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Classic Cake Recipes with a Modern Twist

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Home » Cakes » Orange Poppy Seed Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

Orange Poppy Seed Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

By Olivia, 44 Comments

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Tender Orange Poppy Seed Cake layers with a delicious mascarpone frosting.

Orange poppy seed cake with mascarpone buttercream.

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!

Close up of side of orange poppy seed cake layers

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. 

Cross section of orange poppy seed cake.

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.

orange poppy seed cake decorated naked cake style.

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?

Overhead picture of oranges on top of the cake.

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. 

Slice of Orange Poppy Seed Cake on a plate.

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

Two orange poppy seed cake layers covered in a delicious mascarpone frosting.

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!

Tender Orange Poppy Seed Cake layers with a delicious mascarpone frosting. | livforcake.com
Print Rate
4.67 from 6 votes

Orange Poppy Seed Cake with Mascarpone Buttercream

Tender Orange Poppy Seed Cake layers with a delicious mascarpone frosting.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Cake
Keyword orange poppy seed
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 12
Calories 770kcal
Author Olivia

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
US Customary - Metric

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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Calories: 770kcalCarbohydrates: 85gProtein: 6gFat: 45gSaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 164mgSodium: 141mgPotassium: 190mgSugar: 65gVitamin A: 1440IUVitamin C: 3.3mgCalcium: 127mgIron: 1.6mg
The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

Tender Orange Poppy Seed Cake layers with a delicious mascarpone frosting.

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April 12, 2019

Comments

  1. Corinne Bungate says

    November 24, 2019 at 1:01 PM

    Hello from Australia! I made this for my auntys birthday yesterday and it was amazing. I am a baker but lost my confidence recently and have not made our familys birthday cakes for almost 5 years – but this one has put me back on top! So yummy. Thank you for sharing your recipes, I’m going to attempt a chocolate cake for my husbands birthday next month now 🙂

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      November 25, 2019 at 10:05 AM

      Hi Corrine! I am so happy to hear that and thrilled that you’ve got your baking mojo back! I can’t wait to hear about the chocolate cake 🙂

      Reply
  2. Jess says

    October 24, 2019 at 4:21 AM

    4 stars
    I made this recipe into cupcakes the other day. I used half the recipe for orange&poppy seed and the other half for lemon&poppyseed. They came out amazingly, only cooked for about 17minutes. Will be making again 😍

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      October 28, 2019 at 9:44 AM

      Hi Jess! So happy you loved it 🙂

      Reply
  3. Maria Armstrong says

    October 22, 2019 at 7:17 PM

    Had a piece of the cake when my daughter made it. It was lovely. Something so different from others.
    Thank you so much for sharing it for others to try.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      October 28, 2019 at 9:37 AM

      Thank you so much for the feedback, Maria!

      Reply
  4. Madeline says

    September 17, 2019 at 8:38 AM

    I’m so excited to make this for a co-workers retirement party.

    In the comment section of another recipe of yours I read that you use Canadian cups and not US cups. As a US baker I’m unfamiliar with Canadian cups for measurement. Do you know the conversion ratio or the measurements by weight?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      September 18, 2019 at 4:27 PM

      Hi Madeline! There is a metric converter below the list of ingredients, but to be honest, I’m not 100% sure if mine are Canadian or US. I don’t think the 10ml difference will make a huge impact though so I would just go with whatever you have 🙂

      Reply
  5. Amy says

    September 13, 2019 at 9:37 AM

    It was delicious. Moist and tender! thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      September 16, 2019 at 9:22 AM

      Hi Amy! So glad you loved it!

      Reply
  6. Mirosha Chandrasekaran says

    August 14, 2019 at 6:55 AM

    4 stars
    I gave this a try. Loved the flavor of the cake but it was crumbly which made frosting hard. Not sure if I did anything wrong.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      August 14, 2019 at 4:04 PM

      Hi Mirosha! The cake should not be crumbly. This can happen sometimes though if the batter is overmixed. Did you grease and flour your pans? That will help too. And don’t run a knife around the edges before you release the cake from the pans.

      Reply
  7. Niyatee says

    August 13, 2019 at 9:13 PM

    Hi I love how pretty this cake is, I like how your cakes are beautiful but they don’t look. Artificial at all. I must confess I hardly ever make cakes( they intimidate me a bit 🙂 I follow you just to look at them, but this cake is so beautiful I think am gonna make it into cupcakes and try it out!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      August 14, 2019 at 4:01 PM

      Hi Niyatee! Thank you so much. You should totally try this one! It’s as easy as it gets when it comes to decorating 🙂 But cupcakes will be just as delicious!

      Reply
  8. Lisa says

    August 4, 2019 at 3:21 AM

    Should this cake be refrigerated given the mascarpone icing?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      August 6, 2019 at 5:13 PM

      Hi Lisa! Yes, I would recommend that you do.

