Orange Dreamsicle Cake
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Orange dreamsicle cake is a light, luscious cloud of angel food cake filled with a creamy orange mousse, and iced with orange buttercream. It’s a lovely spring or summer dessert. With its refreshing citrus and vanilla flavor, this cake is reminiscent of an old fashioned creamsicle or dreamsicle ice cream bar.

This orange dreamsicle cake was my dad’s favorite. Every year, mom would make it for his birthday, and after my parents got divorced, I’d make it for him. Memories of how delicious it is have filled my head with orange flavored dreams for years! (This post was originally published on April 15th, 2014 )
If you love orange, you’ll really going to love this cake! It’s also the perfect dessert for to accompany Easter dinner. The original recipe comes from her 1957 Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous Eating Places Cookbook.
The little cookbooks were given away by the Ford Motor Company, maybe as a promotion? It features recipes from restaurants all over the country. This recipe was from Port’s Tea Room & Coffee Shop in St. Paul, Minnesota.
There are three components to this orange dreamsicle cake recipe. Each of the components can be made a day or two ahead. Then the cake can be assembled the day you plan to serve it.
- a plain angel food cake.
- an orange filling made with homemade orange curd and whipped cream filling.
- homemade orange buttercream.
For a lighter, lower calorie dessert
Feel free to skip the orange buttercream if you prefer a lighter dessert and just finish the cake using the filling as the “frosting.”
Homemade angel food cake
The following recipe is for a basic angel food cake with it is the basis for this dessert. If you want to save time, use a store-bought angel food cake and just prepare the orange buttercream and orange filling. You could also use the filling and frosting to dress up a store bought pound cake, your favorite white cake mix, or a plain vanilla layer cake. It’s the filling and frosting are what really make this cake fantastic!
Ingredients for angel food cake
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar divided
- 12 egg whites
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
How to make the angel food cake
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the sugar, set aside.
- In a large bowl of your stand mixer, whip the egg whites at high speed, until soft peaks form.
- Add the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, and continue whipping until medium stiff peaks form.
- Gradually add the remaining sugar, while continuing to whip whites to stiff peaks.
- After stiff peaks form, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not over-mix. Pour the cake batter into at 10″ Tube Pan, gently smoothing top of the cake with an offset spatula.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Flip the tube pan upside down and allow to cool completely.
- When cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a plate. Wrap with plastic wrap and store at room temperature until ready to assemble.
- Angel food cake can be made a day in advance.
Ingredients for orange filling
This filling has fresh orange zest and is similar to a mock mousse, with a homemade orange curd filling folded into homemade whipped cream. You can save time by using a store-bought Orange Curd and just folding it into the whipped cream.
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Juice and zest two oranges
- 1 pint heavy cream
How to make the orange filling
- Combine all the ingredients, except for the heavy cream, in the top of a double boiler.
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, about 7 to 8 minutes, or until mixture coats the back of a spoon.
- When thick, remove and cool. Place curd in an ice bath to speed up the process.
- Meanwhile in an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, on medium speed, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Carefully scrape down sides of bowl.
- When cool, gently fold orange curd into whipped cream.
- Chill in an airtight container until ready to assemble the cake
Tip! If you don’t own a double boiler, place a slightly smaller saucepan inside a larger one filled with boiling water.
Orange buttercream ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest
Making the orange buttercream
- Beat butter in a mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add sugar, vanilla, juice and zest and continue mixing at low speed until blended.
Assembling the orange dreamsicle cake
- Cut the cake into thirds.
- Divide the filling between the layers.
- Fill the center hole with remaining orange cream filling. Smooth any filling around the cake.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with orange any remaining orange filling. For a lighter dessert, skip the buttercream!
- Chill before finishing with orange buttercream.
- Decorate top of the frosted cake with fresh orange blossoms and orange slices.
For a true old fashioned dreamsicle dessert, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Looking for more orange desserts?
Try this delicious Orange Cake recipe using a whole orange.
