Tender Orange Poppy Seed Cake layers with a delicious mascarpone frosting.
Every time I make a cheese based frosting, I swear it will be my last. They are SO difficult to work with. I know I could make them more stable, but I’d have to either add more cheese or more sugar — neither of which I want to do. So I’m stuck with a delicious tasting but less stable frosting. It is what it is.
Honestly, the only reason I keep making them is because they taste so good. Not too cheesy, not too sweet, and they complement certain cakes just perfectly. Like this Orange Poppy Seed Cake!
I’ve had a lemon poppy seed cake on my radar for a while now. I have a Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt (which was delicious), but I’d been meaning to make it into a layer cake for some time. Alas, it got pushed off yet again because I thought orange poppy seed would be a more interesting and unique flavour to try. If you’d rather do lemon, you can swap it in easy enough.
What kind of oranges should I use?
I am not an expert on oranges. I’ve currently been eating my way through bags of flavourful mandarins, but otherwise oranges are never a staple around here. If you’re an orange expert and have a favourite, go with what you love. Otherwise, good old navel oranges will work. Blood orange would work well too! I used Cava Cava Navel.
Tips for Making this Orange Poppy Seed Cake
It’s a bit harder to get orange flavour to come through than lemon — it’s less potent overall. You could use an extract, but if you know me at all you know I prefer to use natural flavours when possible, and only use an extract when there’s really no other option. The key to getting that orange flavour to shine through is in the zest. Never skip the zest!
There is so much flavour packed in the zest, and my favourite way to extract it is to beat the zest with the butter and sugar. Processing it this way helps to extract the oils from the zest and get that flavour to come through. Don’t just toss the zest in at the end!
By the way, if you’re looking for a good zester, the one from Microplane are my absolute favourite. You get a superfine zest without any of the pith. Works like a charm every time.
For the poppy seeds, I toss them with my flour mixture. I find this is easiest, and there is less risk of over-mixing the batter rather than if you were to add them at the end.
Mascarpone Frosting
This mascarpone frosting goes so well with this orange poppy seed cake! It’s subtle and not overpowering like a cream cheese frosting can be, but it gives it a unique and delicious flavour. I won’t bore you with the details about how annoying the frosting was to work with — the naked cake I ended up going with should be an indication of how things went (lol).
I intended to fully frost this cake and do something rustic with the sides, but that was a total fail. The frosting was both soft and full of air bubbles, and all attempts to make an “easy” rustic swirl were futile. I ended up scraping the whole thing off and letting the pretty poppy seed studded sides shine through.
The frosting recipe makes enough to cover the whole cake though, and I’d recommend doing that because it’s so delicious. Maybe you’ll have better luck decorating than I did?
Styling inspo for this cake came from the lovely MaryAnne over at Little Epicurean. Can I just say how happy I was to find mandarin oranges with the leaves still attached?! Non-shrivelled leaves at that.
This cake did not last long around here. I had to stop myself from inhaling an entire slice as I was cleaning the kitchen afterwards. Have I mentioned I have a weakness for citrus desserts?? I hope you love this cake recipe as much as I do!
Looking for more Citrus Cakes?
- Lemon Elderflower Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Lime & Coconut Cake
- Key Lime Pie Cake
- Cranberry Orange Cake
Tips for making this Orange Poppy Seed Cake
- The recipe will also work in three 6″ pans. The layers will be slightly thicker than in the recipe above though, so you’ll need to increase the baking time.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
- The frosting recipe makes enough to fully frost the whole cake.
- Do NOT overmix the frosting once the mascarpone is added. It could split.
- To make a lemon poppy seed cake instead, just swap orange for lemon in the same amounts.
- If you prefer, you can use a cream cheese frosting instead.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my Flat Top Cakes post!
Orange Poppy Seed Cake with Mascarpone Buttercream
Ingredients
Orange Poppy Seed Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp poppy seeds
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp orange zest from 1-2 large oranges
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup milk room temperature
- 1/4 cup orange juice fresh squeezed, from 1/2 a large orange
Mascarpone Buttercream:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese softened but still chilled, 250g container
- 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla
Assembly:
- simple syrup optional
- orange slices optional
- orange leaves optional
- poppy seeds optional
Instructions
Orange Poppy Seed Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8" cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, poppy seeds, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and orange zest on med-high until pale and fluffy (about 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk & orange juice, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk & orange juice). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Bake for 25-30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Mascarpone Buttercream:
- Beat butter until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time). Add vanilla and beat on med-high for 5mins.
- Add mascarpone cheese and beat just until smooth and combined. Do not overbeat.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Drizzle with simple syrup if desired. Top with approximately 1 cup of buttercream, spread evenly.
- Repeat with remaining layer and apply a thin layer of frosting all over to crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins. You can leave the cake naked or fully frost the cake after chilling if desired.
- Decorate the top with fresh orange slices, orange leaves, and poppy seeds if desired.
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Erica says
Hello! Your recipes are amazing! I was wondering if I could use this for a 4 layer 6in cake (for decoration purposes I would like a tall cake). Thank you so much!
Olivia says
Hi Erica! The recipe as-is will make a three layer 6″ cake with layers that are 2″ tall. If you want to do 4 layers then they will be thinner. It’s totally fine but be sure to reduce the baking time.
