Orange Almond Olive Oil Cake … an Anna Olson adaptation
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Leonardo da Vinci
This is a simple cake and it’s been more than 2 years that I’ve had this recipe bookmarked. Its been on my folder of recipes I HAVE to try forever, yet I missed making it last winter {orange season here}. A few days ago an uncle dropped by to see me, and also dropped by huge bags of apples and oranges. It was time to bake! The apples found their way into these Apple Strawberry Basil Hand Pies.
The oranges were destined for Anna Olsons Orange Almond Olive Oil Cake, a recipe I adapted from Vals post of April 2009. Visiting Vals blog is always nostalgic. More Than Burnt Toast and PAB go back many years. I’ve known Val ever since I began blogging {well almost, because in the first few months of blogging I was petrified of this whole blogging paraphernalia}.
She’s a wonderful Canadian food blogger, supportive, fun and talented. We got to know each other better as time passed, and had a great time with the Blogger Aid Cookbook. I contributed a recipe to it, was part of the editing team, and thought up the idea for the book cover.
The cake baked in the kitchen, filling the house with the most amazing aromas. I hadn’t felt this sweet bakery feeling in months. Summer has been filled with quick light desserts, baked in a hurry, sometimes no bake stuff. With the weather changing, a silent feeling of fall round the corner, this cake smelt so good, warm and comforting! 
While the cake rose in the oven, I sliced up the oranges. The citrus salad is a refreshing, novel idea; a must make! All of it came together beautifully. My cake didn’t have as light a crumb as Vals because I used almost half almond meal and half all purpose flour. It was denser yet moist and delicious. 
The citrus salad is a beautiful addition to an already delicious cake. I took it a teeny indulgent step further, and served some with a drizzle of low fat cream with the citrus salad topping it. YUM!! The kids enjoyed just plain chilled slices too, and we were sad that it got over too soon! What could be better!!
Olive oil in baking is a wonderful idea and you must try and use a good quality brand. I would love to bake extensively with extra virgin olive oil but for its prohibitive cost. That said, this cake recipe will be made often as it was really nice!
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Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
34 Comments
Rosa
A beautiful cake! That is a flavor I appreciate very much.
Cheers,
Rosa
Monique
Deeba..I love Anna ‘s recipes.. her sandwich cake made one of my daughter’s baby showers:)Or was it wedding? No baby..
This cake looks amazing..Thanks so much..It will be a to do soon~
bellini
I’m so glad you tried this cake Deeba. Olive oil cakes are my favourite since they are not too sweet and the crumb is intoxicating with the light fruity taste of the olive oil. I have made banana, zucchini, meyer lemon and poppy seed, madarin orange and blood orange variations. Maybe we can keep on experimenting my friend..next chocolate.
Nisrine M.
I’m a huge fan of almond cakes. This one looks delightful, Deeba.
chinmayie @ love food eat
Looks beautiful! Such a great way to serve with oranges!!
Rustic and gorgeous!
Tadka Pasta
We’re feeling “that sweet bakery feeling” just looking at those pictures. So beautliful, lovely cake and salad topping.
Premalatha Aravindhan
Delicious cake,luks so soft and yum…
Divya
Love the flavor of Oranges in cakes..and combined with Olive oil and almond meal hmmm,the cake sounds so delicious:)
Nandhini
Hi deeba, very yummy and tasty orange cake. Can you let know the flour measurement you have in this recipe. It says half a cup + 2 T flour. IS that 2 Teaspoon?
Deeba @ PAB
Sorry for the confusion Nandhini. It’s 2 tbsp {will amend to make it more clear}. 🙂
peachkins
I got here through foodgawker and I am just learning how to bake! I fell in love with your site instantly! I am now follower!
Katherine Martinelli
This looks sublime! Gorgeous photos, as always. We have some good citrus right now so I’ll have to give this a try.
Monika
That cake must be soooo good! Especially with the addition of a refreshing citrus salad. I just recently made a polenta olive oil cake with lemon and was just amazed by its subtle and refreshing taste. Lovely shots!
a spoonful of yumm
love this recipe ! a dash of cinnamon is perfect too for this cake 🙂
Heavenly Housewife
I am guilty of the same thing. My bookmarks list is massive, and somewhat embarrassing LOL!
