One of my favorite things that has come out of quarantine is my bi-weekly harvest box from The Ecology Center. Every two weeks I get a box of local organic produce and I let whatever is in that box guide my cooking and baking for the week. Last week, my box had the sweetest and brightest Cara Cara oranges so I knew I had to make my favorite orange flavored cake. I decided to layer almond in to this Olive Oil cake to play off the Almond Flour and to brighten the orange flavors. This cake is gluten free and the end result is a moist orange-y olive oil slice of heaven.

Dry Ingredients

1 Cup Gluten Free Flour (Bobs 1:1 Gluten Free Flour is my go-to) or you can use 1 Cup Organic AP Flour
1 Cup Super Fine Blanched Almond Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients

Zest of 2 Medium Organic Oranges / zest of entirety of both oranges (I used Cara Cara here)
1 Cup Turbinado Sugar
3 Large Organic Eggs
1/3 Cup Organic Olive Oil + more for pan
1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract
Juice of 1 Medium Orange (1/2 Cup)

Other Ingredients

Demerara Sugar (for pan)
Powdered Sugar (for Dusting)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare a 9 inch cake round pan by lining it with parchment and coating with olive oil. Sprinkle Demerara sugar on the bottom of the pan. Your pan should be evenly coated with Demerara Sugar!
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients, ensuring there are no lumps in your Almond Flour.
In a medium bowl, add the Turbinado sugar and all citrus zests. Using your fingers, rub in the zest until it is infused with the sugar. This will smell like a heavenly body scrub and that is how you know you are doing it right!
Add your eggs and whisk vigorously for about one minute.
Whisk in your olive oil, almond extract and fresh orange juice. Do not use store bought orange juice! This will make a huge difference in the texture of your cake, it must be fresh squeezed!
Pour Wet Ingredients into Dry Ingredients and mix with a spatula until combined.
Pour batter into your prepared cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. You will know that this cake is done when the top is golden brown and you can no longer hear the batter bubbling inside. (yes you can hear when your cake is done)
Let cool for at least 20 minutes before turning it out of the pan. If you flip this cake out of your pan, make sure to flip it back over before moving to the next step. You can also use a spatula and lift it out if you have cooled it long enough.
Once your cake is out of the pan, use a sieve and sift powdered sugar all over the top for a beautiful decorated cake!

Decoration Note: If I ever bring this cake to serve at a party or as a gift, sometimes I like to make candied orange slices or thinly sliced fresh oranges to decorate the cake with. You can also buy candied oranges from Trader Joe’s if you don’t feel like getting sticky!