Meskouta (Moroccan Orange Cake)

Morocco • Regional Dish • Dessert

Meskouta (Moroccan Orange Cake)

A soft Moroccan orange cake made with fresh juice and zest, baked simply and served with mint tea or coffee.

Servings10
Prep Time20 min
Cook Time45 min
DifficultyEasy
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Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 23 cm round cake pan, bundt pan, or tube pan and dust it lightly with flour.
  2. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl for 2 to 3 minutes, until pale, smooth, and slightly thickened.
  3. Add the oil, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture looks glossy and evenly combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, whisking just until smooth. Do not overmix once the flour goes in.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
  7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and let it cool completely.
  9. Dust lightly with icing sugar if you like. Slice and serve with Moroccan mint tea or coffee.

Cultural Context

Meskouta is a traditional Moroccan home cake often served for tea time or breakfast. Orange is one of the best-known versions, though lemon and vanilla variations also exist. Many Moroccan-style recipes use everyday kitchen measures, oil, eggs, flour, baking powder, fresh orange juice, and zest, which explains why the cake is so popular for casual home baking.

Fun Fact

Meskouta is sweet enough to stand on its own, which is why it’s often served without frosting. That restraint is part of the charm. The cake does not need a sugar helmet to make its point.

Cook’s Tip

Fresh orange juice and zest are the point of the cake, so bottled juice is the sad trombone option here. Use ripe, fragrant oranges and zest them before juicing. Meskouta is usually served simply, often without icing. A dusting of icing sugar is enough. You can bake it in a bundt pan for a more classic tea-table look, but a round cake pan works perfectly well for home cooks. Oil keeps the crumb soft and moist without making the cake heavy.

Trivia

Moroccan orange meskouta is popular in winter, when oranges are in season and at their most fragrant. Conveniently, that is also when a bright citrus cake feels like edible sunlight.

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