Orange Dreamsicle Cake
Ingredients
Angel Food Cake
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar divided
- 12 egg whites
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Orange Cream Filling
- 1 cup sugar 6.5 ounces
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 medium oranges zest and juice (about
- 16 ounces heavy whipping cream
Orange Buttercream
- 3 cups powdered sugar 10 ounces
- 8 ounces unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest
Instructions
Angel Food Cake
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the sugar, set aside.
- In a large bowl, whip the egg whites, until soft peaks form.
- Add the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, and continue whipping until medium stiff peaks form. Gradually add the remaining sugar, while continuing to whip whites to stiff peaks.
- After stiff peaks form, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not overmix. Put the batter into at 10″ tube pan.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Flip the tube pan upside down and allow to cool completely. When cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a plate. While cake is baking, make orange filling and butercream.
Orange Filling
- Combine sugar, eggs, flour orange juice and zest, in the top of a double boiler.
- Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
- When thick, remove and cool. Place curd in an ice bath to speed up the process.
- While orange curd is cooling, whip cream until stiff peaks form.
- When curd is cool, gently fold curd into whipped cream.
Orange Buttercream
- In a stand mixer, beat butter in a mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add sugar, vanilla, juice and zest and continue mixing until blended.
Assembling the cake
- To assemble cake, cut into thirds. Divide orange filling between layers, filling center hole and smoothing excess around cake.
- Frost cake with orange buttercream.
Looooooving these flavors Cynthia! I wish I had a slice of this right now 😛 (instead of the spoonful of almond butter I’m currently eating!)
This may sound NUTS but … I have NEVER EVER had angel food cake before in my life! 😮
Really? Wow! I love angel food cake!
This looks heavenly! Wish I could reach through this screen and grab a slice!
An orange version sounds so wonderful!! What a great idea!
This cake looks so heavenly! I sure wish I had a slice right now!
The orange frosting is so refreshing!
This is a beautiful dessert! I will be making this especially for my mom! She loves these flavors!
I love the idea of dressing up Angel food cake with a buttercream instead just powdered sugar. So delicious!
It’s truly a light and lovely dessert!
Yum, looks delicious! I have always been intimidated by angel food cake.
If you’re intimidated, try using a store-bought cake the first time and just make the mousse and buttercream…shhhh! I won’t tell anyone!
awesome recipe..saved and shared on my social media accounts..In addition to face book i just followd you on Twitter..Regards and best wishes
thank you!
This looks so delicious!!
Does this cake require refridgeration or can it sit out on the counter?
Thanks!
It can sit out for awhile, but actually it doesn’t really last too long. I usually store whatever leftovers there are on the counter for a day or two.
I really like orange in a cake as it’s such a delicate flavour, this looks so light! I would love a slice!
thank you!
very nice recipe thank you for shearing keep it up.
Hi Cynthia,
Definitely going to try in this weekend! I think, my family would love it. What is the substitute of vanilla extract?
Hmmm? Do you mean you can’t use vanilla? I can’t think of something. Or are you talking about vanilla bean paste or a vanilla bean?
Such a great idea about the orange cream angel food cake thanks sharing this article
This is a beautiful dessert! I will be making this especially for my mom! She loves these flavors!
oh! So happy! My dad’s favorite!
My dad’s favorite cake too!
Absolutely delightful cake! Scrumptious!
Thank you so much!
Oh my goodness that looks amazing! I think I’ll try making this for Valentine’s dessert! That lovely tea cup would be perfectly paired with this!
Looks so good! Making this cake for my tea party. Hope to serve one of my guests tea in the beautiful tea cup! #Enter
this is the perfect cake for a tea party!
This was AMAZING! I did cheat and buy an angel food cake though! I made this for valentines dessert and EVERYONE loved it!! I will definitely make this in the summer again. This is going on repeat! Kettle or Aprons. Thank you Cynthia for this recipe, I love so much that it’s your mom’s recipe as well!
I love angel food cake. This looks delicious, can’t wait to make it. Thanks