Can I Use Orange Instead Of Lemon In The Tendercake?

Asked by pbm22. Answered on 2nd April 2022

Full question

I've made Nigella's Lemon Tendercake several times and have enjoyed it a lot. I've been curious lately if it would be possible to replace the lemon with oranges to make an orange cake - would there have to be a significant change in the rest of the recipe or would just changing the fruits be fine by itself?

Image of Nigella's Lemon Tendercake — Photo by Jonathan Lovekin

Lemon Tendercake with Blueberry Compote

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Lemon Tendercake With Blueberry Compote (from AT MY TABLE) is a vegan cake that has a light and fluffy texture. The cake is scented with lemon, though the flavour is not that pronounced.

We suspect that it would be possible to use oranges instead of lemons in the cake itself, as it is the zest of the fruits that provides most of the flavour. Seville oranges would be ideal when they are in season (or if you have some stashed in the freezer). If you are using sweet oranges then you may like to use 2 tablespoons of orange juice and a tablespoon of lemon juice just to increase the sharpness of the juice slightly and stop the cake from being too sweet. Otherwise, you should not need to make any other major changes as the combination of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and baking powder should mean that the cake will still rise even with slightly less acidic orange juice. If your oranges are large then you will probably only need the zest of 1 1/2 oranges. For the compote you can use orange or lemon juice, as you prefer, though the sharpness of lemon juice can help to bring out the flavour of the blueberries. However, as we have not tried the Tendercake with oranges, we are unable to guarantee the results.