Want to know what is so wonderful about winter?
The beautiful snow? Well, yes.
The big cable knit sweaters and skiing (or lodging)? Absolutely.
BUT! What I live for in the winter is the abundance of citrus that is all around during this chilly, windy and slippery season.
While I can’t just go to my backyard and pick a grapefruit off of my tree, I can go to the great market downtown where there is an abundance of quality citrus—from oranges to lemons, grapefruits to limes—I love this about the wintertime!
This past weekend I was inspired so much by the incredible weather in Charleston—Saturday was 70˚ and sunny, Roberto and I finally got to enjoy living downtown and took full advantage of how walkable this city can be! Sunday was almost as warm and rainy, my favorite! Something about the smell of “summer rain,” but in February, it was the perfect weekend.
And here comes my craving again for citrus, for summer, for light and simple! I had made an olive oil cake for a 4th of July get together that we had this past summer and clearly needed to have some in my life again. PLUS! Can I say winter citrus one more time?!
Yep. It happened.
And here we have it, the most moist, citrusy, lightly sweet cake. I used almond flour along with AP flour in this recipe, giving it just a slightly unique flavor—I can’t imagine this cake without it! If you want to use another nut flower, some coconut flour, that will add that little something fun to such a simple cake! What else is versatile? The citrus that is added. I used both oranges and grapefruits, two of my favorites, but any others can be subbed of course!
Finally, this is the perfect cake to make individualized! Roberto got me the cutest cocottes from Le Creuset and I don’t use them enough, so naturally I did for these wonderfully adorable cakes! So, whether you had a blizzard this weekend or were getting sunburned on your walk around town, we are in the deep winter months and there’s no better way to celebrate than with this Citrus Olive Oil Cake!
cake ingredients
Flour—9.8 oz, or 1 ¾ C
Almond Flour—2 oz, or ½ C
Baking Soda—½ tsp
Baking Powder—½ tsp
Salt—1 ¼ tsp
Sugar (I use coarse turbinado sugar)—12 oz, or 1 ½ C
Milk—7.5 oz, or 1 C
Olive Oil—12 oz, or 1 ½ C
Freshly Squeezed OJ—6 oz, or ¾ C
Eggs—3
Orange Zest—1 large
Grapefruit Zest—1 large
Orange, for baking—1 large
cake process
Preheat your oven to 350˚ F.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add in the turbinado sugar and whisk.
In a separate bowl, combine the milk, olive oil, OJ, and eggs.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together.
Mix in the zest.
I used individual sized cocottes for this cake, but using a larger 8”cake pan will work as well!
Spray your desired pan with nonstick spray, and sprinkle a little but of almond flour on the bottom.
Slice your orange into ¼“ thick slices and put on the bottom of your pan(s).
Pour your batter into your desired baking dishes until they are about ¾ of the way full.
Place in your oven and bake until the top springs back when touched.
If you are using the smaller cocottes, baking time is 25-30 minutes; if you are using one large pan, baking time is about 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Invert your cake and enjoy!
Bon Appétit!
