OLIVE OIL AND MANDARIN CAKE

The holidays will look different this year, but I can’t help but want to keep it magical —inspiring me to put on the ritz a little more, even if it’s just for my own family, at home — like serving one or two beautiful home-baked cakes, with a pot of cinnamon tea or wine for the grown-ups, and a simple spread of cheese and nuts and winter fruits. 

For the sweets, I want something that doesn’t feel every day--something that screams holiday, without a lot of fuss. There is an elegance to an olive oil cake, especially one layered in shingles of shiny rounds of citrus that makes it an instant holiday centerpiece. But good looks are only part of the story. I only want a pretty cake that has the texture and flavor to back it up. 

This cake wins in all categories. 

I start with fresh eggs and an extra yolk (for richness), plus almond flour (for texture) and All-Purpose Gluten-free flour, so I can serve it to anyone I fancy (extra slices get wrapped up for the neighbors).  It borrows a little trick from savvy Italian Nonnas, who have long known olive oil as their heart-healthy secret to a moist cake. Made with your best mild fruity finishing oil, this becomes a special occasion cake that’s far simpler to make than it looks.  

An olive oil cake is always a winner dusted with confectioners’ sugar, but for the holidays I love to give it a simple glaze, and a glorious jeweled crown to highlight the citrus flavor inside. For that, I lean on PEELZ mandarins, which are plump and juicy, with a thin skin and zero seeds. This means you can thinly slice and scatter them over your glaze, and look like a pastry queen, with no extra work. The sweet mandarin flavor compliments the fruitiness of the oil, and shimmers under holiday lights--just like we want a good centerpiece dessert to do.

Here’s to treating your dear ones this week, friends. XO

RECIPE, BELOW

Olive Oil Cake with Fresh Mandarin

Serves 8

Cake

3 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks 

3/4 cups sugar

2/3 cup high quality extra-virgin olive oil 

1/3 cup melted butter

1 tablespoon Finely grated PEELZ mandarin zest

⅓ cup PEELZ mandarin orange juice 

3/4 cups All purpose flour or All purpose Gluten-Free Flour

3/4 cups almond flour 

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Glaze

1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

2 ½ to 3 tablespoons cream or half-n-half

4 to 6 PEELZ mandarin oranges, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9-inch pan with a removable bottom. 

Combine the eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until the eggs are thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Drizzle in the olive oil and melted butter and continue to beat. Fold in the zest and juice. 

Sift together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients gradually to the egg mixture and stir until evenly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure there are no dry bits at the bottom. 

Pour the batter into the pan. Bake until the top is lightly brown, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes, turning once while baking to make sure it cooks evenly. Cool the cake on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove cake from the pan and cool on the rack.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and cream or half-and-half to make a loose glaze (it should run easily but not too quickly off the whisk of the back of a spoon). Scrub and slice the mandarins thinly crosswise. With the cake set on a metal rack over a tray, or on a cake plate, drizzle the top with glaze, letting it run down the sides slightly. Layer the citrus slices over the cake overlapping. Serve immediately. 

special equipment: 9-inch springform pan

MAKE AHEAD: 

Because of the high oil content, this cake keeps super well up to three days. Make, and even glaze the cake up to 3 days in advance. Cover with citrus just before serving.

This post was sponsored by PEELZ. Images belong to Sarah Copeland, and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **

• Photos, Food + Prop Styling // SARAH COPELAND

• Vases + Plates // LOST QUARRY