Go Back

Olive Oil Cake with Candied Orange Marmalade

Tip: make sure you use your very best olive oil for this cake. You want something mild yet fruity. For the marmalade, you can also use a mix of oranges, tangerines and/or Meyer lemons.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 25 minutes
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Cake
Servings: 12
Author: Hip Foodie Mom

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 4 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup good quality olive oil
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter; melted
  • Finely grated zest from ONE lemon + the juice
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or iodized salt

For the marmalade:

  • 4 large navel oranges
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • fresh strawberries sprinkled with a little turbinado sugar

Special equipment suggested:

  • A springform cake pan with removable bottom

Instructions

Make the Cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Lightly butter a 9-in/23-cm springform pan with a removable bottom.
  • Using an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs and sugar and beat on high speed until the eggs are thick and pale yellow, for about 3 minutes. Pour in the olive oil and melted butter and continue to beat. Next, fold in the lemon zest and juice.
  • Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients gradually to the egg mixture and mix until evenly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is combined.
  • Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is lightly brown, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes (rotating the pan after about 20 minutes to ensure the cake cooks evenly). Cool the cake on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. When cool enough, remove the cake from the pan and cool the cake completely on a wire rack.

For the marmalade:

  • After you rotate the pan, start on the marmalade: wash and dry the oranges and cut off their tops and bottoms. Slice 2 of them as thinly a possible while still keeping their shape, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, discarding the seeds as they appear. Place the orange slices in a small pot with a heavy bottom. Juice the remaining 2 oranges (you should end up with about a cup of juice) and pour the juice over the sliced oranges. Let sit for 20 minutes.
  • Cook over medium-high heat until the liquid comes to a boil. Decrease the heat slightly and simmer until the orange peels are soft, for about 20 minutes. Don’t stir, which will destroy the pretty round shape of the citrus. Add the sugar evenly over the top and continue cooking until the sugar is dissolved. Cook until thickened and the juice has gelled slightly and is syrupy, for about 20 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
  • Arrange the candied orange slices over the top of the cake, overlapping them. Drizzle some of the marmalade syrup over the slices and allow it to drip down the sides of the cake. Arrange some sliced strawberries on top and sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top of the strawberries for presentation. Enjoy!