This beautiful moist cake is bursting with orange flavour. As well as zest and juice, the cake also has Cointreau and marmalade added to give even more punch. This is a wonderful dessert cake with cream or ice cream but a slice on its own is also delicious with a cuppa!
If you want a cake that has a great hit of orange, then this is a must for you! Some orange olive oil cakes simply lack flavour so I wanted to create an olive oil cake that celebrates oranges, with that great combination of citrus character and sweetness inside a beautiful moist cake. There is no mistaking that there are oranges in this cake!
The texture of this cake is almost like a ‘Whole Orange Cake’ but not quite as dense. The olive oil in it means that this cake keeps really well – at least three days if it isn’t all eaten before then! I did keep a piece longer to see how it lasted and even on the fifth day, it was still fresh and not dry.
The best part about this recipe though is that it is so easy to make. The dry ingredients and wet ingredients are mixed together in separate bowls and then combined to form the batter – no machines necessary as it is all done by hand. The hardest part of this recipe is zesting and juicing the oranges, so not hard at all!
Let’s take a look at the ingredients for this recipe:
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- Flour – good old plain flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Sea Salt – use a coarser sea salt (flakes) if you can.
Wet Ingredients:
- Sugar – white granulated sugar (this is mixed with the eggs at the beginning before adding rest of wet ingredients)
- Eggs – large size eggs (approx 52-54g)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – use a light fruity olive oil as you don’t want to overpower the citrus. I love to use infused olive oils when baking cakes so recommend an Orange Infused or Vanilla Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil if you have it
- Buttermilk – if you don’t have buttermilk, you can substitute it with normal milk
- Orange Juice
- Orange Zest – using the zest of 4 large oranges, gives this cake great flavour. Use a microplane grater or similar as you want fine zest not strips. Chop them finely if you don’t have a fine zester.
- Lemon Zest – why use lemon zest in an orange cake? It really helps to ‘lift’ the orange flavour in this cake. Use a microplane or similar.
- Cointreau – can use Grand Marnier or any other orange based liqueur.
- Orange Marmalade – if you live in South Australia, I love to use Beerenberg Orange Marmalade but any orange based marmalade is fine.
You also need butter and extra flour for preparing your bundt tin. See below.
How To Prepare A Bundt Tin/Pan
This is a step you want to do properly. It is very easy to do and avoids any cake sticking to the pan when you turn it out.
All you need is a soft bristled pastry brush, some melted butter and plain flour.
- Step 1: Dip the pastry brush into the melted butter and ‘paint’ butter all over the inside of the tin, making sure you get into all the crevices. I like to start with the middle ring, then down into the base, and then up the sides, working around the tin the same way so I don’t miss any areas.
- Step 2: Put 2-3 tablespoons of plain flour into the tin – I often shake some around the ring first. Dust the tin with flour by moving and tapping the pan in one direction and then in the other, so that all parts of the tin is coated with flour. You might find you need to sprinkle a little more flour in one area. Once the tin is completely coated in flour, turn the tin upside down over the sink and tap gently on the side of the sink or with your hand on the tin to remove all the excess flour. You only want to be left with a very fine coating of flour (too much flour will transfer to the cake and leave white marks). Check to make sure there are no gaps. If there is, just brush a little more butter onto the gap, dust with flour and tap out excess.
Now your bundt tin is ready for use!
Servings: 10
Calories: 500kcal
Equipment
- Bundt tin/pan – 10 cup capacity
- pastry brush for preparing tin
- 2 large bowls
- hand whisk
- zester
Ingredients
CAKE
Dry Ingredients:
- 300 g plain flour 2 cups
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp sea salt coarse
Wet Ingredients:
- 220 g sugar granulated, (1 cup)
- 3 eggs large (approx 52g each)
- 185 ml olive oil extra virgin, (3/4 cup)
- 185 ml buttermilk or milk (3/4 cup)
- 60 ml orange juice freshly squeezed (1/4 cup)
- 60 ml Cointreau liqueur
- 4 large oranges (zest of 4 large oranges) finely zested
- 2 large lemons (zest of 2 large lemons) finely zested, or 3 small/medium
- 40 g orange marmalade 1 heaped 20ml tablespoon
To prepare tin:
- 15 g butter melted
- flour extra (approx 2-3 tablespoons)
ORANGE ROSEMARY SYRUP
- 110 g caster sugar 1/2 cup
- 60 ml Cointreau (or Grand Marnier) 1/4 cup – you can use orange juice instead, if you don’t want to use liqueur
- 60 ml orange juice 1/4 cup
- 40 ml lemon juice 2 tablespoons
- 3 rosemary sprigs 5cm long, washed (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C. Prepare the bundt tin by brushing the inside of the tin with melted butter and dust with flour – see notes.
