Broiled Orange Cake

Broiled orange cake is a near-forgotten old-fashioned dessert that rewards the cook with one of the simplest party tricks in baking: a broiled topping. The cake itself is a buttermilk-and-orange-zest base loaded with ground raisins and chopped nuts, baked low and slow in a cold-start oven (yes, you start with a cold oven, exactly as written, for an even rise and tender crumb).

While the cake bakes, you whisk together a quick citrus glaze of orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, and melted butter. The moment the cake comes out of the oven, the glaze gets poured over the top and the whole pan goes back under a hot broiler for just a minute or two. The sugar caramelizes into a thin, crackly amber crust that gives every bite a brittle, slightly bitter contrast against the soft cake underneath.

Serve slices warm or cold with softly whipped cream. Keep it in the pan as written; the moisture from the topping keeps the cake tender for days.

Pro Tips

• The cold-oven start is intentional. The slow temperature climb gives a finer crumb and a more even rise; preheating actually makes this cake denser.
• Watch the broiler obsessively. The sugar topping goes from golden to burnt-black in 30 seconds; stand at the oven and don’t walk away.
• Use freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice for the topping. Bottled juice tastes flat and oxidized in something this citrus-forward.
• Grind the raisins coarsely in a food processor (or chop with a knife). Whole raisins sink to the bottom; ground raisins distribute through the cake.

Variations

• Use pecans or walnuts depending on what’s in the pantry; both work, pecans are sweeter, walnuts more bitter.
• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter for a warmer, holiday-style spice profile.
• Swap orange for grapefruit zest and juice for a sharper, more bitter citrus version.