Jennifer says
Cake was delicious! I used blood oranges both for the peel and squeezed fresh the juice and the orange flavor really came through. I added a dash of cream of tartar to the frosting and found it easy to spread! I also made a 4in version with chocolate frosting that was delicious!
Olivia says
Hi Jennifer! So happy you loved it. Thanks for all your tips!
Rana says
Really lovely cake. I used the optional syrup which added more orange flavour as I infused the syrup with orange peel and juice – so yummy. However next time I would try omitting the syrup to keep it a bit lighter. I might try adding some orange peel or orange oil (or Cointreau!) to the frosting next time to keep up the orange flavour. Thanks for a great recipe.
Rana says
PS Thanks Liv for your honesty about the frosting- it is tricky! And keeps home cooks like me from feeling let down if/when my end result doesn’t look impossibly picture perfect! Cheers, from Australia 🇦🇺
Olivia says
Thank you! I try to keep it real over here 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Rana! So happy you loved it. Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Ally Why says
Hii ^^
I want to attempt this cake in the next days, to take with me visiting my grandparents.
I wanted to ask if I can take just the half of the frosting, so the cake isn’t covered entirely by frosting. (Similiar to your pictures) Or is the frosting already measured for this amount?
I’m a bit unsure as it will be just the second time I make a cake with frosting.
Thank you so much for your help in advance!!!
Olivia says
Hi Ally! The frosting is already measured for this amount. You might have a small amount left over but not too much. If you halve it I worry that there won’t be enough.
Jane says
I have previously made this cake for a baby shower, but did an orange SMBC. It was such a hit. I’m just wondering how much I would need to increase the recipe by to make 4 layers for a six inch cake? I always use your recipes as they are no fail. x
Olivia says
Hi Jane! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
The recipe as-is will make three 6″ layers so I would increase the Servings to 16 to get 4 layers.
Little Bakers Kenya says
The cake came out perfectly, can it be frozen while frosted?
Olivia says
Hi there! Yes, it should be fine.
daisy says
hey! i absolutely love all your recipes and am wondering – i’m making this into a small wedding cake and want frosting that can last a little bit and cover the whole cake. i saw that you had some difficulty – do you have another frosting you’d recommend for taste + durability? would your buttercream frosting be good (or a variation on it), or perhaps the cream cheese frosting you mentioned? thanks so much 💕💕
Olivia says
Hi Daisy! I find cream cheese frosting just as difficult to work it (it’s very soft), but I think any of these frostings would be great, especially for a wedding cake.
https://livforcake.com/ermine-frosting/
https://livforcake.com/simple-vanilla-buttercream/
https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/
Carole says
Followed recipe exactly and cake is very dry. Recommend adding syrup
Olivia says
Hi Carole! The cake should not be dry. Is it possible it was overbaked? Baking times are just a guideline as all ovens differ. Simply syrup will help add back moisture for sure though.
Jackie S. says
Hi Liv, can I prepare the filling the night before, refrigirate and assemble the next day? Alternatively, can the assembled cake stay in the fridge overnight before serving?
Thanks!
Jackie
Olivia says
Hi Jackie! Do you mean the buttercream? I would just bring it to room temperature and rewhip before frosting. And yes, the cake can (and should) be refrigerated. Take it out 2-3 hours before serving.
Dishita says
I don’t know why but my cake wasn’t just cooking from the centre. Just had to throw the whole thing could you tell me what could have gone wrong? But the taste was delicious. Love the recipe
Olivia says
Hi Dishita! It sounds like it maybe needed more time in the oven.
Jessica says
Love all of your bakes they always come out super but I’m hoping to modify this slightly into a lemon cake to include a curd between filling. It’s also nearly August, in Barcelona, Spain. Am I crazy to think the frosting will be stable enough?
Olivia says
Hi Jessica! Thank you! The frosting is already on the softer side, so it will likely be quite soft. You can chill the frosted cake though, that should help. But with the curd, it could become messy. I would do a buttercream dam to hold the curd in and chill that layer before stacking the other on top. That should help.
Jessica says
Thank you so much for commenting! I am confident that it will turn out well with your tip! I’m assuming you meant the marscapone buttercream……I’m just going to go for it!! Thanks again!!
Olivia says
Please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Jessica says
The cake turned out great! It did require a lot of chilling time between layers As started to soften immediately but it held up, looked great and reportedly tasted great 🙌🏼 Thank you so much for your advice as I would have just struggled putting it altogether in one go probably!
Olivia says
Yay! So happy it worked out 🙂
Priya says
I cant seem to find black poppy seeds . Will the white ones work the same?
Olivia says
Hi Priya! That should be fine but the flavour will be milder I think.
Susan says
I baked the cake today. It tastes and smells wonderful but it’s nowhere near the height of your cake on the photo that you posted. Is it supposed to raise that high? I used 8 inch pan per the directions.
Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Susan! The cakes should bake to be about 2″ tall each in 8″ round pans. If they didn’t rise as much, is it possible your baking powder is expired? Or that the batter was overmixed?
rohit aggarwal says
thank you livforcake for giving me wonderful information
Olivia says
Hi Rohit! Happy to help.