Winter Olive Oil Citrus Cake

It's January.

That time of year when I receive a big box of Florida citrus from the relatives in Florida.

Grapefruits and big fat oranges.

It's time for my annual orange olive oil cake.

This one is from Italian Food Forever and it's a great one.

The recipe uses the whole oranges, rind and all, cut into chunks then pulsed in a food processor with olive oil.

Remember, when baking olive oil cakes, you want to use a mild tasting olive oil, not a green, strong tasting one.
I usually use Colavita, but here I used a beautiful delicate Spanish olive oil that I received as a gift.

I know you must think I am nuts, posting all of these yummy cakes lately.

I can't help myself, stuck in the house on these grey winter days, it makes me happy to bake a cake for you and me. :)

Here is Deborah's recipe:

2 oranges, preferably organic (because you are using the rind, peel, skin)
1/3 cup of mild tasting olive oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp almond extract (optional, my addition)
4 eggs

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter a 9" springform pan and line w/ parchment paper.

Slice the tops and bottoms off of the oranges (so they lay flat) and discard.
Cut the oranges into chunks, leaving the rinds on (make sure there are no pits).

Place the chunks in a food processor and pulse, leaving a bit chunky so the cake has texture.
Add in the olive oil and pulse another 3 times.

In a large bowl, mix the four, baking soda & powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs together with the sugar and extract, if using.

Add in the orange and oil mixture.

Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry mixture without overmixing. Using a wooden spoon is better than a mixmaster here.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes (mine took 50 minutes).

Let cool and remove the pan's outer ring.

Decorate w/ powdered sugar and orange slices if you like!

This is a wonderful cake, and so simple to make.

Enjoy!