Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
I love citrus season! It’s that great time of year, smack dab in the dead of winter, when all the bright, sweet citrus bombard farmers markets everywhere. It’s when you are no longer limited to Eureka lemons or Navel oranges. Instead you can grab some Meyer lemons or Cara Cara oranges. There are also Satsuma and Shasta Gold oranges… the varieties are endless.
One variety I wait for are the Blood Oranges. They’re not too sweet, and have a beautiful deep red flesh that turns everything it touches (including my hands) a pretty pink color. I absolutely love them. Their color and flavor are great in smoothies, salads, entreés, desserts and cocktails. Once Blood Oranges come on the scene, usually around December, I use them as often as I can until they disappear again in March or April. While I frequently add them to my cocktails and entreés, I also love using them in desserts. The flavor and color are perfect for bars, and cakes because they add a wonderful orange flavor without being overpowering. So, when I received a bunch of Blood Oranges from Melissa’s Produce, I was over the moon with delight. Now I could make a bunch of sweet treats just in time for Valentine’s Day. After all, nothing’s better on the heart holiday than a pink dessert. Okay, maybe chocolate, but citrus desserts are definitely a close second.
This time around I decided to make a citrus olive oil cake. I chose the olive oil cake because it’s a wonderfully moist cake that melts in your mouth and is also pretty healthy. See, since there’s almost a cup of olive oil in the recipe and not one ounce of butter, it’s a much healthier dessert option. The fact that I’d just received some olive oil from Garcia de la cruz, made it a pretty obvious choice.
I’ve been using Garcia de la cruz quite a bit recently. A Spanish olive oil full of rich, herbal flavors, this oil is a great choice for desserts and salads alike. Garcia has been producing oil since 1872. They’re goal is “to grow, produce and bottle the world’s finest organic extra virgin olive oils”, and after tasting it, I can tell you, it’s definitely one of my favorites. I’m so glad they sent me more bottles because I was almost out of my last one. And now that they’ve added single serving pouches, you can take them with you everywhere.
Having tried several of their oils, my favorite is definitely the Early Harvest. Because the olives are harvested earlier than normal, they give off a more earthy flavor that melds well with the blood orange. Drizzle the finished cake with a sweet orange glaze and pile several orange slices on top and you have the perfect treat to share for Valentine’s or Galentine’s Day.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons blood orange zest
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup Garcia de la cruz Early Harvest olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
For the topping
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons blood orange juice
- 1 blood orange, peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a tablespoon or two of olive oil, grease a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Pour the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the orange zest and using your hands, mix it into the sugar until combined.
- Beat in the eggs. Add the olive oil, vanilla and Amaretto and mix until smooth.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 15 - 20 minutes
- While the cake cools, whisk together the powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth.
- Carefully remove the cake from the pan. Take a small spoon and drizzle the orange glaze back and forth in a zig zag over the top of the cake. Then take the sliced oranges and pile them in a circle in the center of the cake. Slice and serve.
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. The olive oil and oranges were provided by Melissa’s Produce and Garcia de la Cruz for recipe testing. As always, any opinion expressed is my own and is not influenced in any way by the manufacturer/PR firm as I only review products that I have personally tested and endorse.
If you’d like to try a bottle of Garcia de la Cruz yourself, head over to their website and feel free to use my code, 10kitchycooker, for 10% off all their products. But act fast, that coupon code is only good until the end of February.
