Orange Olive Oil Cake — A super soft and moist cake that’s made with olive oil!! Orange zest, orange juice, and Grand Marnier add tons of AMAZING orange flavor to this easy, no-mixer cake that’s unique, refined, and INCREDIBLE!!
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This easy, one-bowl, no-mixer orange cake with olive oil is a huge eye-opening kind of cake for me. After blogging for nearly 10 years and making hundreds of cakes, this was my first ever cake made with olive oil. But it won’t be my last because it was supremely soft, tender, and exceedingly moist without being too heavy or dense.
You can literally almost see the moistness oozing from the olive oil cake, but it doesn’t taste greasy and it stays moist for days. I still had leftover cake that I forgot about in the back of my cupboard and a week later that was just as good as the first day, and even more moist. I don’t know how that’s possible but it happened.
I cannot say enough amazing things about this cake. A personal fave of mine for sure.
Love Olive Oil Cakes? Make My Lemon Version Next!
Another long-time reader favorite is my Lemon Olive Oil Cake recipe. It’s made with lemon zest, juice, extract, and Limoncello. I can’t decide whether the orange or lemon version is my favorite!
The olive oil cake itself if not overly sweet by any means. It would be the perfect cake to serve after a fancier dinner party with equally rich or luxurious food.
I liken this olive oil orange cake to cakes served in fancy restaurants. They are never sugar bombs, even the chocolate ones. They are more refined and tend to have unique flavor pairings that you don’t encounter often.
I cannot wait to make this olive oil cake again, especially in the winter for holiday parties and events. It is a talking piece kind of cake rather than just another chocolate cake that we’ve all had a zillion times. Unique and different in the best possible way.
I gave half the cake to some ladies at my daughter’s school and they loved it. Every time I’ve since encountered them, they are all still thanking me for this cake!
Ingredients Needed
To make this orange olive oil cake, you’ll need:
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Eggs
- Whole milk
- Orange zest and juice
- Grand Marnier
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Confectioners’ sugar
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Olive Oil Cake
This orange and olive oil cake recipe couldn’t be simpler to make! Here’s an overview of the recipe:
- Just whisk together the wet ingredients, then add in the dry.
- Turn the batter into a greased and lined 9-inch springform pan.
- Bake until the orange cake is golden brown and domed in the center, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- You’ll need to let this olive oil cake cool for a few minutes before turning out of the pan to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Garnishing the Cake
I dusted the cake with confectioners’ sugar rather than making a glaze or frosting and it was perfect. I almost made a glaze with confectioners’ sugar and Grand Marnier and may try that next time but simply dusting the cake with confectioners’ sugar was so fast and easy.
Recipe FAQs
I used Trader Joe’s Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil and while I’m sure the flavor of the cake will change depending on the exact brand and type of oil used, I recommend a quality extra-virgin olive oil here. Something you’d dip bread in, cook chicken in, or use in a homemade salad dressing.
You only use 1/4 cup in the entire cake, which doesn’t sound like much but it’s also something I wouldn’t skip. It adds a luxurious flavor that is so elegant tasting. If you don’t drink alcohol for whatever the reason, I cannot say how the cake will taste or turn out if you, for example, just use 1/4 cup water in its place or use an extra 1/4 cup orange juice. Adding more orange juice really worries me more because of the extra acidity in the OJ coupled with the baking soda/powder and I’m not sure what will happen.
My thoughts are that during baking, the potency of the actual alcohol bakes off and what you’re left with is simply the flavor. Again, it’s only 1/4 cup divided between a cake that will easily feed 8 to 10, so each person is maybe getting 1/2 teaspoon. Cough syrup has more.
I have always preferred oil in cake rather than butter. Oil is 100% fat whereas butter is about 80% fat. That extra 20% of fat keeps oil-based cakes softer and moister than butter cakes. You can’t argue with science.
No! I personally wouldn’t have known this orange olive oil cake was specifically olive oil based on taste alone. Olive oil has quite a distinct flavor in comparison to canola or vegetable oil and I went into the cake thinking I’d be able to taste the olive oil specifically and prominently but it wasn’t like that. Very subtly, yes, but not distinctly.
