Olive Oil Rosemary Orange Cake

This cake is simple and bright tasting. Adapted from an Ottolenghi recipe, we've made a few changes to the glaze and amped up the herb and zest quantities. We recommend weighing your ingredients if you can. 

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

  • About 30 grams butter, softened, for greasing the pan
  • 240 grams all-purpose flour, more to flour the pan
  • 160 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil
  • 120 grams superfine sugar (caster sugar)
  • tablespoons finely grated orange zest (approximately 2 large oranges)
  • tablespoons packed finely chopped rosemary leaves
  • large eggs (room temp)
  • 130 grams sour cream
  • teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Glaze:

  • tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 200 grams sifted confectioners’ sugar (more or less to get the consistency you want)
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary

METHOD

Make the cake:

  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
    Grease a 9-inch/23-centimeter Bundt pan with half the butter, taking good care to get into all the nooks and crannies. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Butter again and then dust with flour. Tap away the excess.

  2. Put olive oil, sugar, orange zest and chopped rosemary in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until combined, then add eggs, one at a time. Whisk until thick, then add sour cream and mix until combined on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the whisk.

  3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the olive oil mixture and mix until combined. Increase speed to high and whisk for 1 minute.

  4. Scrape batter into the Bundt pan and smooth the top with a small spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cake is cooked and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.

Prepare the glaze:

In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, zest, rosemary, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Once the cake has cooled, drizzle icing on top, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake. Garnish with sprigs of rosemary and serve.