Orange Ginger Cake Recipe – perfect for afternoon tea or dessert. A light glaze gives them just enough sweetness to this warm and fruity cake.
Ginger. Oh, how I love ginger. Most people are most familiar with ginger in gingerbread cookies or gingersnaps during the holiday season but I have ginger in some form almost every day.
The most common way for me to get some ginger every day is in my tea. I love the spicy warmth of it and the fact that it goes with so many other flavors! Lemon and ginger is a classic combination. It’s soothing and warm but also spicy and vibrant, all at the same time!
Ginger was the reason that I was so ready to give these mini bundt cakes a try today. This past weekend I was flipping through a notebook with recipe ideas. Page after page I scribbled notes, jotted down flavor combinations, and doodled presentation and decoration ideas. Several ideas caught my eye but I kept going back to ginger, orange, and honey.
I also realized that I had a mini bundt pan that had been sitting on a shelf for over a year and had never been used. It was time to put it to use!
Ginger – Orange – Honey
That is the order that I want the flavors to come through. To make that happen, I used ginger in a couple of different ways. First, ground ginger – the easiest to grab and one that most people already have in their cabinets. Next, I grabbed one of my all-time favorite ingredients – a jar of stem ginger.
Stem ginger is just ginger root that has been peeled and cooked in syrup. It is sweet but still spicy and adds a little chewy texture if you get a piece of it in the cake (I recommend that you dice it very small!). The balls of ginger are preserved in the most delicious syrup that takes on a little heat from the ginger.
These little cakes get a dose of both the preserved ginger root as well as the syrup. Even if you don’t make this recipe, make sure that you use up the syrup in your jar of stem ginger! I beg you!! Please don’t throw away the jar when the ginger root is gone! That syrup is delicious in coffee, tea, poured over ice cream or anywhere else you need a touch of drizzled sweetness!
Developing the flavors in this Orange Ginger Cake
The first attempt at these cakes gave me a delicious, soft, and luscious crumb. When I first turned them out of the pans, they were so soft that I thought maybe the amount of honey was a mistake. Maybe I used too much? I like to create versatile recipes and this cake was so soft at first that I didn’t think that I would be able to stack or layer it if I chose to.
As the mini bundt cakes cooled (and the mini loaves that I made as well), they firmed up a bit. Making bundts, whether large or small, means that you have an increase in surface area aka ‘crust’. There is a fine line between too much crust on a bundt and just the right amount of firm outer layer. One of my goals was to keep this crust to a minimum so that the whole cake was soft. In addition to adding flavor, the honey helped me to achieve this.
That part of the experiment was a complete success!
Unfortunately, this was an orange cake with the flavor of honey coming on at the end. I didn’t get any ginger at all. It was still good but not what I wanted. That meant that I had to make them again. After all, this is a GINGER, Orange & Honey cake.
Orange zest can provide intense flavor thanks to the oils present. I originally used the zest and juice of an entire orange but modified the recipe to cut out the juice completely and now use one teaspoon of the zest.
An increase in the ground ginger along with the more stem ginger seemed to provide the perfect balance. I get the ginger now!
One more way to increase the ginger…
I have adorned these Orange Ginger Cakes in Mini Bundt pans with homemade candied orange peel. This an easy item to keep on hand and simply delightful as a decoration or a little snack! You can find the recipe and steps to make the candied orange peel HERE.
But if you, like me, want MORE ginger, then go for a third way of using ginger! Crystallized ginger, to be exact!
I used to have a hard time finding crystallized ginger in the US but it has become so popular that most grocery stores carry it. If you can’t find it there, Amazon is sure to have several brands for you to choose from.
Just slice the crystallized ginger into thin strips or diced bits and place it on top of the cakes while the glaze is still wet.
Substitutions in this Recipe
- I’ve used Almond Milk in this recipe but you can also use Whole Milk, Reduced Fat Milk, Oat Milk, or other alternative. They all work fine on my test bakes.
