One of the best things about winter in
southern california is that all the
citrus trees are producing tons of
fruit right now…
especially oranges and lemons!
It starts in early December,
which I think is perfect for cold and flu season,
and is still going strong now in mid
February.
navel orange tree that has the juiciest
fruit,
so perfect for munching on or for
baking!
Just look at these beauties...
That brings me to this amazing cake…
My husband’s aunt and uncle are visiting
from New York City and we wanted to treat them to a special home-cooked meal.
I totally love them because they’re so
cultured, but yet so down to earth. And, they love a good theme dinner as much
as I do!
I’ll never forget when they
entertained us at their country home in Bedford, New York and created a whole
French themed dinner with a movie for us! Aunt Jackie is a fabulous cook, and I remember
she made filet mignon paired perfectly with an amazing French wine and then we
watched “The Scarlet Pimpernel”, a classic movie about the French revolution.
So for our evening hosting them, we
had an Italian-Argentine theme which featured flank steak with chimichurri sauce and
this amazing Orange Olive Oil Cake.
I’ve made this cake dozens of times
because it’s a family favorite, and my oldest son always requests it for his
birthday. If you’ve never had a cake made with olive oil, you’re in for a real
treat!
And add to it freshly zested and juiced oranges, and you literally will
find it hard to stop at just one piece. My grandmother made olive oil cakes all the time. It's very typical in Italy.
Orange Olive Oil Cake
Butter, for
greasing the pan
1 ¼ cups
all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive
oil
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
Juice and zest
of 1 orange (about 3 tablespoons juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
1 teaspoon
baking powder
½ teaspoon
baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Confectioners'
sugar for dusting
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. (Recipe courtesy Melissa d'Arabian)
Don’t be intimidated. This cake is soooo easy to make. It’s my first time baking it in this cute heart-shaped silicone
pan from Ikea. I topped it with thinly
sliced tangerines which soaked a little extra juice into the cake.
It was a real hit with Uncle Bob, who
had three pieces! The
cake disappeared so fast on Wednesday night, that I made another one yesterday
and that one disappeared within hours too!
I love to dip it in my morning cappuccino!
I really hope you try making this
cake, and if you do, please let me know how you like it!
ciao! fabiana
p.s. Remember the lovely weekend
my husband and I had staying at
These rooftop photos were taken there!
