Mandarin Orange Angel Food Cake is incredibly moist, bursting with citrus flavor, and the easiest cake you’ll ever make. All you need are 5 minutes and 2 simple ingredients. It's a great cake for special occasions, casual summer parties, and church picnics.
If you love a good angel food cake mix recipe, be sure to try Lemon Angel Food Cake Roll and Heaven on Earth Cake next!
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When I need a last-minute dessert, I turn to this mandarin orange cake recipe. It's such a delicious cake—soft and moist, light and airy, and filled with juicy little bits of mandarin oranges.
And it's shockingly easy to make: just combine cake mix and a can of mandarin oranges, pour it into a tube pan, and bake. That's it. I like to serve it with fresh fruit and a dollop of Orange Whipped Ricotta or Cool Whip.
🍊Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Angel food boxed cake mix. You'll need one box of angel food cake mix -- the "just add water" kind, but don't follow the mixing directions on the box -- you're not going to add any water.
- Mandarin oranges in water. One 15-ounce can of mandarin oranges in water replaces the water called for on the box, so don't drain the oranges.
🍰Variations
- For even more mandarin orange flavor, add a little bit of fresh mandarin zest or orange zest to the batter.
- Make a layered mandarin orange cake! Cut the baked cake in half horizontally to create two layers. Spread each cake layer with your favorite frosting. This pineapple frosting would be delicious!
🥣How to Make Mandarin Orange Angel Food Cake
Step 1: Place the cake mix and undrained mandarin oranges in a large bowl. Do not drain the oranges or add any water. Beat with an electric mixer for 30 seconds on low speed until combined, then on medium speed for one minute until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Pour batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan. Run a knife through the batter to remove any air bubbles.
Step 3: Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until the top is dark golden brown with dry cracks on top of the cake.
Step 4: Immediately turn the cake pan upside down on a cooling rack and let the cake cool completely in the pan, 1 ½ to 2 hours. Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake to gently loosen the cake from the pan.
🍓Angel Food Cake Topping Ideas
This mandarin cake recipe is so moist and full of fresh fruity flavor that it doesn't need much more than a dollop of whipped cream. But if you're looking for more delicious toppings, take a look at these angel food topping ideas like:
- Blueberry syrup
- Roasted strawberries
- Lemon curd
- Rhubarb sauce
- ... and more
🎁Storage
- Store mandarin orange angel food cake at room temperature for about one week wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container.
- Freeze angel food cake whole or in slices, wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and placed in a freezer-safe container.
✅Expert Tips
- Use the entire can of mandarin oranges with water -- do not drain.
- Do not add any water according to the angel food cake mix package instructions.
- After you pour the cake batter into the angel food cake pan, run a knife through the batter to remove any air bubbles.
- When making angel food cake, do not prepare the pan with cooking spray. An ungreased pan gives the cake batter something to "grab onto" as it rises.
❓Recipe FAQs
You can bake an angel food cake in an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Or, if you have a springform pan, you can try this hack with a sheet of parchment paper and a soda can. A bundt pan is not recommended because the cake can be difficult to remove from the intricately shaped pan.
Absolutely! Use two 9-inch loaf pans for one angel food cake recipe. When they come out of the oven, rest the loaf pans on their sides on a wire rack to keep the cakes from collapsing.
Yes! Angel food cake is the perfect cake to bake into cupcakes! Fill muffin cups about ¾ full so there is room for them to rise. One cake mix can make about 30 cupcakes.
The telltale signs that an angel food cake is done are that the top is dark brown and the cracks are dry.
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📖 Recipe
2-Ingredient Mandarin Orange Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
Orange Angel Food Cake
- 1 box angel food cake mix the "just add water" kind
- 1 15 oz. can mandarin oranges in water do not drain
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Move the middle oven rack to the bottom so there is plenty of room for your angel food cake pan.
- Add one box angel food cake mix and one 15 oz. can of mandarin oranges in water to a large mixing bowl. Do not drain the oranges or add any water according to the cake mix instructions.
- Beat with a stand or hand mixer for 30 seconds on low speed until cake ingredients are combined, then on medium speed for 1 minute, until batter is light and fluffy.
- Pour batter into an ungreased angel food cake tube pan. Run a knife through the cake batter to remove any air bubbles.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake the cake according to package instructions. The cake is done when the top is dark golden brown and has dry cracks on top of the cake.
- Remove from the oven and immediately turn the cake pan upside down. Let the cake cool completely for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Serve with fresh fruit and Whipped Ricotta or whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- Do not drain the oranges before adding them to the angel food cake mix.
