Orange Olive Oil Cake

Here's the thing about me and oranges. I grew up in Florida, where the very best are grown. And I love, love, love them. I love the scent, I love the color, I love the taste. But I absolutely, positively refuse to eat them in their natural state. There's something about the stringy texture that just doesn't jive with me.

But, oh, oranges! I love them! And it was tough to decide what I wanted to make with them. Initially I was dead set on making some sort of an orangey chicken, admittedly because I bought a mandarin marinade and I have no clue what to do with it. But I settled on my own adapted version of this simple Orange Olive Oil Cake that I found via Food Network.

Ingredients:

Butter, for greasing the pan (I used Pam Baking Spray)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice and zest of 1 orange (about 3 tablespoons juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
Mix together the sugar and eggs in a medium bowl with a hand mixer on medium speed until blended and light. 

Drizzle in the olive oil and vanilla and mix until light and smooth. 

Add the orange juice and zest and mix well. 

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another medium bowl. 

Add the flour mixture half at a time to the wet ingredients and mix on low just to incorporate. 

Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake, 25 to 30 minutes. 

Let the cake cool 15 minutes, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

A few notes:

The original recipe calls for white sugar. I much prefer brown, so that's what I included above.

I don't own a sifter, so I used a slotted spoon. Sara taught me that!

The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup olive oil. Next time, I'll up it to 1/2 cup. The taste of the cake was 
spot on, but I would have preferred it a bit moister.

The original recipe suggests that you bake the cake for 25-30 minutes. I baked it for 25 on a middle rack, and I think it probably could've come out at minute 21-22.


I topped it with a simple vanilla glaze, and that really made the cake. I didn't have any confectioners sugar on hand, so I used granulated, some hot water, and a teaspoon of vanilla oil. It may sound strange, but the glaze had a crunchy texture that was just perfect. It really made the cake a hit. 

Looking forward to making this again - with the above moderations - and reporting back!