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    You Are Here Home » Sweets Recipes

    Published: Mar 13, 2018 Updated: Mar 20, 2020 by Hilda Sterner | This post may contain affiliate links 6 Comments

    Mom's Orange Bundt Cake (Caka't Pertikaleh)

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    orange bund cake pin

    Anytime you enter an Assyrian home, you are greeted with warm hospitality, tea, and a slice of homemade Orange Bundt Cake. A moist and flavorful orange cake, loaded with raisins and walnuts. The orange glaze is delicious but optional. And yes, there's a hole in this cake!

    bund cake with a slice cut out of it

    🛒What You Need For This Recipe

    orange and cake ingredients

    🔖 Recipe Ingredient Notes

    • Orange — I recommend using fresh orange juice in this orange bundt cake recipe. Especially since you will need orange zest to mix in the batter and in the glaze.
    • Apple Sauce — I recently added applesauce to this recipe after my husband complained that the cake wasn't moist enough. I chose to add applesauce instead of more butter and so glad I did. It did the trick without the added fat.
    • Orange Glaze — The orange glaze is listed as optional but I highly recommend trying it! It really intensifies the orange flavor.

    🧐Why This Recipe Works

    Most Assyrian families have some version of this orange bundt cake. I created this recipe for Mom's Authentic Assyrian Recipes in an effort to recreate my mom's orange cake recipe. Although mom never added glaze to her orange cake, I believe she would have loved it.  

    It took a lot of experimenting, and a lot of calories consumed until I was able to replicate mom's recipe. But I went a step further, I recently made some changes to the recipe that made it even tastier.

    Besides adding applesauce, I increased the amount of orange juice to make it even moister. I also snuck in a teaspoon of cardamom, which some of you know is my favorite spice. Luckily, cardamom goes really well with the orange flavor.

    🍰 How to Make This Recipe

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

    STEP 1: Generously grease a bundt cake pan with butter, then dust with flour.

    greased bund pan
    sprinkling flour on a black bundt cake
    floured bundt cake pan

    STEP 2: Cream butter, then mix in sugar. Beat until blended.

    creaming butter in a mixer
    mixing sugar into butter
    creaming butter and sugar

    STEP 3: Whisk eggs then add to the mixing bowl along with milk, apple sauce, vanilla, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Beat until blended.

    liquid ingredients in a pan
    cake batter ingredients
    cake batter in a bowl

    STEP 4: In a separate bowl, stir flour, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Add orange zest (set a few teaspoons aside if you plan on making an orange glaze).

    flour, spices, and oranges zest
    flour with a pink spatula in it

    STEP 5: Pour half of the flour mixture into the mixer and stir until incorporated. Stir walnuts and raisins into the remaining flour to coat. Pour the remaining flour into the mixer and beat just until blended.

    adding flour to a mixing bowl
    a bowl with nuts coated in flour
    orange cake batter
    orange cake batter in bowl being stirred by a pink spatula

    STEP 6: Pour the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan. Bake the cake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

    orange cake batter in a bundt pan
    orange cake batter in a bundt cake pan
    orange bundt cake

    Cool the cake in the pan for approximately 10 minutes. To un-mold, place a large, flat plate or wire rack over the pan and flip the cake over. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

    Orange Glaze (optional)

    orange bundt cake with orange glaze

    To make the orange glaze, mix powdered sugar with the remaining orange zest and approximately 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the warm cake.

    👩🏼‍🍳 Recipe Pro Tips

    • If you don't have oranges, you can use tangelos or tangerines.
    • Lemon zest can also be added to the batter.
    • Mixing the walnuts and raisins in the flour first will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake once it's cooked so don't skip this step! 
    • The glaze is perfect for "gluing" pieces of the orange cake back on if they stick to the pan after unmolding the cake. It's also great for hiding imperfections.

    🥮 Related Recipes

    • Tahini Fudge
    • Caramel Upside-Down Quince Cake
    • Easy Peach Cobbler Pound Cake
    • Carrot Cake with Pineapple

    Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.

