Olive Oil Cake with Orange
A dense, moist cake that keeps for days and tastes better on the second.
- Serves
- 8
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Written
Method
-
Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round cake pan, lining the bottom with parchment.
-
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
-
In a separate bowl, whisk the olive oil and sugar until the mixture turns pale and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
-
Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then the orange zest, orange juice, and yogurt.
-
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet in two additions, stopping as soon as no streaks of flour remain.
-
Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a skewer comes out clean and the top springs back when pressed, 40 to 45 minutes.
-
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Olive oil does two jobs a butter cake can’t: it keeps the crumb moist for days without drying out, and it carries its own flavor instead of hiding behind vanilla, so pick an oil you’d actually put on a salad. Skip the fanciest bottle in the cabinet, though — a robust, peppery oil turns bitter once baked.
Good on its own with coffee, but a spoonful of yogurt or a few slices of whatever citrus is around make it look like more effort than it was.