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Orange Olive Oil Cake

Orange Olive Oil Cake. A refreshingly light tasting yet very moist cake made with fresh squeezed orange juice, orange zest and your favorite mild olive oil

Ingredients

  • zest from 1 1/2 oranges
  • 3 or 4 oranges or enough to squeeze 3/4 cup juice
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom optional
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cups mild olive oil
  • Confectioner's sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. I also placed a round of parchment in the bottom and sprayed that as well to insure an easy release. Wrap the outside of the pan bottom in heavy duty foil to catch any possible leaks.
  2. Zest 1 and 1/2 oranges, then squeeze as many oranges as you need to yield 3/4 cups juice. This took exactly three oranges for me. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom (if using)
  4. Beat eggs on medium high until broken up and combined, about 1 minute.
  5. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until light and pale yellow, about 3 minutes.
  6. On low speed, alternate adding your flour mixture and oil to the egg/sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. (1/3 flour, 1/2 oil, 1/3 flour, 1/2 oil, 1/3 flour) mixing until mostly combined after each addition.
  7. Add the orange juice and zest and mix carefully to incorporate as this mixture will splash. I usually pulse my stand mixer a few times (by turning to my lowest speed briefly a few times) to incorporate it then turn it to low to finish mixing.
  8. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  9. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. I covered my cake with foil, just lightly laying a piece on top of the pan, for the last 15 minutes as the top was getting brown and I didn't want it to brown further. My pan was deep enough so that the foil did not touch the top of the cake. If you think that it might be an issue, tent the foil to keep it away from the cake surface.
  10. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in pan, then remove ring around springform pan and allow to cool completely on a rack.
  11. Cover cake and let sit overnight. (See notes below)
  12. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Recipe Notes

*The original recipe states to let cake sit covered overnight for best flavor. I did this so I haven't experienced the difference between that and eating it right away. I suspect it's quite good the first day and simply gets better the next day much like brownies and banana bread.

*I used a simple mild olive oil, but you can experiment with other fruity or buttery olive oils. I would avoid any strong or peppery olive oils as this will affect the delicate flavors of this cake.

Adapted from Portugese Orange Olive Oil Cake

The Merchant Baker © 2015