    Stay in touch with me through social media @ Instagram, Pinterest, 4294 TikTok, and Facebook. Don't forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes!

    orange bundt cake with a slice cut out

    Mom's Orange Cake (Caka't Pertikaleh)

    Delicious and moist, orange cake, full of raisins and walnuts.
    4.67 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Assyrian, Middle Eastern
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    Servings: 12 slices
    Calories: 307kcal

    Ingredients

    • ¾ cups unsalted butter (softened, plus extra for greasing the pan)
    • 1½ cups sugar
    • 3 large eggs
    • 1 cup milk
    • 1 orange (zested and juiced)
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1 4 oz applesauce
    • 2½ cups all-purpose flour (plus some to dust the pan)
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon cardamom
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ cup chopped walnuts
    • ½ cup raisins

    Orange Glaze

    • 1 cup powdered sugar
    • 2 teaspoon orange zest
    • 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
    • Generously grease a bundt cake pan with butter, then dust with flour.
    • Cream butter, then mix in sugar. Beat until blended.
    • Whisk eggs then add to the mixing bowl along with milk, apple sauce, vanilla, 3 tablespoons of orange juice, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Beat until blended.
    • In a separate bowl, stir flour, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Add orange zest (set a few teaspoons aside if you plan on making an orange glaze).
    • Pour half of the flour mixture into the mixer and stir until incorporated. Stir walnuts and raisins into the remaining flour to coat. Pour the remaining flour into the mixer and beat just until blended.
    • Pour the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan. Bake the cake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
    • Cool the cake in the pan for approximately 10 minutes. To un-mold, place a large, flat plate or wire rack over the pan and flip the cake over. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

    Orange Glaze (optional)

    • To make the orange glaze, mix powdered sugar with the remaining orange zest and approximately 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the warm cake.

    Notes

    • If you don't have oranges, you can use tangelos or tangerines.
    • Lemon zest can also be added to the batter.
    • Mixing the walnuts and raisins in the flour first will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake once it's cooked so don't skip this step! 
    • The glaze is perfect for "gluing" pieces of cake back on if they stick to the pan after unmolding the cake. It's also great for hiding imperfections.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1slice | Calories: 307kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 59mg | Sodium: 167mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g
    Tried this Recipe? Please leave A Star Rating!Mention @HildasKitchenBlog or tag #HildasKitchenBlog!

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    • Canning Apple Pie Filling

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    1. Shant says

      December 28, 2021 at 6:41 am

      Hi Hilda,

      I'm planning to make this Orange Bundt cake for my parents this New Year. They are Armenians who originally grew up in Iraq, now living in London, UK. I thought it would be a nice treat to try and make this for them!

      I just wasn't too sure about how much of the Applesauce you mentioned in the recipe to add? In the "ingredients" section, it says "1 4 oz applesauce"? I'm not sure if that is supposed to be 14 oz, 1 x 4 oz, or 1/4 oz of applesauce. Would be appreciated if you can confirm/clarify.

      Many thanks

      Reply
      • Hilda Sterner says

        December 28, 2021 at 8:26 am

        Hi Shant, What a sweet thing to do for your parents! I'm sure they'll love it. As for your question you need 4 ounces of apple sauce. I always hope that that type of info doesn't confuse people, it's hard to make it clear in the recipe card. The visual (ingredients pic) towards the top of the page is supposed to help but I know most people hit the jump to the recipe button 🤦‍♀️. Good luck and I'd love to know what they think!

        Reply
    2. Katrina says

      April 05, 2020 at 10:47 pm

      Hello Hilda,
      I’m Armenian from Iran and I have been searching for this recipe for a long time. It’s a classic recipe that reminds me of the cakes from my childhood. Thank you for the work you did in putting this recipe together. It was Devine! God bless and take safe.

      Reply
      • HildaSterner says

        April 06, 2020 at 5:53 am

        Hi Katrina,
        Nice to meet you! Armenians and Assyrians seem to have so much in common. I remember growing up in Iraq, my mother had many Armenian friends. Many of them were able to speak Assyrian too. I'm so glad you liked the recipe and that it brought back some fond childhood memories. God bless & stay safe!

        Reply
    3. Pramane Younathan says

      April 01, 2020 at 9:13 pm

      5 stars
      Oh my God Hilda! This cake is amazing! Just made it tonight and it is delicious! This is my first time making this and your directions were perfect. My husband wanted me to tell you when he ate it it reminded him of home, which is Iraq.

      Reply
      • HildaSterner says

        April 03, 2020 at 9:36 am

        Hi Pramene,
        Haha, so glad you both like it. I think this cake is so dangerous. When I bake it, I can't stop eating it 😬. For this reason, I only make it a few times a year... but I LOVE it!

        Reply

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