26 Easy Orange Desserts

Everyone loves a great dessert, and orange is one of the greatest dessert flavorings there is. It’s endlessly versatile – you can combine it with chocolate, other fruit, syrup, and a million other things.

Amazing desserts are the results of these combinations, and this is the article to read if you want to get the definitive list of what the best ones are.

So, whether you’re looking for a dessert to make for yourself or a dinner party, or are just looking out of curiosity, here are the desserts you want to see.

Orange Pound Cake

We’ll start off with something nice and simple: orange pound cake. Pound cake is a straightforward classic, and it takes minimal effort to put one together. It uses both the juice and the zest of the oranges. Fresh fruit is definitely better to use than store-bought juice here, though that will also do in a pinch.

The bright citrus flavour is enhanced with cinnamon, cranberries, walnuts, and almonds to make it lightly spiced and wonderfully nutty. Don’t worry, though, the orange will still shine through.

Citrus And Pomegranate Fruit Salad

If you want a lighter and healthier way to enjoy your orange, then look no further than this recipe. The strong natural flavours, the cool crispness, and the bright colours of the fruit mixture mean that this is the perfect dessert to serve on a hot summer’s day.

It would even work as a breakfast dish if you’re the kind of person who likes to start the day with fruit. It also includes pomegranate seeds and grapefruit for a wonderful, zingy taste.

Easy orange desserts don’t come much simpler – or tastier – than this.

Do you love the fragrant tartness that Pomegranate brings to dishes? Here are some more recipe ideas.

Dark Chocolate Orange Slice & Bake Cookies

Now we are pretty sure that there is nobody that doesn’t love cookies. More importantly, after you bake up a batch of these cookies, there’ll be nobody that doesn’t love you.

This recipe uses orange zest to impart a great orange flavour to the cookies, along with a rich chocolate sauce. This is true luxury.

The cookies themselves are deliciously chewy on the inside and once you eat one, you won’t be able to help reaching for another. There’s also a nice bit of cinnamon and vanilla in the mix to add some extra flavour in the background.

Are you a fellow chocoholic? If the answer is yes, check out our Easy Chocolate Desserts ideas.

Orange, Apple, And Peanut Butter Cake

Orange is friends with all kinds of other fruit, so there’s no reason not to let it play with apples in a dessert. Like this one, for example. This is actually a fairly simple cake, but it has an incredible flavour thanks to that orange and apple mixture, combined with the peanut butter.

Peanut butter is another one thing everyone loves, right? There’s also a bit of rum essence in the mix too. It isn’t too alcoholic, but provides a bit of a sun-kissed Caribbean vibe to things.

Milk Chocolate And Beetroot Cake With Ombre Icing

Hold on, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that that title doesn’t seem to have orange in it, aren’t you? Well, you’re right, it doesn’t. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s no orange in the cake, because there is.

You may have seen the word ombre in the title, and in this case, it refers to the thin ganache that fades into orange ricotta cream. That’s right, orange.

That means you’ll need orange zest for the cream, but the beetroot also adds an exquisite earthiness to the cake as well. This is an interesting, creative dessert that none of your guests will have tried before. And all that beetroot goodness means it’s comparatively healthy as well.

This recipe is a bit more work than some of the others, but this is one of our easy orange desserts that is worth that little extra effort.

Love fruit, but want to try something a bit different? Take a look at our Mulberry Recipes for a new twist on fruit.

Cinnamon Drizzle Cake With Candied Orange

If you’re worrying about candying the orange, don’t – it’s very easy. If you really don’t want to, you can always buy candied oranges. Even without the candied orange, the cake is a delightfully spiced creation that’s rich with cinnamon flavour.

The recipe also includes almond meal, which has been shown to have benefits for your cholesterol and is very nutritious. Almost as good as serving your guests this cake is then telling them about how healthy it is.

Orange isn’t the only citrus that works well candied. See here for a lovely Candied Grapefruit Recipe.

Sticky Orange Olive Oil Baked Donuts

If you want a vegan orange dessert for yourself, here you are. Tastes vary, but donuts are so widely beloved that it’s hard to imagine this going wrong. These are moist, fluffy, and light, so don’t worry about them being stodgy.

You might also be wondering about the oil. Doesn’t olive oil have a strong taste? It does, but that actually goes very nicely with these donuts. If you don’t want to taste it, you can use a lighter oil.

If you go for extra virgin olive oil, the taste will be stronger. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but it’s something to keep in mind.

The recipe also includes apple cider vinegar for some pleasant extra tartness, and a wonderful, sticky glaze made from fresh orange juice and powdered sugar.

Looking for dairy-free dessert inspiration? Help it at hand.

Orange Hot Chocolate

Can a drink be a dessert? Why not? Easy orange desserts come in all shapes and sizes. For the purposes of this list, it definitely can, and anyway, this one’s more than sweet enough. The secret to this recipe is to use the zest of a whole orange, combining it with the milk when you heat it.

Aside from that, you can either follow the rest of the recipe or do whatever you do when you make hot chocolate.

Lots of people tend to have their own ways of making a hot chocolate extra special. Maybe you’ll add mini marshmallows, wafers, or even whiskey! However you do it, that lovely orange taste will come through to make it extra delicious.