What I tasted more than anything was the orange flavor. The cake has orange flavor incorporated three ways: orange zest, orange juice, and Grand Marnier liqueur. I realize it’s a bit of a pricier liqueur, but I highly recommend it here.
Baking Tips
Pan size: You must use a 9-inch springform cake pan for this olive oil cake recipe. Do not make this cake in a regular 9-inch cake pan. Most are only about 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep, and this cake rises to about 2 1/2 to 3 inches on the sides and nearly 4 inches in the center. It will overflow in a regular 9-inch pan.
Grand Marnier hack: If you don’t want to buy an entire bottle of Grand Marnier you can purchase mini bottles that contain about 1/4 cup of liquid. This tip came from a reader who made this recipe!
Bake time: his cake bakes in a fairly cool oven for a long duration. Don’t be alarmed if a small circular patch on the top of the cake appears to be burning early on in the baking process. Ultimately, it doesn’t darken much more and when the cake is done, the cake is approximately the same color as the initial dark patch.
Video Tutorial
I have made this recipe atleast 10 times and I’ve found it tastes best hands down (and I get the most compliments) when I substitute about 1-2 tbs of olive oil with orange infused olive oil. It gives a little more defined orange flavor.
Kirsten Heder
I LOVE this recipe!
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Orange Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons grated orange zest
- ¼ cup orange freshly squeezed juice
- ¼ cup Grand Marnier
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F, add a circle of parchment paper to the base of a 9-inch springform pan, and spray the parchment paper and the sides of the pan very well with cooking spray; set aside. Do not make this cake in a regular 9-inch cake pan. Most are only about 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep and this cake rises to about 2 1/2 to 3 inches on the sides and nearly 4 inches in the center. It will overflow in a regular 9-inch pan.
- To a large bowl, add the olive oil, eggs, and whisk well to emulsify and incorporate.
- Add the milk, orange zest, orange juice (I was able to get sufficient zest and juice from one large orange), Grand Marnier, and whisk to incorporate.
- Add the sugar and whisk to incorporate.
- Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and whisk until just incorporated; don’t overmix. The batter in on the thin side; this is normal.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, place pan on a baking sheet as insurance against a leaky springform pan, and bake for about 70 to 75 minutes. Start checking after 60 minutes since all ovens vary. Cake will be golden browned and domed in the center when done, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. **
- Allow cake to cool in the springform pan for about 1 hour before releasing it and allowing the cake to finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Dust with confectioners’ sugar prior to serving.
Notes
- Cake will keep airtight at room temp for 1 week.
- **This cake bakes in a fairly cool oven for a long duration, low and slow. Don’t be alarmed if a small circular patch on the top of the cake appears to be burning early on in the baking process. Ultimately it doesn’t darken much more and when the cake is done, the cake is approximately the same color as the initial dark patch. This may or may not happen to you and possibly is just what happens in my oven, but I am pointing it out as nothing to worry about.
- Recipe adapted from Food52
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Originally posted September 14, 2018 and reposted with updated text March 25, 2022.
This recipe is so delicious. it’s so moist and flavorful. I have made this twice in the last week!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Jenny, and I’m glad this is so good that you’ve made it twice in the last week!
I baked this cake for friends and they raved about it! One of my friends is lactose-intolerant so I subbed soy milk for the whole milk (another food site I trust said that soy milk is the best milk for dairy-free baking because of its thickness and high protein content). My friends shared it with some of their friends and now they all want the recipe! I just have two questions: When I added all the dry ingredients in Step 5, there were many lumps in the batter. I didn’t want to overmix it, so I dissolved the lumps with my fingers (a decent fix, but pretty labor intensive :). I bake a lot and cannot figure out why this happened. Any thoughts? Also, would it have been okay to leave the lumps? I definitely want to make this again so I can try it!
Hi Amy thanks for the 5 star review and your feedback that soy milk worked just fine overall. In my experience, in baking, I use Cashewmilk (Silk brand). I came across this by accident years ago when I did sponsored posts for them. But their plain, unsweetened cashewmilk is very thick, mimics whole milk in viscosity very well, even better than soy but that’s fine too! Some people are also soy-intolerant so there’s that too.
