A light fluffy cake with creamy icing has its place…usually on the birthday party table. I’ll take a dense and moist cake like this any day. Using olive oil is the first clue that this dessert is going to be a bit different. Of Spanish origin, in the land of lusty citrus and olives, what else would you expect? Baking is not my favorite. Apart from measuring all the ingredients very accurately, there are lots ofsteps and also lots of dishes. This one is pretty painless in both regards and the end result is a winner. I know it still has plenty of sugar involved, but somehow it seems just a bit healthier with the use of olive oil and oranges.



Print Recipe Here

Spanish Olive Oil Orange Cake

Serves 8-12
Prep time: 1 hour

3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup olive oil
Zest of 1 orange
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 orange

Preheat the oven to 400. Spray a 9-inch tube cake pan with non-stick baking spray. Beat the eggs with the sugar until you can form pale yellow ribbons when lifting the beaters. Beat in the milk, oil, and orange zest. In a small bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder, soda, and salt. Gradually add the flour to the egg mixture whisking after each addition. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool 10 minutes and then invert onto a plate. While the cake is baking prepare the syrup.

Peel one of the oranges and slice it. Reserve for decoration.

Syrup

1 cup orange juice
3/4 cup sugar

In a saucepan, combine the orange juice and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes until you have a thickened syrup. Poke holes into the cake with a skewer. Pour the syrup over the cake so it soaks in, using about 3/4 of the syrup. Garnish with the fresh orange slices and pour the remaining syrup over the oranges.

Serves 8-12