Orange Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

I really wanted cake yesterday, but came up short on some of the usual ingredients - namely butter and eggs. Thank goodness for the internet. I found a recipe for a vegan orange cake and decided to give it a go. I'm not vegan (I love bacon and honey too much), but I can really get behind this cake. It tastes fantastic, it's surprisingly easy, and, given the price of eggs and butter, it's budget friendly. Tasty, easy, and cheap - this may be my new favorite dessert.

I realize that the cream cheese glaze negates the vegan-ness of this dish, but you could remedy that by thinning some marmalade with a little hot water and using it instead.

Orange Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

serves 10

adapted from the kitchn

Cake

makes two 9-inch rounds

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 orange, zested

2 cups orange juice

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 T apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 T powdered sugar

Juice from half an orange

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and orange zest.

In another bowl mix the orange juice, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix just until you no longer see big dry patches of flour.

Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 20 minutes before running a knife around the edge and turning out onto a cooling rack.

While the cakes cool make the glaze by whisking the softened cream cheese just until it becomes fluffy. Add the sugar and orange juice and whisk until thoroughly combined. If you need to thin out the glaze add a little more orange juice.

Glaze the cake while still warm making sure to pour a little bit of the glaze between the layers.