Cake
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Give a little whisk to combine and set aside.
- In another large bowl, add the sugar and the eggs. Whisk them so they are well combined. Add all the remaining wet ingredients: olive oil, buttermilk, orange juice, orange and lemon zest, cointreau and marmalade. Whisk again so everything is incorporated.
- Now it’s time to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients: Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add 1/2 the wet mixture. Stir gently with a large spoon or whisk, then add the remaining wet ingredients and mix gently until everything is combined and smooth.
- Pour the cake mixture into the prepared bundt tin. Tap the tin gently on the kitchen bench to remove any air bubbles in the batter. Bake in the preheated oven at 170°C for 40-50 minutes until the cake is just cooked, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. My cake took 42 minutes, but check the cake from the 30-35 minute mark as all oven temperatures vary slightly, and you don’t want to overcook the cake. Don't be concerned if the cake rises and cracks a little on the top as this can be trimmed once it has come out of the oven and cooled down.Take the cake out of the oven and let it rest in the tin for 15 mins before turning out onto a wire rack. To do this, hold the wire rack over the tin and turn the cake and rack over so the cake comes out gently. Rest on the wire rack for a further 15 minutes. Once cooled, you can turn the cake over gently and trim the base with a serrated knife so it sits flatter on the plate (optional). I trim mine a little (the offcuts taste amazing)!
- Serve the cake as is, with a dusting of icing sugar and serve with whipped cream. Great with a cuppa.Or, serve as a dessert, with Orange Rosemary Syrup and whipped cream or ice-cream. Decorate the cake with glace oranges, zest and/or rosemary flowers or any edible flowers (optional).If you prefer to drizzle the syrup over the cake, do this just before serving, and then decorate the cake with flowers or zest etc.
Orange Rosemary Syrup
- Bring all the ingredients to the boil in a medium sized heavy-based saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it boil for 3-5 minutes until reduced and syrupy. Remove the rosemary sprigs and let the syrup cool to room temperature.Once cooled, store in a sealed jar or container at room temperature until required.
- I like to serve the Orange Syrup in a little jug alongside the cake and let people help themselves, however you can drizzle the syrup over the cake and serve.
Notes
Nutritional Values: these have been calculated including the Orange Rosemary Syrup, however you might not use it all so just keep this in mind.
How To Prepare A Bundt Tin/Pan
This is a step you want to do properly. It is very easy to do and avoids any cake sticking to the pan when you turn it out. All you need is a soft bristled pastry brush, some melted butter and plain flour.- Step 1: Dip the pastry brush into the melted butter and ‘paint’ butter all over the inside of the tin, making sure you get into all the crevices. I like to start with the middle ring, then down into the base, and then up the sides, working around the tin the same way so I don’t miss any areas.
- Step 2: Put 2-3 tablespoons of plain flour into the tin – I often shake some around the ring first. Dust the tin with flour by moving and tapping the pan in one direction and then in the other, so that all parts of the tin is coated with flour. You might find you need to sprinkle a little more flour in one area. Once the tin is completely coated in flour, turn the tin upside down over the sink and tap gently on the side of the sink or with your hand on the tin to remove all the excess flour. You only want to be left with a very fine coating of flour (too much flour will transfer to the cake and leave white marks). Check to make sure there are no gaps. If there is, just brush a little more butter onto the gap, dust with flour and tap out excess.
Nutrition
Calories: 500kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 340mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 192IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 2mg
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