Orange flavor dominates this cake, which also features an orange-lemon icing and a layer of nuts and crunch baked right in.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 1 2-layer 9-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup orange juice
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- 1 (16 ounce) can prepared vanilla frosting
- 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
- 3 tablespoons grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9-inch pans. Combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, walnuts, and butter. Divide mixture evenly between the prepared pans. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together cake mix, water, orange juice, and oil until blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in orange zest. Pour mixture evenly over crunch layer in the pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. Frost (crunch-side up) between layers, on top and sides. Arrange mandarin orange segments on top; refrigerate.
- To make frosting: In a medium bowl, beat vanilla frosting until light and fluffy; mix in whipped topping. Stir in orange and lemon zest. Use frosting on completely cooled cake layers.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 773 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 94 g |
| Cholesterol | 81 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Sodium | 606 mg |
| Sugars | 65 g |
| Fat | 42 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made changes as suggested by settlindown. Awesome cake!
Oh, yes, some changes. Don’t let it bother you. 😉 One cup orange juice, no water; 1t orange extract instead of zest; no nuts. ‘Really thought I’d have a gc crust-like action going on, but it was rather chewy. If again, white sugar & gc crust amounts. It also made cake too sweet. As for frosting, added 1/2t orange extract & some thawed frozen oj concentrate to m’buttercream. That was some good frostingggg! Subtle, but effective orange flavored cake. ‘Did the job with orange jelly beans on top for Quarantine Easter 2020.
Very delicious cake. I used sliced almonds which I chopped instead of walnuts. I did double to crunch layer because it wasn’t enough.
Very good, super easy cake. The crunch is what makes it special. I opted to frost it with cream cheese icing 2 on this site. Will definitely bake it again.
Made the cake per the recipe. Made cream cheese frosting with orange zest vs the frosting recipe provided. Turned out amazing. Froze leftovers in individual slices for quick dessert. Excellent.
Instead of the vanilla frosting I used cream cheese frosting. I also added crushed and drained mandarin oranges to the frosting and a pinch of salt. In addition I used french vanilla cake mix instead of the yellow cake mix. Either way this cake would be amazing!! Try your favorite twist.
I’m going to give this a 5 star rating because I believe it would have been great if I would have followed the recipe exactly. I used cinnamon graham crackers and didn’t have walnuts so I substituted another 1/2 cup of graham crackers instead. I was in a hurry and realized I forgot the cool whip about 1/4 of the way through frosting so the cake didn’t get the correct frosting. Since I had so much orange juice I substituted some for the oil and I had a ton of mandarin oranges so I decorated it heavily with them. The cake ended up a little too sweet/rich but otherwise very good. This cake would probably be best with a liberal amount of orange zest instead of the oranges. If you use oranges, dry them well before topping!
This came out just like the one we got at Sanibel Island at the bubble room .
This cake is amazing! I made it for a party and it was a great hit!!
I love the idea of this recipe. The crunch layer is delicious, but I hate using boxed cake. I use the Beat and Bake Orange Cake from this site and together with this crunch layer it is to die for! This is my fancy cake I make for special occasions. I have received countless compliments. Far a wow garnish, I candy some orange peel (blanch peel, then simmer in simple syrup until translucent, let air dry and then toss with sugar).
This is an excellent cake when made with a cream cheese frosting. The whipped topping is not to my liking. Use 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 3 T orange peel, 1 T lemon peel, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 2 cups powdered sugar. Combine all ingredients and beat until fluffy. It goes great with chocolate shavings on top. It is very moist. I make it in a 9×13 pan.
Amazingly good! Tastes just like the cake they serve at the Bubble Room in Captiva, FL. A bit more work than some cakes, but well worth it. Trust me this cake is always a huge hit with everyone!
Will definitely be making this again. The cake and crunch layer were really great. I think next time I will use 1 c. OJ in place of the 1/2c OJ 1/2c water because it would have been better with a little more orange flavor in the cake. The frosting was impossible to work with and just dripped off the cake. I think it would be fab with the cream cheese frosting recipe, as suggested by several other users (1/2 cup softened unsalted butter 8oz softened cream cheese 1 tsp. vanilla 2 cups sifted 10x sugar 1 tsp. orange juice 1/2 tsp grated orange peel.)
This is my all time favorite cake! I agree with settlindown about the changes to make the Bubble Room version. Until I knew how to make it, I used to make my sister buy me a slice while on her vacation and bring it back to Orlando for me. I use sliced almonds instead of walnuts for the crunch layer and use the cream cheese frosting just as “settlindown” outlined… 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter 8oz softened cream cheese 1 tsp. vanilla 2 cups sifted 10x sugar 1 tsp. orange juice 1/2 tsp grated orange peel. I use 1 ½ times frosting for a two layer and double the frosting for the traditional 3 layer. I also use 1 1/2 times the amount for the crunch layer and pack it firmly with the bottom of a glass. This seems to keep it from crumbling when frosting. I noticed this time I used hand squeezed OJ (Valencia oranges) and the flavor didn’t seem as orange. I really like orange and preferred it better when I used the processed OJ but was able to compensate by using a bit more orange peel. Love, love, love this cake!!!! My photo is the one with the sliced almonds around the sides.
This is the BEST cake recipe ever! I have had the Orange Crunch Cake from the Bubble Room at Captiva many times and this is quite a bit like it but even BETTER! I made it for the first time yesterday for Thanksgiving and everyone wanted the recipe. The cake at the Bubble Room is either 3 or 4 layers so I made my 3 layers. For the crunch I made 1 1/2 times the recipe. I followed another persons suggestions and used almonds in place of the walnuts. I also made it with the cream cheese frosting. This isn’t the exact frosting that the Bubble Room uses but it is so delicious! I might try the vanilla frosting the next time. I also doubled the amount of frosting. I was so thrilled to find almost the exact recipe as the Bubble Room says this is their most popular cake. DELICIOUS!!!
Am I the only one that had trouble here? I followed the instructions to prepare the pans before putting in the crunch layer and then the cake. When it was time to invert from the pans, it turned into a disaster!! The crunch layer and about 1/4 of the cake stuck to the pan. I haven’t frosted it yet but I’m hoping that when I do, the frosting will hide how horrible it looks.
Excellent recipe, made it for a family get together and it was a big hit. Will make this one again.
This was good, but next time I’d make it as a coffee cake using the crunch filling in the center of a bundt type cake and drizzling a cream cheese icing on top. Cake had great flavor – I took others’ suggestions and added 1 t. orange extract. I used the cream cheese icing from the site which was okay (too sweet for me). This would make good cupcakes too, with the crunch as a filling. I’d make this again, but not as a layer cake.
This cake did not rate 5 stars in our house. Sorry, but the only really tasty part was the crunch, which we liked a lot. The cake itself tasted like a box-cake and the icing was not good. The orange flavor was nice. Next time, because I like the crunch, I will do the cake from scratch and use the cream cheese icing from this site which is delicious. But thank you for the recipe.
One of my favorite recipes on this site…. I follow this recipe exactly only substituting crean cheese frosting for the vanilla. I also make sure that the can of frosting is refrigerated a good couple of hours before starting to make the frosting, that way its easier to frost the cake. I also line the round cake pans with parchment paper then, butter and flour the sides of them. It always gets eaten within 2 days! Great Cake!
Mmmmm. This is a yummy cake. I made as directed and would not change a single thing. Thanks for sharing!!!