Name: Orange Blossom Olive Oil Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 ¾ cup (210g) all-purpose flour; ¼ tsp (1g) baking soda; Pinch of salt; 1 cup (200g) white granulated sugar; Zest of one orange; Zest of one lemon; ¾ cup (180ml) extra virgin olive oil; 2 eggs (room temperature ); ½ cup + 2 Tbsp (150ml) whole milk (room temperature); 2 Tbsp (30ml) orange blossom water; 2 Tbsp (30ml) orange juice; 2 tsp (10ml) lemon juice; 3 Tbsp confectioners' sugar; 1 rosemary sprig; 4 fresh figs (quartered, optional)

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This orange blossom olive oil cake holds dear to my heart. I started to develop this recipe during the peak-high pandemic, but it wasn’t good enough to my standards to share with anybody. Due to my hectic work schedule at the time, I never got really the chance to develop it further to my liking. When I finally perfected the recipe, we had just moved to Salt Lake City and from the moment it was shared among our friends, it became VERY famous. It is actually THE cake that made me known as the dessert queen!

The orange blossom water and lemon flavors reminds me of eating dessert by the Mediterranean sea! It is so versatile, it can be served as a dessert or coffee cake! This amazing orange blossom olive oil cake gets requested so often whenever we have get togethers. It is the one recipe where I no longer need to double check quantities or steps … and so will you! Because of all those reasons, this recipe and blog post feel particularly special to me.

INFORMATION ABOUT THIS RECIPE

Olive oil – When we think of olive oil, baking with it is not the first thing that come to our mind. Yet, using olive oil in cakes creates such a distinctive and unique flavor when it is paired with the right ingredients. Moreover, it makes the cake ultra moist! Make sure you use good premium extra virgin olive oil for making this recipe. A little extra investment in your olive oil is worthwhile. You can tell the quality of an olive oil by checking its label. High quality olive oils have harvest dates on their labels to ensure peak freshness. If you want to make this cake taste extra amazing, I recommend you pick an olive oil with sweet and fruity notes!

Orange blossom water – Orange blossom water comes from distilling white flowers of the bitter orange tree. It is widely used in Middle Eastern and Meditteranean sweets; it is considered the vanilla extract of the Middle East. In my humble opinion, orange blossom water is underated. It has such a beautiful distinctive taste, which I’ve learned to intergrate in my baking through the teachings of one of my best friend’s mother, who is Lebanese!

STEP-BY-STEP PRO TIPS FOR SUCESSFULLY MAKING THIS CAKE

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Low and slow is the way to go in order to get a moist, fluffy and evenly baked olive oil cake.

2. Brush your cake pan with some olive oil and line it with parchment paper at the bottom. Dust the sides of the pan with some flour, give it a tap upside down to remove the excess flour. Although this step can be painful to some (me included!), it is necessary. Doing so will alow your cake to rise evenly. It will also prevent your cake from sticking or tearing when you remove it from the pan.

MAKING THE CAKE BATTER

3. Combine all-purpose flour, baking soda and pinch of salt, mix and set aside. If you do not have a kitchen scale, do not forget to fluff that flour before adding it to your measuring cup!

4. Add orange and lemon zest to sugar. With your fingers, work out the combination so that all the oil from the orange and lemon zest gets released.

5. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer on medium speed, mix the zested sugar and olive oil for about 1 minute. Add the eggs and mix for about 30 seconds. Add the milk, orange blossom water, orange juice, lemon juice, orange zest and lemon zest. Mix until just combined. I suggest you do the zesting prior to pressing the lemon and orange for their juices…it will be less challenging!

6. Pour the flour mixture and mix until combined. I always recommend to finish by mixing the batter by hand. This is to avoid the batter to be overmixed. By doing so with a rubber spatula, it will also allow you to scrape the remaining unmixed ingredients at the bottom of your mixing bowl. This is a cake with a wet batter and will come together during the low and slow baking. You can expect it to look like this:

BAKING THE CAKE

7. Pour the batter into your cake pan. For an 8-inch pan, it will take between 45-50 minutes and for a 9-inch pan, 40-45 minutes. Oven temperatures vary widely from one oven to another. If it’s your first time making this cake, I recommend you remove it 5 minutes before and check for the cake’s doneness. You will know if the cake is done if the center no longer wobbles. You can also insert a toothpick that should come out clean. If not completely baked, always bake in increments of 5 minutes at a time. Remember that once your cake is overbaked, you cannot go back!

8. Once the cake is done, remove it out of the oven and leave it in the pan for 10 minutes. The baking will finnalize allowing the cake to set. Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.

9. Once the cake is cooled, dust with confectioners’ sugar. You need to make sure the cake is completely cooled off, about 1 hour or so, before adding the powdered sugar. If the cake is still warm, your sugar will melt and get absorbed into the cake. Finally, decorate with a rosemary sprig and fresh fig slices. Make sure your figs and rosemary are dry to avoid the powdered sugar from getting wet.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How can I know if the cake is baked if I don’t have a toothpick? Another tip to check if your cake is done is that you will see the edge of the cake starting to pull apart from the pan once you take it out of the oven.

How to store this cake? You can store this cake at room temperature up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to a week! Humidity and condensation may create a small powered sugar crust on top of your cake. However, the taste is not altered, it will only look different!

HOLIDAY VARIATION

When figs are in season, I love to use fresh quartered figs on top of the orange blossom olive oil cake. This cake will be as tasty if you serve it only with confectioners’ sugar. This is actually how I eat it most of the time. During the Holiday season, I like to change it up a bit and be a little extra(!). I add dehydrated citrus slices to make it merrier with a Holiday look! The additional citrus flavors is not an overkill; it actually pairs amazingly with the prominent orange blossom flavor! I already told ya…this cake is very versatile!

How to make dehydrated citrus slices:

Preheat oven at 200°F.
Cut an orange or a lemon into no more than 5 mm thick slices.
For every orange or two lemons: mix 2 Tbsp of sugar with a pinch of cinnamon and cardamom.
Sprinkle the sugar mix over the citrus slices and put them on a lined baking pan with parchment paper. Dehydrate in the oven for 2 hours to 2 1/2 hours, flipping them halfway through dehydration.