It was my husband’s birthday this month and, per his request, I made this chocolate orange cake and it turned out so well! This cake was fudgy, not overly sweet, and had a delicious freshness from the oranges.

This cake is something I first made back in 2019, generally following this recipe from Tasty. However, over time I have altered this recipe and think the changes make for a great cake.

Ingredients

• 5 oranges (whatever is in season at the moment. I prefer an orange that is a bit more acidic for this recipe, but used navel oranges in this instance because it was all my grocery store had!)
• 0.5 cup of olive oil
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 0.75 cup of cocao powder (I use this one)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp vinegar

The Process

1. Start by zesting all of your oranges, make sure to get as little of the white pith as possible, it make everything bitter! Once zested, put the zest in two different bowls. One with about 3/4 of the zest and 1/4 in the other bowl.
2. Add the olive oil to the bowl with the most orange zest. Allow the mixture to infuse for as long as you can, I usually end up with about 30 minutes, but if you remember ahead of time, a few hours would be great.
3. Juice 4 of the oranges and reserve 1/4 cup of the orange juice for the glaze later on. The remaining juice should amount to about 1/2 a cup
4. preheat your oven to 350 degrees\
5. Sift your dry ingredients in a large bowl, including flour, cocao powder, baking soda, and salt. Seriously, make sure you sift it!! It makes a huge difference. You can just use a metal mesh colander to make this happen.
6. Add the infused olive oil, sugar, water, orange juice, and vinegar to the bowl and whisk until smooth.
7. grease an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan and add the batter. Place in the pre-heated oven to bake, it should take about 40 minutes.
8. While the cake is baking, cut the remaining 1 orange. Start by cutting off the ends and the peel and then into thin slices. These will be used as the cake’s topping.
9. Next, prep the glaze. This was essentially a simple syrup. Add 1/2 cup of sugar, the last 1/4 cup of orange juice, and the last of the zest to a small pot on the stove. Place on low/medium heat until the sugar fully dissolves and the mixture creates a syrup-like consistency.
10. The cake is done when w toothpick or fork comes out clean when poked in the center.
11. Allow the cake to cool then poke a few holes in the top of the cake to allow the glaze to soak in.
12. Pour the glaze on top and then add the orange slices. Enjoy!

I hope you try this recipe, it is always delicious! If you’re interested in trying out some other dessert recipes, click here.

Thanks for reading! -Hailey

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