Does the mention of chocolate and whiskey get you thinking of cocktails? We have some belters for you to try.

Ambrosia Salad

If you’re immediately suspicious at reading the word “salad” in a list of desserts, I can’t blame you. However, calling this a salad is stretching the definition of salad a very, very long way, and I can promise you it’s nothing like the green salad you had for lunch.

Instead, this is a very creamy fruit salad that’s loaded with all kinds of fruit. Oranges are among them, of course, but it doesn’t end there – coconut, pineapple, and even mini marshmallows all have a role to play.

Ambrosia was the food of the gods in the Ancient Greek myths. I’m not sure if Zeus ever ate any pineapples, but even he would have liked this dessert.

Chocolate Orange Fudge

There are only two main ingredients here – condensed milk and orange flavoured chocolate. That’s it. Everything else – like sprinkles to decorate the fudge – is optional.

It’s also very easy to make as the microwave will do most of the work. All this time saved will give you more time to think about decorating your fudge or adding other extras. Sprinkles are a good call, and you might even be able to have fun with some different designs.

This is also one of those treats that no one gets too excited about, but everyone can eat a plateful of. Just try it and see if we’re right.

If you’re got a party coming up or another kind of event to organise, take a look at what Cracker Barrel Catering can do for you.

Orange Panna Cotta

“Panna cotta” is Italian for “cooked cream” but this is a gluten-free, no bake dessert that tastes deliciously of orange. It looks beautiful served in a glass and has a flavour to match.

Making it isn’t a difficult task, but it does mean you’ll need some agar-agar powder, which you might not have already. You shouldn’t have trouble buying it in a store or online, though.

You’ll also need a healthy amount of fresh orange juice, as this gives a wonderful fresh flavour to this classy dessert. When it’s done, your guests will be impressed, and you won’t be sure whether to tell them how easy it all was.

Panna cotta is such a classic Italian dessert. Here are our top Italian Restaurants in Melbourne.

Sicilian Whole Orange Cake

If any would-be Sherlock Holmes’ are reading this, then yes, you’ve deduced correctly – you will be using an entire orange for this recipe! That includes not just the zest and the juice, but the pulp as well.

This lovely cake is ideal for any occasion but is best used to impress visitors, or to relax with over a cup of tea or coffee. The texture of the cake is quite dense and heavy.

It’s different to what you might expect from a cake usually, but definitely in a good way. The incredible orange juice glaze that goes over the top of the cake at the end can also be cooked a little longer if you like. Doing it this way turns it into a syrup that will harden when it cools on the cake.

If this sounds good to you, feel free to do it that way. You can also do a version of this cake with a lemon rather than an orange.

Feel like eating Italian tonight? Have a look at our Sydney Italian Restaurants guide.

Cranberry Orange Scones

These delicious dessert scones could also be eaten for breakfast, if you can’t resist that wonderful flavour until dinner time.

The crunchy outside goes so well with the soft, chewy inside and the bright citrus burst of the orange goes so well with the cranberries to bring these scones to life. It’s also backed up with more citrus by way of the amazing glaze that finishes the scones off. Delicious.

Love a scone but have issues with gluten? Then see our Gluten Free Grain Free Scone Recipes

Classy Orange Eton Mess

While Eton mess is a delicious dessert in its own right, it doesn’t usually have any orange in it. Don’t worry, though, because orange lovers have now got a version just for them.

It’s a pretty simple one to make, too, and won’t take a lot of time. Despite that, it looks suitably colourful and impressive to serve at a dinner party.

Have you ever thought of growing your own oranges? See here for some advice to get you started.

Cranberry-Orange Pie

If you’re a real fan of sour fruits, then this pie should be right up your alley. It makes a nice change from the standard apple pie, too.

The orange filling includes a generous dose of cream cheese, which makes the pie wonderfully rich and creamy. The cinnamon, cloves, and ginger are there to back it up and the combination of these spices with the flavours of the fruits are just perfect.

You can save this pie in the fridge if you want, but it tastes best the day it’s made. You can, if you wish, take this as an excuse to have a second slice!

Easy Orange Liqueur Cake

This recipe is great and an obvious winner amongst our easy orange desserts. This is because it allows you to use a store-bought cake mix and make some changes so that it becomes unrecognisable and incredible.

The recipe calls for either Curaçao or Triple Sec, and it helps to form a heady mixture of flavours with orange juice, zest, and pecans. It’s another very simple recipe, and you won’t need much in the way of technique to make these ingredients sing.

We’ll let you decide whether to tell your guests that the amazing cake they’re enjoying is based on a packet mix because we promise that they’ll never guess it themselves.

In the mood for a sweet tipple? Perhaps one of our Baileys-based cocktails will hit the spot?

Ginger Cookie Sandwiches With Orange Buttercream

These cookies might look delicate and dainty, but that doesn’t mean they don’t taste incredible. They are amongst our most memorable easy orange desserts.

They’re packed with sweet, zesty orange flavour from the remarkable buttercream that holds the two pieces together. The cinnamon and ginger in the cookie parts goes so well with this that you’ll definitely end up eating more than you planned to!