- If you don’t have Oranges or if you just prefer to switch it up, you can replace the oranges with lemons. The flavor is still divine!
- Use your favorite honey here. Most honey has a distinct flavor depending on where it comes from and what type of flowers the bees that produce the honey have access to. This can change the flavor of the cake slightly so use a honey that you enjoy!
Tips for success with this Orange Ginger Cake Recipe
- Make sure that mixing is kept to a minimum. There is no creaming method in this recipe. Just start with a quick mix to incorporate the wet ingredients and a quick whisk to mix up the dry ingredients. Once you add the dry to the wet, only mix until all of the flour is incorporated plus about 20 seconds. This will ensure a smooth mixture without allowing the gluten to develop, which would make the cakes tough.
- When zesting the orange, ensure that you only get the orange part. Leave the white pith on the orange to keep the bitter taste out of your cake!
- Grease and flour your pans well but don’t overdo it. Too much flour in the tins can adhere to the outside of the cakes and leave a ‘goo’ that looks messy and tastes like paste.
- Tap the pan several times on the counter or table after filling with the batter. This will ensure that the batter sinks into all of the nooks and crannies of the pan. Skipping this step means there can be visible holes on the surface of your cakes.
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How to Store these Cakes:
These Mini Bundt or loaf cakes can be stored at room temperature for about three days. Wrap them well and keep them in an air-tight container to keep them from drying out.
Freezing these cakes is a breeze and makes it easy to have a fresh and easy dessert at a moment’s notice! I recommend freezing the cakes without the glaze. Wrap each cake in cling wrap and then place all of the cakes in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and then glaze and serve.
Other Recipes to Try:
Ginger and Blood Orange Cream Scones
Orange Ginger Cake
Ingredients
For the Mini-Bundts
- 210 grams unsalted butter diced
- 385 grams all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 400 grams honey
- 2 Tablespoons Stem Ginger Syrup
- 2 balls of stem ginger finely diced
- 200 mL unsweetened almond milk at room temperature
- 75 grams granulated sugar
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
For the Orange Ginger Glaze
- 200 to 225 grams powdered sugar sifted
- 1 Tablespoon stem ginger syrup
- 1 Tablespoons Orange Juice
- 2 to 4 teaspoons water or as much as you need to get your desired consistency
- Candied Orange Peel and/or Crystallized Ginger
Instructions
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325℉.
- Grease and flour pan/s. (Mini bundt pans or small loaf pans work best.)
- In a medium saucepan, brown the diced butter until a medium amber color is achieved. Pour the browned butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger and salt.
- Add the honey, ginger syrup, diced stem ginger, milk, sugar, beaten eggs and zest. Mix with the paddle attachment just to combine, about 20 seconds.
- Add about 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until combined. Add another third and mix well then add that last of the dry mixture and mix for 30 seconds. Divide evenly between the pans.
- Bake 30 to 36 minutes, depending on the size of the pan that you are using.
- Remove from the oven when the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack for 3 or 4 minutes and turn out of the pan. Allow to cool completely.
- Make the glaze: Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add the stem ginger syrup and orange juice and whisk briefly. Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, whisking after each addition. Continue to add water until the glaze is the consistency that you want for your cakes. A thinner glaze will run off of the cakes so make it thick enough to stick.
- You can either spoon the glaze over the top of your cakes or dip the cakes into the glaze upside down and set them back on the cooling rack to drain. (Place parchment paper under the cooling rack to catch the drips – makes clean up easier!)
- Arrange slices of candied orange peel or sliced crystallized ginger or you can dice them and sprinkle them over the top immediately after icing. They will not stick if you wait too long and the icing dries! Enjoy!
Nutrition
OMG Tanya!!!! how many mini Bundt pans you have? I am in love with them all… (I have only one, and now I crave the square type)
these are gorgeous cakes, elegant, petite, so so cute!
and perfect choice of flavor and icing…
Sally, how did I miss several of your comments? So sorry for not replying earlier! These were actually all made in one mini bundt pan that has 3 different shapes. I LOVE that pan!