkanell says
September 29, 2016 at 7:17 pmThanks John! I piped the dollops separately because I wanted a controlled swirl, otherwise I would have just saved the time and piped directly on top. 🙂 Let me know how it turns out!
Meital says
October 21, 2016 at 5:26 pmHi! This is a great video! And lovely cake!
Do you have any idea how can I make the filing with blueberries?
jkanell says
October 22, 2016 at 2:39 amMaybe do a blueberry reduction? Or just add blueberry juice in place of the orange juice? Thanks!
Susan says
November 5, 2016 at 6:14 pmStunning. Love how you filled the cake!
Patricia says
December 13, 2016 at 9:48 pmHi, very beautiful cake, your are very talented artist, thank you share your work with us.
Sheryl says
March 16, 2017 at 6:20 amDid you tint the frosting to get the dreamsicle color combo?
jkanell says
March 25, 2017 at 4:15 amI did yes, a drop of orange.
Summer says
March 23, 2017 at 7:57 pmI was wondering instead of the 4 6 inch pans could I use 2 8 inch instead?
jkanell says
March 25, 2017 at 4:13 amYa, I do that all the time!
Theresa says
March 25, 2017 at 8:11 pmYou have listed cornstarch in the list of ingerients but it is omitted in the directions?
jkanell says
March 25, 2017 at 9:04 pmCorrected, thanks! You whisk it together with the sugar and flour.
Summer says
April 4, 2017 at 3:42 pmCan you make the buttercream and filling in advance? If So, how long in advance?
Thanks!
John says
April 11, 2017 at 8:33 pmHi Summer — I am pretty sure you can make it a day or so in advance and just refrigerate the buttercream. When you bring it to room temperature, you’re going to have to whip it again to “bring it back to life.” Hope that helps, John.
Summer says
April 4, 2017 at 5:14 pmCan I make the buttercteam and filling ahead of time? If So, how far in advance?
Thanks!
Deborah Y Lee says
April 27, 2017 at 3:34 pmHi John! I made this cake and everyone loved it. I only had two oranges left when it came to making the cake, so I ended up using two oranges and 3 lemons for the juice and it turned out nice and tangy.
John says
April 27, 2017 at 4:08 pmHi Deborah — I’m glad it worked out! Thanks, John.
Cortney O'Connor says
May 3, 2017 at 2:34 pmI love this cake!!! I love your site! So glad I discovered it! You are a very talented baker!
Quick question–I notice for most of you cakes you use 4-6 inch pans. I generally use 9″ pans; how do you think the recipes would convert? Maybe to two 9 inch pans? I usually do 3-9″ pans when I bake cakes, so maybe I should double the recipes you have? Thanks for the great recipes and the help!
John says
May 4, 2017 at 4:19 pmHi Cortney — In and of itself, the recipe won’t translate well. However, if you double the recipe, your 9″ pans should do just fine. Hope this helps, John.
Jenn says
November 29, 2017 at 5:17 pmI am so happy to come across this recipe. My daughter LOVES oranges so I am going to attempt to make this for her first birthday. I am new to the baking world. Would the cake last if I made it the night before for the following afternoon? Would I need to refrigerate it or keep it at room temperature? Or am I better to get up early and make it the morning of? Thanks so much!
John K. says
November 29, 2017 at 5:51 pmJenn,
The cake be fine if you refrigerate the night before! If you’re wanting a super fresh taste, I would suggest making it the morning of!
John
Debbie says
March 19, 2018 at 12:44 pmHi, and thank you for posting this beautiful cake. I just found your site today and my family wanted me to make the orange creamsicle cake for Easter. I have never made curd or Italian Buttercream have always used Swiss Meringue Buttercream but it does get very soft fast. Is the Italian buttercream more stable? I want to try this but I too only have 8 and 9 inch pans about 2 inches deep how should I make this in the 8 or 9 inch pans. Thanks so much your a wonderful cake artist loved the ombre look of orange colors. Just beautiful all your cakes.
jkanell says
March 19, 2018 at 2:59 pmHi Debbie! I would double the batter recipe for those two pans. Italian also gets soft fast so it’s best to keep in a cool place! Thanks so much and I hope that helps!
Natasha says
May 31, 2018 at 6:32 amCan I make this into 3 8inch pans?
John K. says
May 31, 2018 at 9:34 amNatasha,
Double the recipe and use the extra batter for cupcakes! Hope you enjoy!
John
Me1grl says
September 1, 2018 at 4:44 pmI really like this recipe and I have tried it twice in that last several months. My problem is, even when I work
quickly the filling begins to soften and my filling oozes out and layers slide. I am constantly putting the cake in the fridge or freezer trying to get to the place where I can decorate it like yours but it’s a no go as soon as it comes to room temp it begins to fall apart. How can I fix this problem?
Also, the buttercream ingredients state a pinch of salt and tsp of vanilla but I didn’t see when to add it in. I totally forgot it so I just threw it in at the end…haha. It’s still delicious!
Thank you
John K. says
September 10, 2018 at 12:04 pmHello!
I’m sorry to hear that! Next time you make your filling, try adding more cornstarch. I would also try putting a thicker layer of buttercream around the cake to hold everything in. I hope this helps!
Best,
John
V says
September 30, 2018 at 8:53 pmHi John, would this hold up well if stacked?
John K. says
October 19, 2018 at 12:17 pmHi V,
The cake is already stacked, how many layers are you wanting to make?
Best,
John
Carmen says
February 17, 2019 at 1:03 pmHi,
I can´t wait to try this out. I’m a nervous baker and have a couple of questions, though. In the recipe it says–Pour equal amounts of the batter into the two prepared cake pans. (I also use cake strips on my pans for more even baking.) Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 22 min.
Do the 22 minutes refer to when you use two cake pans or the four 6 inch pans? Can you also explain the cake stip trick? What are the strips made from? Thank you.
Carmen
John K. says
February 18, 2019 at 4:06 pmHi Carmen,
The 22 minutes refers to about how long it will take for your layers to be done. I also try to pour an even amount of batter in each pan by using a kitchen scale.
Best,
John
Mayra pinedea says
March 28, 2019 at 7:17 amOne word amazing i had made a similar recipe by another chef and i had to toss it, but this cake is scrumptious moist and delicious delicious thank you once again for brilliant instructions and videos.
Mayra pineda says
March 29, 2019 at 11:58 amAmazing cake very moist and tender I did not make the Italian buttercream I felt lazy so I switched to a cream cheese frosting delicious, thank you for all the wonderful recipes
Angela Armstrong-Ingram says
March 31, 2019 at 10:17 pmIt was really good! It was unstable putting it together and eventually collapased after enough slices were taken out. Turns out I’m not a fan of the Italian buttercream but I had fund making it and everyone was impressed.