You can also change this into a vegan recipe by using non-dairy butter and a flax egg in place of that butter and egg that the recipe calls for.

Need a Guide to the Best Vegan and Vegetarian Eating Options? We can help.

Orange Creamsicle Pie

What looks like a cheesecake, tastes like an orange, but isn’t either? An orange creamsicle pie, of course!

Unlike a lot of orange desserts, this one includes orange marmalade, which is a fun, creative way to add a delicious orange flavour to a dish. It also has orange jelly, which is an unusual but effective way of packing the orange flavour in.

Whipped cream and orange slices finish off the pie to make a dessert that looks just as good as it tastes.

There are a lot of jelly-based desserts in Filipino cooking. Take a look at our post for some suggestions.

Almond Orange Florentines

Florentines get their name from the Italian city of Florence, and if you want a dessert to bring you the taste of that sweet, Tuscan sunshine, these are your best bet.

They’re quick, simple, and need only four ingredients to make – egg whites, confectioners’ sugar, sliced almonds, and orange zest. The thin cookies will have a delightful bite to them when they’re done, and they also work really well alongside a cup of your favourite tea or coffee.

We love these easy orange desserts half-dipped in dark chocolate for an extra special treat.

Stephensons Catering are a catering supplies company based in the north of England. Whether you need chaffing dishes to keep food warm or cutlery, Stephensons can help

Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake

Our list of easy orange desserts has quite a few brilliant shortcuts to help you cut corners – not taste.

Here’s another dessert that allows you to spruce up an ordinary yellow cake mix from a box.

You’ll be putting the zest of an orange in with that cake mix to take its flavour to a new level, but that’s not all. The glaze is technically optional, but we’d advise you not to skip it, as it really heightens that great orange flavour, as well as giving the cake a nice, shiny look.

French Orange Tart

Personally, I believe no run-down of easy orange desserts is complete without a tart recipe.

This dessert is perfect for a chilly autumn or winter night.

It uses a delicious sweet shortcrust pastry as its base. That all-important orange flavour is supplied by the juice and zest of three large oranges, so you can be sure there’s no absence of orange here.

You can garnish it with pieces of fresh orange, too, if you want to get that artistic presentation completely on point. Either way, it’ll still taste great.

Do you adore French cuisine, but lack the skill to cook it? Why not visit one of these French Restaurants in Sydney instead.

Orange Chiffon Cake

If you love a dessert that’s fluffy, airy, and full of orange flavour, then this is the one for you.

The secret special ingredient in this dessert is cardamom. While it’s not typically used in Western desserts (or Western cooking in general), it’s in plenty of sweet treats in India. It brings a pleasant, pine-like spice, aroma, and flavour to this elegant cake.

As it’s a chiffon cake, you’ll need a chiffon cake pan for it to get that authentic chiffon cake shape and texture. For the right kind of cake pan and more, click here.

Chocolate Orange Truffle Tart

Chocolate and orange are a time honored combination for a good reason – they suit each other perfectly.

Aside from orange zest, the filling gets its orange flavour from the addition of Grand Marnier, a wonderful French creation that’s a combination of orange liqueur and cognac.

Don’t worry if you don’t have it though, as other orange liqueurs can be substituted – Cointreau or Curaçao for instance.

Whatever liqueur you use, this is an irresistible mixture of rich chocolate with the brightness of orange citrus.

Does the talk of liqueurs make to thirsty for a cocktail. Why not try one of these Rooftop Bars in Brisbane?

Refreshing Orange Sorbet

Can there be a more refreshing dessert than sorbet? This orange version will make you think of warm summer nights and holidays as you eat it. What’s more, it couldn’t be easier to make – all you need is water, orange juice, and some sugar.

You can even serve it in scooped out orange halves to make it look suitably impressive for when you serve it to your guests.

Easy orange desserts don’t come any more refreshing than this!

Did you know that you can also make sorbet in an Ice Cream Maker? For more information and prices, click here.

Caramelized Oranges

This is another straightforward recipe that’s spiced up a little by some, well, spice (cinnamon, to be specific). All you really need to do here is cook the orange slices in the mixture of sugar and spice until the caramelisation is complete.

It’s a fairly quick process, so this is one dessert you can have ready at the drop of a hat if need be. You can eat them on their own, or even add them to other desserts. They look great as the topping on a cake, for example.

This is a fabulous inclusion on our easy orange desserts list as you can also make these and add them to other, plainer desserts for added excitement.

All this talk of spice make me think of our Christmas Dessert Recipes.

Creamy Orange Mousse

Whipped cream, sugar, and orange juice are the main building blocks of this wonderfully creamy treat. There’s also a healthy dose of vanilla in there to bulk out the flavour.

And it would be a waste not to use the orange zest, right? Well, have no fear, because that’s in there too. Garnish it with a slice of orange, and you have a top of the line dessert, just like that!

Got a hand of bananas going brown and wondering what to do with them? See our Banana Dessert Recipes.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, a list of 26 sumptuous orange flavoured desserts. Working your way through this list will undoubtedly take a bit of time, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun to try!