Olive oil cakes are my favourite. They have the most amazing texture.
*kisses* HH
Pia
i’d decided to take a break from reading blogs, because i realised i was always stuck behind a laptop. but this week, i decided to catch up on a few favourites, so i started with PAB. and gosh, deeba, i’ve been swimming in a sea of gorgeous things for the past hour! the cake, that knife next to the oranges, the stalks of wheat next the to cookies, the broken crate under the peaches and plums! love it, love it!
Sally - My Custard Pie
This is just my kind of cake. I’d like to eat this over any amount of chocolate any day. Your beautiful photos just seem to get better and better.
Zita
I love oil olive cakes. This should be yummie with the almond and orange. Wonderful photos as always!
kankana
I love Olive Oil cake and I eat these without any guilt 🙂 Orange and almond is such a perfect combo and the cake looks sooo good!
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
I made an olive oil cake with oranges and almond meal not too long ago and just fell in love with the combination of those flavors. I will have to try this one as well.
Gera@Sweets Foods Blog
Really a wonderful cake and I’ve never tried orange with olive oil in a cake, but why not? If it has almonds too, definitively a winner 🙂
All the best,
Gera
khushi
wonderful combination of flavors
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lisaiscooking
I love this kind of cake with a cup of tea. And, the citrus salad sounds lovely with it! I can almost smell those delicious oranges from here.
thelittleloaf
Your cake looks absolutely delicious – well worth the two year wait! I’m always bookmarking recipes then never getting round to making them, so very impressed that you’ve held on to this one. I love cakes with olive oil – it adds a certain beautiful moistness. Am bookmarking this one…hopefully to try soon! 🙂
Feast on the Cheap
I love olive oil cakes and this looks gorgeous! I make a Lemon Olive Oil Cake with a Rosemary-Lemon Glaze that has become one of my favorite year-round desserts. So budget-friendly too. I nearly always have all the ingredients!
Eva
I wont have a good sleep until I get a piece of that cake. Looks so good.
Vijitha
Delicious looking cake. Must be really addictive!
Amelia
I made this last night and it was a disaster! The batter was so thin it was like watery soup. Can you give weight measurements for the almonds and flour? It is so oily that when I touch it my finger is shiny with oil. I knew the recipe proportions seemed strange when I was making it (I am an experienced baker) but I pressed ahead and wasted some expensive ingredients!
Deeba @ PAB
Hi Amelia,
I’m sorry you wasted expensive ingredients and the recipe was a disaster. The batter is pretty runny but the cake bakes well. I’ve gone back and checked the other blog posts about the cake and even though most of them are with flour, the proportions of oil and milk are quite the same, and with great results.
http://www.lindentea.com/?p=2382 {1/2 cup olive oil, 1 cup milk}
{3/4 cup olive oil, 3/4 cup milk}…
as the one I made the cake from {http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com/2009/04/anna-olsons-orange-olive-oil-cake.html}
All of them use cup measures as I have done.
1/2 cup flour = 62gm
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp almond meal = 58gm
I do hope this helps.
Ameena
What an intriguing combination! Almonds, oranges, and olive oil…I love this unique dessert!
Rose
hello deeba,
Thanks for this wonderful site.One of my frnds introduced to me ur site and since then am passionate abt baking and ur site 🙂 Since am a beginner in baking I hav got lots of doubts with ingredients,I hope you wont mind asking it here How can i make Vanilla Sugar?i checked in super markets cudn’t find
Thanks for you time
Deeba @ PAB
Hi Rose. Here’s what I do. Just tuck a split and cut vanilla bean into a jar of sugar, shut tight, give it a good shake every alternate day. Place in a cool, dark spot. By the end of the week you will have the beginnings of sweet smelling vanilla sugar at your disposal! Keep replenishing the sugar as you use it. Hope this helps! {Each time I scrape a vanilla bean, I place the leftover bit in a jar of sugar}.
Jessica
How crumble and lovely that slice is! Need to check in for these oranges here. Almond milk, olive oil.. this must be a bake to treasure .