Bright, bold, and ridiculously moist. This blood orange olive oil cake blend vibrant citrus with rich, fruity olive oil. It’s a single layer cake that’s both simple yet stunning!
There is nothing quite as striking- or flavorful- than a blood orange olive oi cake when winter citrus is at its peak.
There are several varieties of blood oranges to choose from. Moro blood oranges are the most commonly available. They are known for their deep red color and sweet-tart flavor. The Moro variety would make a wonderful orange sorbet with its rich robust color.
Blood Orange Season
In the Northern Hemisphere, blood oranges are available from winter through early spring. The season typically runs from late November through April, peaking around February.
Ingredients
The great thing about this recipe- you can easily substitute in regular oranges! Navel, Valencia, or Cara-Cara oranges work just as well.
There are three components to this cake:
- semolina olive oil cake
- orange soaking syrup
- candied blood oranges
Olive Oil Cake
The cake batter is made from a mixture of all-purpose flour, semolina flour, olive oil, and orange zest. Semolina flour is a key component that gives this cake texture. Corn meal or corn flour is a great substitute for semolina.
Don’t skimp on the olive oil! This cake benefits from good quality olive oil. Be sure to smell your olive oil. It should have a fruity and clean aroma. Throw out the olive oil if it smells rancid. The olive oil is no longer good to use once it smells waxy like crayons.
Soaking Syrup
Pierce the freshly baked cake with a toothpick or the tines of a fork. Drizzle orange soaking syrup over the hot cake in two additions. Allow the cake to slowly absorb all the liquid.
The soaking syrup is a simple mixture of reserve candied blood orange syrup and Grand Marnier, a French orange liqueur. You may omit the alcohol.
Candied Blood Oranges
Making candied blood orange is easy! However, the process is a bit time consuming. I suggest making more than you think need. Some of the sliced oranges will fall apart during the cooking process.
Use leftover candied blood oranges to top these blood orange donuts or this blood orange pound cake. They’re also great for topping yogurt, oatmeal, or toast.
Slice the blood orange in uniform thickness. This will ensure even cooking. Bring sugar, water, honey, and cinnamon to a boil. Heat until sugar has dissolved. Then, add in the orange slices.
Simmer the mixture until the orange peels are tender and the liquid mixture has thicken to a syrup-like consistency. Transfer cooked oranges to a parchment lined baking sheet. Cool to room temperature.
Related Recipes
Olive Oil Cake with Candied Blood Oranges and Roasted Pistachios
Ingredients
Candied Blood Oranges:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 cups water
- ⅔ cup honey
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 2 blood oranges*, thinly sliced
Orange Soaking Syrup:
- 1 cup syrup reserved from candied blood oranges
- 2 Tablespoon Grand Marnier
Olive Oil Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup semolina flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar, divided
- 3 large eggs, separated
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 ½ tsp finely grated orange zest
- handful lightly toasted pistachios, roughly chopped
Instructions
Candied Blood Oranges:
- In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepot, combine sugar, water, honey, and cinnamon bark/sticks. Bring to a boil over high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Once syrup has come to a boil, add orange slices.
- Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30-40 minutes until orange slices are tender and syrup is fragrant. Remove orange slices and transfer to parchment lined sheet tray. Arrange slices in a single layer. Allow to cool. Strain syrup and let cool. Separate one cup of syrup for orange soaking syrup. Keep remaining syrup for serving.
Orange Soaking Syrup:
- Reserve 1 cup of syrup from candied blood orange. Mix in 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier liquor.
Olive Oil Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat 9-inch springform pan with olive oil. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together AP flour, semolina flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. In large bowl, whisk together ¼ cup sugar and olive oil. Add in egg yolks and whisk until combined. Using a spatula, fold in dry flour mixture in two additions. Fold in milk and orange zest.
- Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites using a whisk attachment until foamy. Slowing add in remaining ¼ cup sugar and beat until firm peaks. Fold egg whites into cake batter in two additions. Transfer to prepared pan. Smooth top using a mini offset spatula to level batter.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until cake is set and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Using a toothpick or the tines of a fork, pierce the cake all over. Slowly drizzle ½ cup of orange syrup over the cake. When the syrup is absorbed, about 5-10 minutes later, pour another ½ cup of orange syrup over the warm cake. Leave cake to cool in pan. Once cake is at room temperature, release cake from cake.
- Place candied orange slices over the cake. Sprinkle pistachios. Cut into servings and serve with additional orange syrup.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
If I don’t have Semolina flout do you think I could use Kamut flour? It is a lovely buttery flour that I have been using in baking often with good results, but may not be a glutenous as semolina. ?? I look forward to baking this cake!!
Hi Sara! I have never baked with kamut flour. I’m not sure how it will react in this recipe. If you give it a try, please let me know!
I’ve yet to try my creation but wanted to point out the egg instructions were confusing. Step 2. “Add eggs” but which part? I read ahead so hope you meant yokes/leave whites? Smells great and will try tomorrow ?
Thanks for pointing that out! I have updated the directions.
Your photos are stunning and your recipes sound delectable. We would love for you to share them at thefeastingeye.com. The Feasting Eye is still a bit new, but I think you will like what you see :-).
Beautiful! You could also make this as an upside-down cake and cook the candied oranges into the top! (I did this in a recipe for cara cara orange chocolate cake, but actually yours looks even better because I personally like olive oil cakes more than chocolate.)
I thought about making it into an upside-down cake, but I wanted extra candied oranges for snacking! But I must try that next time. Thanks for the tip!
I’m sorry for your loss. This is such a fast-paced life and I am like you where cooking is my step back from it. Your cake is beautiful and sounds delicious. This is going on my “to make” list.
Thank you, Annie. Much appreciated. Hope you enjoy the cake!
I need to make this cake…love candied orange!
Yes! Please, do. And make extra candied oranges for snacking!
Your cake looks so delicious!
Thanks, Rosie!