I have had a major obsession with citrus recently. I've been adding citrus to my salads, eating perfect blood oranges from Italy by the dozen, and I can't get enough of citrus flavor in my baked goods. And then, I came across the Heritage Bundtlette Pan from Nordicware. I had no choice but to create a mini citrus cake recipe to bake in the pan. This pan is gorgeous, and you can even save 15% with the coupon that is available on Amazon using the link above or at the end of this post. So here we have it... a recipe for Orange Bundtlette Cakes
Recipe Testing Sucks Sometimes...and Makes You Fat
This recipe for Orange Bundtlette Cakes was much harder to perfect than I had initially anticipated. After round one of creating this recipe I was straight up discouraged. The cakes were dry, and lacked flavor. My middle school kids said "no thank you" when I offered them seconds. They just weren't good. I made them again, and this time I tweaked both the mixing method, and the amount of orange juice and zest. On my third attempt, I swapped the all-purpose flour out for cake flour and added a bit more butter. I also swapped the whole milk out for buttermilk, and added an additional egg to the batter. And finally, during the fourth round of testing the recipe, I shortened the baking time and added orange zest to the glaze that goes on top of the cakes. The biggest problem however, is that I ate cake during all four of the recipe testing sessions. Now, my pants are tight.
But Hard Work Pays Off...
I can honestly say that this recipe is finally worthy of posting here on Maple and Thyme. The recipe consistently produces a tender, versatile, and flavorful cake. This recipe can be baked in a mini bundlette pan, a mini or full sized loaf pan, or a full sized bundt pan. With the loaf or large bundt pan, you get a cake that is tender and moist, but you don't get as much orange glaze on each piece. With the Bundtlettes, the cake is not quite as tender but they are gorgeous, and there is a lot more of the orange glaze in each bite. You have a hard decision to make here...
Making the Cake Batter
For this recipe, you need to have your eggs, vanilla, citrus juice, buttermilk, and creme fraiche all at room temperature. Take your ingredients out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours before you plan to start baking. To make these cakes, you are going to start by melting and cooling your butter. I like to do this in a large glass measuring cup. This makes it easy to add the additional liquid ingredients directly to the melted butter.
Next, you are going to whip your eggs with the granulated sugar for a solid 5-7 minutes on medium speed. The eggs and sugar will become quite light and airy.
While the eggs are whipping, you will combine your dry ingredients in one bowl and your wet ingredients in that liquid measuring cup with the melted butter. Be careful here. Make sure that the overall temperature of your liquid mixture is just slightly warm. This should be a consistent, smooth liquid once combined. The only lumps should be the bits of orange zest. If there are chunks of butter in the liquid mixture, you will want to warm it up for 5-10 seconds in the microwave.
Once the eggs are airy and lemon colored, you will stop the mixer and fold the flour mixture into your egg mixture. This strategy of whipping the eggs and sugar together, and then adding the flour mixture into the eggs comes from Joanne Chang. During my quest to make these cakes light and tender, I learned from the Flour: Spectacular Recipes From Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe that whipping the eggs and sugar until super fluffy adds additional airiness to your finished cakes.
Finally, you will add the liquid mixture (⅓ at a time) into the egg and flour mixture, and fold gently until just combined.
Baking the Orange Bundtlette Cakes
You will bake the Bundtlette cakes in a buttered and floured Bundtlette pan at 350° for 15 minutes. If you are baking in a different pan or pan size, baking temperatures are listed below.
Baking Times for Other Pan Shapes and Sizes
Mini Loaves (2 cup loaf pans - this recipe makes 3) - bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes
Large Loaf - bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes
Large Bundt - double the recipe and bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes
All cake sizes and shapes will need to cool for 10 minutes in their pan before being turned out onto a cooling rack.
Glazing the Orange Bundtlette Cakes
To make the glaze, you will warm the orange juice, zest, and sugar over low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then drizzle the glaze over the cooled cakes. I like to do this with the cakes on a cooling rack with parchment paper underneath.
Serving the Cake
This is really a versatile recipe. You could serve the cake alone as a mid morning snack for a play date. You could definitely bring these cakes along to a brunch. This cake becomes fancy dessert when you serve a slice or a mini cake, alongside some homemade whipped cream and fresh berries. Enjoy!
Other delicious dessert recipes
- Chewy Snickerdoodles
- Brown Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Blondies
- The Best Fudgy Brownies
- Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Orange Almond Madeleines
I hope that you find this recipe to be tender and packed with citrus flavor. I'd love to know if you make the recipe so definitely comment here or tag me on Instagram,@mapleandthymeblog, if you have a chance to make it. I always appreciate feedback. A big shout out to my middle school taste testers, Nate, John, and Britt, and even my mom and sister, who all tried this recipe and gave me honest and helpful feedback.
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Orange Bundtlette Cakes
Ingredients
Orange Bundtlette Cakes
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups (240g) cake flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ¼ cup buttermilk at room temperature
- ¼ cup creme fraiche at room temperature
- ¼ cup orange juice freshly squeezed and strained
- 4 tbsp orange zest or zest of 1 ½ oranges
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Orange Glaze
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup orange juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon orange zest or zest of ½ of an orange
Instructions
Orange Bundtlette Cakes
- Adjust an oven rack so that it is in the center of the oven. Heat the oven to 350° Butter and flour your Bundtlette pan. Melt butter in a large glass measuring cup and allow to cool.
- Using your stand mixer (or hand mixer), whip the eggs and sugar on medium speed for 5-7 minutes or until the mixture become light yellow in color and fluffy. If using a stand mixer, you will use your whisk attachment for this.
- While the eggs and sugar whip, combine cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
- Once butter has cooled to slightly warm, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, creme fraiche, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract. This should be a nice, thick liquid. If you notice the butter is becoming lumpy, you can warm the mixture for 5-10 seconds in the microwave and whisk to dissolve the lumps.
- Once the egg mixture is light and fluffy, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until combined. Do not over mix. Fold ⅓ of the butter mixture into the egg and flour mixture. Then fold the remaining butter mixture into the egg and flour mixture.
- Fill the Bundtlette wells until about ¾ full. You will have leftover batter. You can either bake a second round of cakes and make 2 more, or you can bake the remaining batter in a 2 cup mini loaf pan.
- Bake the cakes for 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake these.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning them out of the pan onto a cooling rack.
Orange Glaze
- While the cakes are cooling, combine sugar, orange juice, and orange zest in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- Once the cakes have cooled for an additional 10-15 minutes, spoon or pour the warm glaze over each of the Bundtlette cakes. I like to set them up on a cooling rack with parchment paper underneath for glazing. Allow the glaze to set up for 15-30 minutes.
- Serve the cakes on their own, or with fresh berries and a homemade whipped cream. A little bit of chocolate sauce would be nice with these as well.
Nutrition
KITCHEN TOOLS AND INGREDIENTS THAT I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:
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