This Orange and Cinnamon Swirl Loaf Cake is one of those everyday cakes with a little bit of added fancy and a frisson of anticipation.
Cinnamon Swirl Loaf
I am always slightly nervous about slicing into this loaf cake – will there be a swirl at all? Have I gone too far and mixed everything together and made cinnamon cake? Sometimes the swirl is simply glorious but, usually, it is a bit average like the one you see today.
The beauty is that it tastes fabulous whether you have a successful whirl or none at all! If you present your cake as cinnamon and orange cake and slice into it to reveal a perfect swirl, you can bask in the oohs and ahs of your delighted guests. If it turns out to look a little underwhelming, they need never know!
I rather liked this one because it looks very much as if it is smiling at us!
Make a Cinnamon Swirl Cake – Tips and Tricks
For a full, printable recipe please scroll to the bottom of this post. If you’d like a few more hints and tips, read on!
I adapted this recipe from my reliable and easy lemon loaf cake. That particular cake is the one I, and some of my grown up children, make the most often so it makes sense to use the base recipe when it works so well! I always have the ingredients to hand, they are super easy to source and there are no unusual additions to stop you in your tracks.
For more information on the mechanics and joys of vegan baking do check out my Vegan Sponge Cake and my Dairy Free Cupcakes where I go into more detail about the ins and outs of dairy free and egg free baking.
Here are my tips and tricks to make this cake a breeze to make – it can be in your oven within 15 minutes!
- Use a bought loaf tin liner to save time measuring and cutting baking parchment. Lakeland always stock them and I bought my current batch in Tesco.
- Making vegan buttermilk for this cake is straightforward. Simply add orange juice to soya milk (oat milk and almond are also fine to use) and leave it to stand for about 5 minutes. It will turn slightly lumpy and thicker and is then ready to use.
- Use a skewer or a fork to lightly swirl the cinnamon layer into the cake layers. You really are working in the dark here and it is far better to do less swirling than to over do it. You don’t want to knock all the air out of your cake.
Please note that the crack you can see in my cake is because it has been out of its tin to cool and has been popped back into it for photographs. This is, obviously, not how a cake should be treated and it shouldn’t be dropped either. It had a bit of a strop and cracked up. I apologised then ate it. Delicious with or without a crack!
Decorating a Loaf Cake
It is not compulsory to decorate any cake, my family are particularly fond of an unadulterated loaf. However, I do think a little orange glacé icing and a sprinkling of orange zest are a welcome addition here.
You could also:
- cover it in orange buttercream – replace the lemon in my lemon buttercream recipe with orange and you’re good to go.
- sieve a snowy coating of icing sugar over it
- top it with candied citrus peel
- glaze it with some warmed apricot conserve and then top it with halved orange slices.
I might make it again now to try all those toppings!
If You Are In A Vegan Baking Mood
You might also like:
- Coffee and Walnut Loaf Cake
- Carrot Cake
- Granny’s Sticky Ginger Cake
- Chocolate and Hazelnut Cupcakes
- Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake
Orange and Cinnamon Swirl Loaf Cake
Equipment
- 1 2lb loaf tin
- 1 non stick loaf tin liner or use baking paper cut to size
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Large bowl
- 1 Measuring Jug
- 1 large metal spoon
- 1 small bowl
- 1 wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 250 ml soya milk you can use oat or almond milk instead
- 1 orange juice and zest
- 250 g self raising flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 125 g caster sugar
- pinch salt
- 100 ml flavourless vegetable oil rapeseed or sunflower are good
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g soft brown sugar
- 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tbsp icing sugar for icing (optional)
- 1 extra orange for decorating (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
- Add 1.5 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice to the milk and leave to stand for about 5 minutes until curdled and lumpy.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl.
- Add the caster sugar, orange zest and salt and stir to combine.
- Add the oil and vanilla to the milk mixture and pour into the flour mixture. Fold in, gently, with a metal spoon until combined. Don't worry if there are a few small lumps.
- Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together in a separate small bowl. Add 4 tbsps of the cake mixture and stir to combine.
- Spoon half the remaining cake mixture into your prepared tin, top with the cinnamon and sugar mixture and gently level the surface. Top with the remaining cake mixture and level gently again.
- Use a skewer or fork to gently swirl the mixture.
- Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown. Test if it’s cooked by pushing a skewer into the centre, if it comes out clean it is ready.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cake is completely cool make the icing. Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and add orange juice a little at a time until you have a spooning consistency. You won't need much liquid. If you add too much just add a bit more icing sugar until you have the right consistency.
- Place the cake and its cooling rack over a baking tray and drizzle the cake with the icing. Sprinkle with a little orange zest and serve.
This sounds delicious. Can I check is it really 3 tablespoons of cinnamon?
Yes, it is! You can use less if you like, I love a good cinnamon flavour!