Tender, light and aromatic, this olive oil orange cake is a perfect treat either for breakfast, afternoon tea or as a snack. Oranges, carrots, ginger and olive oil turn this cake into a dream, which melts in your mouth with each bite. A simple and humble cake you’ll fall in love with.
I love this cake. Fluffy, mmmm, yummy, delicious are just some of the “words” how I describe it. Wink. Anyway, thanks to my friend Orietta, I got the occasion to try this amazing cake. What is so special about this cake? It’s super easy to make, it’s packed with vitamins, it’s ideal for those who are allergic to lactose (just like me) and it tastes amazing.
Furthermore, this recipe doesn’t require butter. In fact, this cake calls for extra virgin olive oil. What?! Yes. Olive oil is a lovely substitute for butter. The olive oil flavour will not be overwhelming, it will just give a slight appealing note to the cake and make it exceptionally good.
Also, I suggest using a good quality extra virgin olive oil. My mom sends me each year some bottles of a delicious, a bit spicy, olive oil. My parents have a small olive tree garden in Slovenia, yet big enough to produce olive oil for the whole year. I am so lucky to get the chance to enjoy it, too. Wink.
Moreover, besides being delicious and a great source of monosaturated healthy fats, it also pairs great with citrus fruits and it lends great moisture and tenderness. Therefore, try to use olive oil more often when baking delicious desserts.
Thanks to orange juice, orange zest and ginger this cake is rich in vitamin C, too. Consequently, that makes it perfect for the cold season, especially between season changing. Let’s have a quick word about orange zest. As I already said, in my lemon risotto recipe, not only juice but also lemon and orange zest are packed with vitamins. Therefore, you should definitely include it to your recipes.
Having said that, make sure to wash the lemons, mandarins or oranges properly, under hot water, to remove all of the wax off of it. Only like this, you are safe to use the zest.
Another thing you’ll notice in this recipe is, that it calls for flour 00. This is a white flour produced from the inner part of the wheat seed. Besides being great for making pizza dough, bechamel sauce and pasta, it’s ideal to make cookies and cakes, too.
Ingredients for one olive oil orange cake (Ø 20 cm):
- 2 oranges (zest and juice)
- 100 g carrots (grated)
- a 2 cm piece of ginger (grated)
- 2 eggs
- 70 g sugar
- 120 ml fresh orange juice (you gain it from the two oranges)
- 55 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 190 g flour (type 00)
- 7 g baking powder
To begin, preheat the oven at 175º C. Then, wash the oranges, zest them and squeeze the juice, wash the carrots, peel them and grate them. Additionally, add some orange juice to the carrots, to prevent them from oxidating. Also, grate the ginger and mix olive oil and orange juice in a cup.
Furthermore, in a medium bowl, combine eggs, sugar and orange zest. Mix, using a hand mixer, for about 10 minutes. Once it gets pale and fluffy, slowly start adding the olive oil-orange mixture (while still mixing).
As next, stir in the grated carrots and ginger. Last but not least, combine the flour and baking powder and gradually add them to the cake batter. Using a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture. In order to keep all of the air incorporated in the batter, keep folding from the bottom to the top and at the same time rotate the bowl, too.
Then, grease the springform with some extra virgin olive oil and dust with some flour. Pour the cake batter in it, place in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until baked through. You might do the check with a wooden skewer.
After the cake is baked, remove it from the oven. After 5 minutes remove it from the form and place on a wire rack to cool down.
Finally, dust the olive oil orange cake with powder sugar, cut a slice and serve it with a lovely cup of ginger tea. It’s a perfect dessert and a treat for the fall and winter season.
Enjoy!