Anyway…the lumps. I have never really had a lump problem with this cake. I am wondering if maybe this did have to do with the soymilk? I am thinking though that 1. you can mix a bit more and not be too terribly fearful of ‘overmixing’ because I am thinking you undermixed by a bit. 2. pinching lumps with your fingers, I have been there with confectioners’ sugar making frosting more times than I can count! It’s annoying! I would say get the biggest most obvious ones and don’t stress about the smaller ones. Part of this is also the baking powder/soda reacting too with the liquids possibly. I would say mix a bit more, pinch a bit less, and you should be set. Please LMK how it goes!
Also this is a popular recipe made with cashewmilk https://www.kariperlewitz.com
Best olive oil cake recipe!!!! Will this recipe work for cupcakes baking at lesser time?
I don’t know because I haven’t tried making this recipe into cupcakes. Obviously cook for less time but something tells me this recipe may be simply best made as a cake due to the lower temp/longer bake time and may not covert well. Although I haven’t tried it. Please let me know if you do. I am glad it’s the best olive oil cake recipe you’ve tried!
I tried this recipe into cupcakes last night & they cooked perfectly well at exactly 20 min. They were simply divine as i finished them off with mascarpone cream frosting 🥰
Thanks for the 5 star review, Sheila, and I am glad these turned out well as cupcakes! Good to know. People ask me this frequently and I am glad to hear they were a success and you baked for 20 minutes. The frosting sounds divine!!
PERFECTION! This is the best recipe. Everyone raved. Served with mascerated strawberries, mascarpone and chopped pistacios. Followed directtions to a t and came out the way intended. Thank you!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Mixie, and I am glad this was perfection for you! I love this cake so much, too, and I am really glad everyone raves about it! Your berries, mascarpone, and pistachios sound like the perfect touches, too.
Easy peasey. Added a few ingredients — spiced apples, lemon juice — substituted a few — rum for the spirit, canned milk and almond milk, honey with cinnamon sugar (no granulated white sugar). Smelled heavenly in the bake. Can’t wait to taste. Will eat it with applesauce for breakfast and whipped cream for dessert.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Brenda, and your substitutions sound great and I can imagine how lovely it smelled! Spiced apples in the oven, yum I can smell them now!
New favorite easy cake recipe! I halved the recipe (luckily I have a chicken that lays half eggs lol) for a smaller springform pan. Served with with mascarpone whipped cream and some thyme. Not too sweet and so much lighter than you’d expect something called an oil cake to be!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad this is your new favorite easy cake recipe! Not too sweet and lighter than one would think…yep, that sums up this cake for me too!
And how cool that you have a chicken, and you sometimes get a half egg. Perfect for halving many baking recipes!
I LOVE this cake! I have an olive oil store that I buy flavored olive oils at, and I used 1/2 Blood Orange olive oil, and 1/2 EVOO. It added that extra orange that I loved. Everyone loves this each time I make it! Thank you!
I LOVE this cake! I have an olive oil store that I buy flavored olive oils at, and I used 1/2 Blood Orange olive oil, and 1/2 EVOO. It added that extra orange that I loved. Everyone loves this each time I make it! Thank you!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad you love this cake! Me too!
I also have a store that sells blood orange olive oil near me (San Diego) and I have some on hand that I JUST bought last week, but am (or was) saving it for a special occasion and haven’t opened it…yet. Maybe I shall try what you tried!
I love the lemon olive oil cake on my site (same but with lemon not orange flavorings) so much! Try it too!!! https://www.averiecooks.com/lemon-olive-oil-cake/
I have a convection toaster oven, so would I want to lower the temperature and bake at 300 or keep it at 325?
I really do not know what to suggest for a convection toaster oven because I do not have one and I’ve never baked anything like a dessert in anything other than a regular oven.
I followed this recipe as instructed. My oven thermometer read 325 the entire time, but after 80 minutes the cake was extremely moist. Is that the way it’s supposed to come out?
The center seemed raw. I had to bake it another 40 minutes.
Anything that seems raw is probably likely raw, and no, it’s not supposed to be raw when you take it out of the oven. That is unsafe to eat given the eggs in the batter. However I have never had anyone mention this in all of the many comments over the years.
My hunch is that your oven is not quite running as hot as it says it’s running on the dial. Or you potentially under-measured the flour and the batter was much wetter than it should have been. Thanks for trying the recipe.