      Reply
  9. Aanchal Mittal says

    July 12, 2019 at 5:06 AM

    5 stars
    I tried this cake at home. Everyone liked it and praised me.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      July 12, 2019 at 1:35 PM

      Hi Aanchal! So happy to hear that! Glad everyone loved it 🙂

      Reply
  10. Dina C says

    May 13, 2019 at 5:12 AM

    This cake was tasty but VERY crumbly. What did I do wrong?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      May 13, 2019 at 12:24 PM

      Hi Dina! It should not be crumbly! Here are some things that come to mind as possible causes:

      – cake batter was overmixed
      – cake was baked too long
      – flour was measured incorrectly (I spoon and level into my measuring cups rather than scooping)

      I hope that helps!

      Reply
  11. Smith says

    April 22, 2019 at 10:07 AM

    5 stars
    Hi Olivia,

    Definitely going to try! I think, my family would love it. What happens if I leave out the poppy seeds?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 23, 2019 at 1:55 PM

      Hi Smith! You can leave out the poppy seeds without issue if you just want an orange cake.

      Reply
  12. Cynthia Thomas says

    April 17, 2019 at 7:14 PM

    Hi.can i substitute butter for oil?
    If so how much please. Tia

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 20, 2019 at 7:03 PM

      Hi Cynthia! It should work fine but will change the flavour an texture — use the same amount as butter.

      Reply
    • Alaina says

      May 29, 2019 at 6:58 AM

      5 stars
      Hi Cynthia,

      I made this recipe and substituted plain vegetable oil instead of butter. I haven’t tried it with butter to compare, but the recipe definitely came out AMAZING. I love lemon poppyseed so I was so glad to see a little twist on that. My cake was light and moist, and the marscapone frosting complements it well. It was a big hit!

      Reply
      • Olivia says

        May 29, 2019 at 1:26 PM

        Thanks so much for your tips Alaina! So glad you liked it 🙂

        Reply
  13. Hana says

    April 16, 2019 at 1:08 PM

    Looks amazing! Think it would be okay to make this a 3 layer or would the soft frosting not hold that much weight?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 16, 2019 at 1:50 PM

      Hi Hana! I think it would be fine. It would be a bit heavier, but I don’t think it would be detrimental 🙂

      Reply
  14. Carrie says

    April 13, 2019 at 7:00 PM

    Where does the 1/4 cup orange juice go? I saw it in the ingredient list for the cake, but didn’t see it used in the article directions. I made the cake today and didn’t end up using the juice anywhere.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 14, 2019 at 10:42 AM

      Ack, so sorry Carrie!! I missed including that in the directions, thanks for calling it out. You add it when you add the milk. I hope the cake still turns out well for you!

      Reply
      • Carrie says

        April 15, 2019 at 8:11 PM

        Thanks! The cake turned out ok but didn’t have a strong flavor, that is probably why. I will certainly try this cake again, next time with the cream cheese frosting.

        Reply
        • Olivia says

          April 16, 2019 at 1:47 PM

          Ugh, really sorry about that. I try to proofread all my recipes, but things slip through the cracks at times. I hope you do try it again!

          Reply
  15. Oksana says

    April 12, 2019 at 8:51 PM

    5 stars
    I bet this cake is as delicious as it look (I must confess that all your cakes look like masterpieces ).
    I wanted to share what I read in one of the blogs somewhere. The blogger was using an orange oil in orange cakes. Oil is natural and healthy so no regrets when adding it to a batter. Hope this tip will help.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 14, 2019 at 10:43 AM

      Thanks so much Oksana for the sweet comment! I will look for orange oil to try it out 🙂

      Reply
  16. Erika Smith says

    April 12, 2019 at 5:53 PM

    I am the same in that I love the taste of a cheese frosting but HATE working with it! Am I going to hate working with this mascarpone or is it going to be the best thing that ever happened to me? You’re awesome Olivia!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 14, 2019 at 10:42 AM

      Lol!! Thank you Erika for this comment. I think it’s going to be a little of both!!

      Reply
  17. Meredith says

    April 12, 2019 at 11:07 AM

    If making lemon instead of orange, would you still recommend 1/2 c of the fruit juice?

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 12, 2019 at 2:26 PM

      Hi Meredith! Use 1/4 cup of juice for either (not 1/2 cup).

      Reply
  18. DeeDee Bryans says

    April 12, 2019 at 10:43 AM

    Looks absolutely delicious…can’t wait to make it!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 12, 2019 at 2:26 PM

      Hi DeeDee! Thanks so much, I hope you love it!!

      Reply
  19. Yvette Mader says

    April 12, 2019 at 10:20 AM

    Although I haven’t made this cake yet I have made a couple others and will be making your lime and coconut cake for Easter. All of your are amazing and so different! I look forward to further adventures in baking your cakes!

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 12, 2019 at 2:25 PM

      Hi Yvette! Exciting about the coconut lime, I hope you love that one was much as I do. Thanks so much for your sweet comment!!

      Reply
  20. Sheila Shahane says

    April 12, 2019 at 9:36 AM

    Suggestion with cheese frosting-cut the butter. Use 6 tbsp. butter to 8 oz. of cheese.

    Reply
    • Olivia says

      April 12, 2019 at 2:24 PM

      Hi Sheila! Thanks for the tip. I don’t like my CC frosting to be too cheesy though which is why I add more butter. I might give this a try though!

      Reply

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