Orange Paradise Cake (Vegan)

This dairy-free, egg-free orange paradise cake uses fresh citrus to make this sweet, moist, and absolutely delicious cake. This crowd-pleasing cake pairs beautifully with a strong cup of coffee, tea, or as dessert.

Oranges are available all year round, but when it’s in season in the winter, it provides a dose of sunshine and Vitamin C. I have been going through a ton of oranges this season so I thought I would share one of the lovely ways I have been using up these oranges. This orange paradise cake is a play on words based on the two major ingredients in this dish: oranges and grains of paradise. It is a perfect winter cake and an opportunity to explore an indigenous West African spice.

What is an Orange Paradise Cake?

An Orange Paradise cake is a cake that I have coined, which combines citrus and grains of paradise. These two ingredients pair beautifully with each other bringing the warmth of winter flavours with the bright freshness of citrus.

Oranges as we know them come in 1000s of varieties with the original sweet orange being a product of the pomelo and mandarin cross-pollinating. These citrus fruits are historically indigenous to Southern China/ South East Asia moving along the Silk Road and spreading across the world. Now Oranges come in all sizes and colors from blood orange to light pink to bright yellow. Although oranges are available all year round, in North America, the citrus season falls in the winter months as our grocery stores are flooded with California and Florida-grown oranges. Now, you can also get access to citrus varieties from Eastern Asia, Europe, and South Africa.

Grains of paradise (also known as Aframomum melegueta) is a member of the ginger family that includes cardamom and other varieties of Aframomum plants. In West Africa, the melegueta pepper is sharp, tart, and spicy. In Ethiopia, the close relative Aframomum corririma (originally from Tanzania) smells like cardamom with orange/lemon notes. Ethiopian spice blends like Berbere or even North African ras-el-hanout include these aframomum varieties. However, many people have lumped these two together. I was gifted a jar of “grains of paradise” (Korarima) from @burlapandbarrel (who sell fair trade single-origin spices), which served as the inspiration for this dish. It has similar profiles to cardamom, which pairs very well with citrus.

What you will need for this Orange Paradise Cake

• Orange: Any sweet orange variety works well. I have made this cake with blood oranges, cara cara and navel oranges. You will also need half a lemon to balance the sweetness of the citrus. We will be using the juice and the zest of the citrus fruits.
• “Grains of Paradise/Korarima”: This is the other flavor profile for this cake. You can find these from @burlapandbarrel or check an Ethiopian grocery store. You are welcome to use the West African variety but it will make the cake spicy without the cardamom flavors. Check the FAQ section for details on substitutions.
• Oil: This is an oil cake, which will give add moisture and soften the cake
• Sugar: To add sweetness. Also mixing the sugar with the zest helps bring out the citrus flavor.
• Leavening Agents: Since this is an egg-free recipe, we will need baking powder and baking soda to help the cake rise.
• Plant-based milk: I am using soy milk in this recipe for its added fat and protein content but any plant-based milk works. I highly suggest a nut-based variety as it can add fat as well as curdle with the acid.
• Acid: Apple cider vinegar will curdle the soy milk and react with the baking powder to add lift to the cake.
• Apple Sauce: This will serve as the egg replacer and adds moisture to the cake
• Salt: Always salt your sweet desserts because the salt helps balance and also brings out the sweetness of the sugar.

How to make this cake

• Zest the citrus with the sugar
• Cook the sliced citrus with a little bit of the zest sugar mix and the juice of the zested citrus

• Curdle the soy milk with the acid
• Mix the dry ingredients together
• Mix the wet ingredients together
• Fold in the dry ingredients to make the cake batter
• Layer the bottom of the cake with the sliced citrus that has been cooked and cool down with a little bit of the cooking juice

• Pour in the batter
• Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or till a toothpick comes out dry
• Let it cool down, flip and drizzle a little bit of the cooking juice on top
• Slice and enjoy

FAQ + Substitution

1. What can I substitute for the grains of paradise? You are welcome to substitute with cardamom but with a pinch of cloves, nutmeg, and pepper.
2. Can I make this gluten-free? You can swap the all-purpose for 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. Bob’s Red Mill has a great gluten-free flour.
3. What oranges will you recommend? I have made this with blood oranges, navel oranges, and cara cara oranges. They all work well. For the first time making this recipe, I would recommend a regular navel orange because it is juicy and its rind is not bitter.
4. Can I use another acid, instead of apple cider vinegar? Yes any acid like vinegar or even lemon juice works
5. Can I use another egg replacer? You are welcome to use aquafaba (canned chickpea water or flax egg). I will not recommend using a liquid egg replacer like Just Egg as it is used to substitute other functions of eggs, not what is used for baking.

Make sure to check out my other African-inspired baked goods

• Double Chocolate Teff Cookie
• Fonio Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Tigernut Coffee Cake

If you like this recipe, make sure to leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post

Print Recipe

Orange Paradise Cake

This dairy-free, egg-free orange paradise cake uses fresh citrus to make this sweet, moist, and absolutely delicious cake.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Baking

Cuisine: Fusion

Keyword: african ingredients, cake, orange

Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 3 oranges blood orange, navel or cara cara work well
• 1 cup of sugar
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 cups of All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups of plant based milk soy or nut based milk
• 1 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp of ground grains of paradise refer to FAQ section for substitution info
• 1/2 cup of oil vegetable or olive oil work well
• 2 tbsp apple sauce
• 1/4 tsp of salt

Instructions

Orange base

• Zest the entire skin of one orange and mix it well with the sugar, till the sugar turns a yellow tint
• Proceed to peel off the skin of the zested orange as well as an additional orange. Leave a bit of the orange albedo (white part between flesh and skin) to hold the slices in tac.t
• Slice the peeled oranges into medallions and place in a small pot
• Squeeze the juice out of the last remaining orange
• Add in 1/4 cup of the sugar zest mix, the lemon juice, the orange juice and 1/4 cup of water
• Cook at medium to low heat for 10 minutes, then allow it to cool down

Cake Batter

• Preheat your oven to 350°F
• In a bowl, mix the plant based milk with the apple cider vinegar to curdle and wait a few minutes
• Mix in the apple sauce, oil and remainder of the zest+sugar mixture
• Incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and grains of paradise) bit by bit
• At this point, your sliced oranges have cooled
• In an 8″ cake pan lined with parchment paper, layer the cooked orange slices, drizzle a little bit of the syrup from the cooked oranges to fill any empty spaces
• Pour in the cake batter
• Bake at 350°F for 35-40 mins until a toothpick comes out clean
• Let the cake cool down before slicing
• Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee