Olive Oil Cake with Orange: A Soft, Easy Recipe (Plus a Yogurt Version)

An olive oil cake is one of the oldest desserts of the Mediterranean and one of the easiest to bake at home. Olive oil keeps the crumb soft and moist for days, and orange brings out the fruity notes of a good extra virgin olive oil. Here is our basic orange olive oil cake with exact quantities, plus a yogurt version and a blueberry version.

Ingredients for an orange olive oil cake

For a 22–24 cm (9-inch) round tin or a 26 × 11 cm loaf tin:

• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 180 g sugar (a scant cup)
• 120 ml extra virgin olive oil (½ cup)
• 120 ml fresh orange juice (½ cup, from 1–2 oranges)
• finely grated zest of 1 orange (the orange part only, not the white pith)
• 250 g plain or cake flour (about 2 cups)
• 1 sachet baking powder (10–12 g, about 2½ teaspoons)
• a pinch of salt
• optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to make olive oil cake

1. Heat the oven to 175 °C (165 °C fan, 350 °F). Brush the tin with a little olive oil and line the base with baking paper.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar for 4–5 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the orange zest and the vanilla.
4. Pour in the olive oil in a thin stream, still whisking on low speed.
5. Add the orange juice.
6. Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt, and fold it in 2–3 additions with a spatula, just until no flour is visible.
7. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 40–45 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Leave it in the tin for ten minutes, then turn it out and cool it on a rack.

For a glaze (optional): mix 60 g icing sugar with 1–2 tablespoons of orange juice and pour it over the cooled cake.

Yogurt olive oil cake

For a denser cake with a milder flavour, replace the orange juice with 150 g yogurt and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. You can keep the orange zest or use lemon zest instead. The baking time stays the same.

Blueberry olive oil cake

Toss 150 g blueberries in 1 tablespoon of flour so that they do not sink, and fold them into the batter at the end. Blueberries work with both the orange and the yogurt version. If they are frozen, add 5 minutes to the baking time.

Prefer lemon? Use the zest of two lemons and replace the orange juice with 60 ml lemon juice and 60 ml milk.

Which olive oil is best for baking?

For an orange cake, choose an extra virgin olive oil with a fruity aroma. A mild oil stays in the background and lets the orange shine; a more robust oil, with bitterness and pepper, gives the cake a pleasant grassy note that goes very well with citrus and chocolate. Avoid old oil: in cakes, a rancid taste shows straight away.

Olive oil is mostly unsaturated fat, unlike butter, and because it stays liquid the cake remains soft even after cooling. For more ideas, see olive oil in everyday Albanian recipes and our 7 olive oil salad dressings.

Tips for a perfect olive oil cake

• Room-temperature eggs whip up better.
• Don't overmix after adding the flour, or the cake will be heavy.
• Don't open the oven during the first 25 minutes, so that the cake does not sink.
• The toothpick test is more reliable than the timer, because ovens vary.

How to store olive oil cake

Cover it or keep it in a closed container at room temperature: it stays soft for 3–4 days. You can also freeze it in slices, well wrapped, for up to a month.

Frequently asked questions

Can you taste the olive oil in the cake?

A little, and pleasantly. With orange and vanilla, extra virgin olive oil adds fruitiness rather than an “oily” taste. If you want it even less noticeable, choose a milder oil.

How much olive oil replaces butter in baking?

About three quarters of the amount: for 100 g of butter use around 80 ml of olive oil.

Why did my cake sink after baking?

Usually because the oven was opened too early, because the middle was not fully baked or because the batter was too wet. Check with a toothpick before taking it out.

Can I make it with less sugar?

Yes, down to 140 g without spoiling the texture. The cake will be slightly drier and less golden.

Shkrela extra virgin olive oil comes from the groves of Ardenica and the Myzeqe plain and is cold-extracted. Find bottles for your kitchen among our olive oils.