Orange you gonna share that with me?

This is one of those desserts that everyone will want a piece of - Orange and Olive Oil Cake.

And this is what I call an absolutely delightful dessert for a number of reasons:

It is sure to be a crowd pleaser because it’s taste is delicious, refreshing, and, in some ways, surprising. The orange citrus flavor gives it a real pop in the mouth, while the olive oil ensures the cake is just the right level of moist.
You already have most things to make it with in your kitchen.
It’s super easy to make - literally prepare the ingredients, mix it together and bake!
It will fully satisfy anyone who enjoys cakes made with dairy, while also being the perfect thing to serve for those who do not eat dairy.
You can accompany it in different ways. I often serve with fruit salad which is perfect if you are aiming to stay away from dairy. This time, as I was making the cake, a creative spark happened in my brain. I started to imagine an orange-infused whipped cream garnished with dark chocolate shavings topping the cake, and I just knew I had to try that.

I can’t recall what prompted me to originally find this recipe other than I was probably thinking about wanting to make yummy citrus cakes, but I do remember that Mike and I were both amazed at how it tasted.

Since that time, I have made this during every season of the year. It is a great dessert to serve with nearly any type of meal. Everyone who has ever enjoyed it with us raves about it - how it’s a burst of flavor in the mouth that you don’t exactly expect, but thoroughly enjoy.

The only thing that would make this an even better dessert-making and dessert-consuming experience is if I could grow the fruit that goes into this dessert, but even with climate change, I don’t foresee the Chicago area suddenly being a fertile territory for an orange grove.

I am so excited to publish this as our first foodie dessert post. YUM! Thanks to Splendid Table for the foundational recipe!

Happy Baking and Happy Dessert Eating Everyone!

Ingredients:

Olive oil (light or regular) and flour for prepping the pan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3-3/4 cup orange juice (I like a lot of citrus, so I add the higher side of the range.)
2-4 teaspoons of orange zest (Again, I add on the higher side of the range.)
2/3 cup light olive oil or regular olive oil (I simply use what I have on hand.)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Key utensils: springform pan, zester, handheld juicer

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9" springform pan with the olive oil and flour. Shake out the excess flour, and set the pan aside.

2. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Crack the eggs into the bowl and stir to break the yolks, then add the orange juice, zest, and olive oil. Mix with a wooden spoon until well-combined, 60 to 70 strokes, or mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and combined, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Turn the batter into the prepared pan, and place the pan on a baking sheet to protect your oven from batter leaking from the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the oven, and bake until the cake is well-browned and the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger, 38 to 45 minutes. The exact baking time needed will really depend on your oven and if you happen to add more juice and zest as I typically do. I have baked this in our older electric oven, my neighbor Julie’s electric oven when our oven was giving out, our newer Bosch electric oven that replaced our old oven and now our rental home’s gas oven. I have always found that I am baking this for over 40 minutes - usually closer to 45. You do want it to have a golden brown coloring on the top, but you want to avoid the cake getting too dark on the sides. So it’s key that you take it out as soon as the top part of it is finished. I sometimes check by making sure a toothpick comes out dry right in the center of the cake.

4. Remove the pan from the oven. Let it rest on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, unsnap the collar rim, and let it rest on the rack until cool, 30 minutes more. To serve, run a sharp knife underneath the cake to remove the bottom of the pan. Place the cake on a plate, dust with confectioners’ sugar.

5. Consider various ways to serve this. I have found serving this with a fruit salad of various melon and berries is often the perfect complement. I have also served it with regular whipped cream. For this post, I experimented by topping it with a homemade orange-infused whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings. This will definitely be my new go-to way to serve this dessert with a fruit salad on the side.

Plating is especially fun! Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we are serving our Orange and Olive Oil Cake topped with orange-infused whipped cream sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings! Can you see the orange speckles of the zest peeking through the … — Plating is especially fun! Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we are serving our Orange and Olive Oil Cake topped with orange-infused whipped cream sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings! Can you see the orange speckles of the zest peeking through the cream?

*Ready to devour this dessert! …We dove into this cake, and then finished up with some fruit salad.*

Thanks to Carla and Lee for an amazing meal, wonderful hospitality keeping safe distance, and another opportunity to serve one of those desserts that create Happy Boolo moments with every bite!

Orange you gonna share that with me?

Air-tight is all right!

“I love the color of your house!”