This Orange Olive Oil Cake is so tender, so light, and so moist with a lovely hint of orange and a rustic, crackly topping. It’s sure to become a family favorite!
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Does it taste like olive oil?
If you’ve never tried olive oil in cake, don’t let the name fool you. It doesn’t taste like olive oil! But something magical happens to the flavor and the texture. The fruity, complex flavor of a good quality extra virgin olive oil complements the orange flavor and lets it shine through. The tender crumb is so light and so moist. It’s even moister the day after you bake it which is great for making it in advance.
A crispy, crackly topping
Sugar is sprinkled on top of this Orange Olive Oil Cake before baking to create a crispy, crackly topping. The top will puff up and crack during baking creating a rustic crust that contrasts beautifully with the moist tender crumb.
Perfect for breakfast or snacking
This Orange Olive Oil Cake is perfect for breakfast or snacking. It’s so simple and not overly sweet. Enjoy it with a cup of coffee or pack a piece in with lunch. It’s totally fuss free – perfect for a bake sale, to take along on a picnic, or to give as a gift.
How to make Orange Olive Oil Cake
The key to the moist, light crumb of this Orange Olive Oil Cake is whisking air into the eggs. The eggs are whipped with a whisk attachment in a stand mixer for a minute. Sugar and orange zest are added and then whipped on high speed for another three minutes.
With the machine running, olive oil is slowly poured in and whipped another minute. The dry ingredients and orange juice are mixed in alternately until combined.
The batter is poured into a 9-inch (or 10-inch) springform pan and sugar is sprinkled on top. As it bakes, the cake will puff up, cracking the crust, and leaving a crispy, crackly topping.
This recipe is adapted from Cook's Illustrated's Olive Oil Cake. I swapped orange juice for the milk and 1 tablespoon orange zest for ¼ teaspoon lemon zest.
Recipe
Orange Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (8.75oz, 248g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups sugar (8.75oz, 248g)
- Finely grated orange zest from 2 oranges (1 tablespoon, 6g)
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil (5.25oz, 149g)
- ¾ cup orange juice (6.9oz, 197g)
For topping:
- 2 tablespoons sugar (.9oz, 25g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Put flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl and whisk to combine.
- Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip eggs on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute.
- Add sugar and orange zest. Whip on high speed until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow, about 3 minutes.
- Reduce speed to medium. With mixer running, slowly pour in oil and mix until oil is fully incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Add half of flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed.
- Add orange juice and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over entire surface.
- Bake until cake is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs, 40 to 45 minutes.
- Let cake cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove side of pan and let cake cool completely, about 1 ½ hours.
Notes
- I also like to make this Orange Olive Oil Cake in a 10-inch springform pan. Increase the sugar to 2 ½ tablespoons sugar. The cooking time may decrease slightly.
Nutrition
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Mitalee says
This cake was so easy and the directions were so clear. It turned out delicious with the perfect amount of orange flavor. The texture also was so much better than a poundcake. This is perfect to serve with tea. I am wondering how to decorate the top the next time. Maybe with some orange slices but I don’t want to risk making the cake soggy
Kelly says
So happy you liked it, Mitalee! Yes, I think they would make it soggy. Perhaps some candied orange peel or edible flowers?
Lyn says
I recently made this cake and love the addictive citrus flavor. My cake had a dome and about 1"-1.5" from the edge the cake was dry. The crumb everywhere else was perfection. I''m wondering if you know a way to get rid of the dome so the cake bakes more evenly. I have thought of trying Bake-Even Cake Strips but thought I would check with you first and see if you have any ideas on what might work. Thank you for your help! Lyn
Kelly says
Hi Lyn!
The cake strips should work just fine to even out the cake. Thanks so much!
Anna says
I’ve made this cake 3 times already! It’s so delicious!!!
Kelly says
So happy you liked it, Anna! Thanks so much!
Amy says
I tasted the batter before and after it was almost done. To me it tasted like olive oil. I followed the directions exactly even measured it by weighing the ingredients maybe it’s just my taste buds. .
Kelly says
Hi Amy, Maybe it's the brand of olive oil or how strong it is. I use extra virgin olive oil and get a fruity flavor.
Judy says
The best!
Kelly says
Thanks so much, Judy!
Lana says
I’d love a lemon olive oil cake exactly like this one. Do you have a recipe to share for a lemon version?
Kelly says
I would love a lemon olive oil cake, as well! I will definitely be working on a recipe for one soon.
Karen says
How much Orange Juice ? This cake looks and sounds like it’s made in Heaven
Kelly says
Hi Karen! It's 3/4 cup of orange juice or 197 grams by weight. Thanks so much!
Christina says
This was delicious! I made it for my birthday. I used fresh squeezed orange juice from organic oranges! I will definitely make it again.
Kelly says
So happy you liked it, Christina! Happy Birthday and thanks so much!
Christina says
Thank you!
Denise says
Being dairy free and gluten free has been a challenge for me since I love to bake, so when I saw this recipe I decided to try gluten free flour and it turned out beautifully. You could not tell it was not made with wheat flour. My family couldn’t tell either, no one guessed! Before this I had not liked many gluten free, dairy free recipes I have tried. Just that simple substitution and it was fabulous. Yea!
Kelly says
Yay! That's awesome, Denise! Thanks so much for sharing, I'm sure it will be helpful to so many others!
Christopher Karam says
Thank you very much for the recipe, I love any type of olive oil cake. This is a light, tasty, and healthy option, it tasted fantastic too!
I will definitely keep looking over the recipe when I have guests over. One thing I would recommend to increase the quality of the article, making it really useful for your readers would be to add nutrition facts to your dishes!
There are many sources that show the nutrition facts for ingredients like olive oil and garlic (which would go very well with your cracker recipe) https://mydietgoal.com/food-guide-catalog. It even lists the vitamins and mineral contents for any ingredient which would be super useful!
Thank you again for the fantastic olive oil cake recipe.
Regards,
Christopher Karam
Irene says
Great tasting cake. Made mine with almond flour as I’m gluten intolerant. Used half the amount of sugar. The batter was very liquidity. Cake ended up being very wet and grainy. Any suggestions?
Kelly says
Irene, I've not tried making this cake with almond flour so I don't know what effect that would have. I'm guessing the almond flour doesn't absorb liquid the same way all-purpose flour does. I did find an article on tips for baking with almond flour in place of all-purpose flour. https://type2diabetes.com/nutrition/baking-almond-flour/ Hope this helps!