- Do not add any water according to the angel food cake mix package instructions.
- After pouring the batter into the angel food cake pan, run a knife through it to remove any air bubbles.
Can you use any other type of canned fruit?
I know a lot of folks like to make this with crushed pineapple. I have also used thawed frozen strawberries in this recipe. I don't see why other canned fruit wouldn't work, but I haven't tried them myself. If you try something else, let me know! Cara
I have an angel food cake mix that requires adding water and egg whites. And flour..
Would that work for this recipe?
It's a Weis brand..
Hi, Debbie, I'm not familiar with that brand of angel food cake mix -- seems like you have to add pretty much everything, lol. The idea of this recipe is that you replace the water called for in a box mix with the oranges and liquid, so it might work since your mix requires adding water. But I can't say for sure as I haven't tried it. If you do, please let me know how it turns out.
why dont you grease the pan
Hi, Tonja, you don't grease the pan for angel food cakes because the batter needs to "grip" onto something so it can get nice and tall. For that reason, I also don't use nonstick angel food cake pans. Cara
Hi Cara,
Greetings from Baudette! Ive made this wonderful cake several times and it is always delicious. The last two times I’ve made it, however, after hanging it on a wine bottle, an inch or so falls off of the cake all the way around. Of course that fallen portion gets eaten immediately…but this is a tragedy if I wanted to present it and serve it. Any ideas of what’s happening? I am going to drink the wine now…
Hi, Linda! So nice to hear from you :). And hello to all the lovely people in Baudette <3. Eesh ... that is a tragedy! I'm so sorry, I've never encountered this before and I've made this cake a million times. A few things I can think of: 1. Make sure the batter is mixed well enough (but not overmixed, which can cause it to be dense); 2. After the batter is in the pan, run a knife through it to deflate any large air bubbles; 3. Ensure the cake is baked long enough; 4. Don't grease the pan; 5. Try holding back a little liquid since this keeps happening to you? One more thought -- I know it's not as pretty this way, but you can bake it in a couple of loaf pans and tip them on their sides to cool or in a 9 x 13 pan. I hope one of these helps! I'm so glad you've enjoyed this recipe in the past and I hope you will get it to work for you again. Cara
Thanks, Cara. Considering your comments, I’m thinking the liquid might be the problem, so I will cut it down a bit. Pretty confident that I got everything else right. Do you have a preference for the brand of cake mix?
Thanks again for your help. Linda
Of course! Betty Crocker is the brand I usually use. One other thought I had was if you're using a nonstick angel food cake pan? They can be slippery and don't provide a surface for the cake to cling to. I am not sure if the liquid is the culprit, but let me know what you try and how it turns out! Cara
I'm curious to know if you can substitute a vanilla cake mix for the angel food cake mix? Or will it just not bake right?
Hi, Angela, I haven't tried it, but now I am curious, too! I'm thinking it works with angel food cake mix because the mix only requires water, where other cake mixes usually need oil and eggs, too. HOWEVER, I just found a recipe where someone used yellow cake mix and a 20 oz. can of pineapple -- so maybe it works! Let me know if you try it and how it turns out -- and I'll do the same. Cara
Good Evening, Cara! So interesting that you referenced a cake with pineapple as I was wondering if pineapple could be substituted for the mandarins... Also, I would love that pineapple yellow cake recipe, as well, if it's handy! Many Thanks! Christina
Hi, Christina, yes, a can of undrained crushed pineapple should work just fine -- it was actually the inspiration behind this cake, as I wasn't feeling it for pineapple at the time, lol. As for the yellow cake recipe, I believe you just mix a box of yellow cake mix and a can of crushed pineapple with juices, mix, pour into 9 x 13 pan and bake according to the box directions. Here's one recipe for it, but I haven't tried it. Let me know if you do and how it goes!
This recipe was absolutely amazing! Loves the flavor the mandarin oranges gave the cake. I could have eaten the entire thing myself. I never knew ricotta cheese could end up being a dessert topping.
Leah, thank you, I'm so glad you loved it! <3
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe. May I ask, why do you recommend a “hand mixer” vs a stand mixer. I think there is a valuable lesson here :). Thanks for your time .
Hi, Denise, thank you for your note! I wish there was some sage advice hidden in there, but a hand mixer is just what I use and it works great. But either should work fine :). I really appreciate you mentioning this. I am always looking for ways to improve my posts and, thanks to your helpful note, I revised the instructions. So thank you! Cara