A Delicious Olive Oil Orange Cake from a Guest Blogger

I promised a few special guest bloggers while we're vacationing in France and you're in for a special treat today. My sweet friend and fellow blogger, Claire - all the way from Australia, is sharing an Olive Oil Orange Cake recipe with us that I can't wait to make myself........

Claire's blog, Claire K Creations is a wonderful source of inspiration for me and I always look forward to checking it out. Claire shares wonderful recipes, great photos and informative posts on a myriad of subjects; organization ideas, money saving tips, crafts, gift suggestions - I could go on and on but be sure to check it out yourself! And thanks Claire for this amazing looking cake recipe!

P.S. It snowed ALL day here yesterday and we cross-country skied ALL day - check back on Friday for some fun pics of a snowy day in the French Alps!

Hi. I’m Claire and I blog over at Claire K Creations. I live in Brisbane, Australia with my fiancé Will (only 10 weeks until our wedding!) and I love food. On my blog you’ll find all sorts of delicious recipes and read about my food adventures. I also dabble in the odd craft or sewing project.

Last year I stumbled upon the Café Sucre Farine and Chris and I became instant friends. I just returned from a 5-week adventure in South America with my family and while I was away I was very lucky to have a guest post by Chris on my blog. I’m very excited to be here today returning the favour. Thanks for having me Chris!

As soon as I got back from overseas I was straight into the kitchen. My grandma loves sweet treats as much as I do and I try to bake for her whenever I can so after 5 weeks without baking for her I knew it was cake time.

I’ve only ever used olive oil for cakes like banana bread (I know it’s a bread but really, it’s a cake disguised as bread) so I was rather intrigued when I came across this recipe. The result was just delicious. My grandma said it was scrumptious and so light and tender. It makes the perfect afternoon tea cake but I also think it would be fancy enough to serve as dessert with a dollop of whipped cream.

Start the cake by mixing the sugar and orange zest in a small bowl. The recipe says to rub it together with your fingertips. I didn’t want to end up with sugar under my nails so I used the back of a spoon to press it all together. It will have a similar consistency to damp sand when it’s all combined.

Tip the orange zest sugar into a large bowl and add the eggs, buttermilk and olive oil. Whisk it all together until everything is combined.

Add the sifted dry ingredients to the bowl and whisk them through too.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf tin and bake the cake for 45-50 minutes in a pre-heated 180C fan-forced oven. Whenever I make a cake that’s going to be a gift I make a few cupcake versions to try. In this case there was too much batter for my little loaf tin so I had to make the extra ones to use it up. They turned out just as beautifully as the cake so you could make cupcake versions if you wanted to.

While the cake is baking, make the drizzle by mixing the icing sugar and orange juice together. If it’s too stiff, add a little hot water and stir it until it reaches drizzle consistency.

Leave the baked cake in the tin to rest for 5 minutes.

Transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Use a spoon to drizzle the icing from side to side. I left a few minutes between each drizzle to give it the layered look.

This cake is delicious on it’s own but would be equally as good served with a dollop of whipped cream. Enjoy!

p.s my grandma doesn’t mind that her cakes have always had a slice cut out for photos.

Olive oil orange cake with orange drizzle recipe adapted slightly from Le Delicieux

makes 1 loaf cake

Cake

• 1 3/4 cups of plain (all-purpose) flour
• Zest of 1 orange
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 1 cup of caster (superfine) sugar
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk
• 3 large eggs
• 2/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
• pinch of salt

Icing

• ¼ cup orange juice
• ½ cup icing (confectioners) sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (350F). Grease a loaf tin with butter and then flour it.

Place the sugar in a bowl and tip in the orange zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it is all evenly combined.

Add the orange juice, buttermilk, eggs and oil to the bowl and whisk the mixture together.

Tip in the sifted dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and baking soda) and whisk them into the batter until it is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin.

Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave the cake to rest in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the orange drizzle, place the orange juice in a small bowl and stir in the icing sugar. If it is too firm, add a little hot water to get it to the right consistency.

Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.

My name is Claire and I love food. If you love food too, come and read about my foodie adventures over at Claire K Creations - www.clairekcreations.com . You won’t leave with an empty belly!

Claire Kelly

E: claire@clairekcreations.com

W: www.clairekcreations.com