Sorrento Orange Olive Oil Cake
Servings
1 Serving
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
35 minutes
Calories
442
Author:
Giada De Laurentiis
Ingredients
-
1 1/2
cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon orange zest, from 1 small orange
- 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
-
3/4 cup
orange infused olive oil
-
2/3 cup almonds, lightly toasted and roughly chopped*
1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- ½ cup candied orange peels, chopped into ½” pieces, for topping
For The Cake:
For The Garnish:
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8-inch-diameter cake pan that is at least 2” tall in height, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Lightly oil the paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt to blend. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar, eggs, and zest on high until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the milk and gradually beat in the oil. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the almonds, reserving a few to scatter on top. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining almonds.
Place the cake pan on a straight sided baking sheet to collect any possible spills. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 15 minutes. Remove cake from the pan and cool completely, top side up.
- To serve, top the cake with a layer of the lightly whipped sweetened cream. Sprinkle the whipped cream with candied orange peels to garnish, and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 1 Serving
- per serving
- Calories
- 442
- Fat
- 26.3 grams
- 41%
- Saturated Fat
- 3.9 grams
- 19%
- Trans Fat
- 0 grams
- Cholesterol
- 70.5 milligrams
- 24%
- Sodium
- 239.5 milligrams
- 10%
- Carbs
- 46.6 grams
- 16%
- Fiber
- 1.6 grams
- 6%
- Sugar
- 27 grams
- Protein
- 6.6 grams
- 13%
29 reviews & comments
Made this delicious cake for Easter Sunday, and it was wonderful. I received so many compliments!
Baked this DELICIOUS cake for Palm Sunday! I used an 8” round spring form pan! It did not sink in the middle! I overbaked it! Flavor spectacular! Dry ! My fault! Buona Pasquale!
P.S. After posting my previous comment, I realized that I had combined some of the sorrento olive oil to mix with organic rosemary to dip with fresh bread. Delicious!
I followed Maria’s recommendation and used a bundt pan. I buttered the pan and did not use parchment paper. I used a 1/2 cup of almond flour and 1 cup of regular flour and it came out great! It was so moist and delicious! I didn’t have any almonds, so I didn’t use them. I also didn’t think it needed the topping.. it is something I will make again. Mine sank a little in the middle as others mentioned, but it was cooked all the way through after 35 minutes in the bundt pan. Interesting side note: I used up the last of the Sorrento Olive Oil that came with the Pasta of the Month box (Jan. 2024) which was the Fregola and Citrus Salad. Between the citrus salad recipe and this cake, the one bottle was the perfect amount for both recipes! I would have given this 5 stars but it only allowed me to give it 4 stars for some reason. Thank you Giada!
this cake was light and not too sweet- you need to follow directions closely like SLOWLY adding in the olive oil..I used a square 8 inch pan -it was perfect and delicious
I followed the recipe exactly as written and it came out fine, flavor was great but texture too dry. Eyeballing the amount of batter, I used a 9-inch springform pan lined with parchment paper. It had a good rise, and I did not have the problem of overflow or of a sinking middle like others have written. I did expect the cake to be moist though, but I found myself putting extra whipped cream on it because of how dry it was. Could that be because it was spread out too thin in the 9-inch pan? I don’t want to have to buy a deeper 8-inch pan just to make this cake though.
We are so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out right for you! As you mentioned, I think it had something to do with the larger pan. When we use larger pans, we always recommend to start checking the cake earlier than the recipe states, as it will bake a lot quicker when the batter is spread out more. If you make the cake again using a 9 inch pan, we suggest you start checking it as early as 25 to 30 minutes into the baking time! Hope this helps :)
Can this cake be made a day ahead, or is it better the day of? I am thinking of making for Thanksgiving.
You can definitely make it a day ahead or day of—either would be delicious!
Prior to making this cake I read most of the comments and what struck me was the fact that many were experiencing the center flopping or not fully baked. Giving it some thought I decided to use a Bundt Cake Pan thinking that the heat from the tube would bake it well. I also added an extra 1/4 cup of flour. Baked it for 35 minutes and it came out devine.
@Maria that would be delicious!
I was wondering if you can use an olive oil infused with blood oranges or does that change the taste a lot? Thank you!
I finally had a chance to make this. And unfortunately I didn’t realize until I had already done it that I was supposed to add the flour mixture in later. All in all turned out ok. The cake was very high and seemed a little dry. So I look forward to trying it again.
I just made this and the tooth pick came out clean so I took it out of the oven. As it cooled mine sank in the middle also. When I cut 8th the cake the middle was still raw. The taste is delicious but so disappointed.
I made this yesterday, using a blood orange olive oil that I found at my local olive oil store (since I didn’t have the brand that Giada recommends). 34 minutes was the perfect amount of baking time in my oven, and the cake turned out golden and almost perfect… Just a slight sinking in the center, but still cooked through. The texture inside was light & fluffy, with a perfect crumb, and the flavor was delicious! I served it with whipped cream and mixed berries. I will definitely make this again!
I don’t usually have whole milk on hand, and substituted 1/4 cup nonfat milk, -2 teaspoons, and added 2 teaspoons of melted butter to itFollowed the directions and it’s PERFECT. This one is one of those cakes you’ll find yourself making over and over again. Not a fan of orange blossom water so if you’re making the glaze, go for it. I did not. Cake is perfect as is
@Susanna thanks for the feedback! Our best guess is that is could have something to do with the emulsifying of the oil. Be sure to add the oil very slowly while mixing so that it fully emulsifies with the rest of the batter. If the next time you bake it, the middle still seems not fully cooked when you insert a toothpick, you can always put it back in the oven for another 5-10 more minutes!
I am the third person in my family to make this cake following the recipe exactly and all three of us have had the cake sink in the middle. I used a wet cake strip around the outer rim of the 8 inch pan to keep the outside from cooking too soon before the inside, and the cake still sank.. there must be something wrong with the amount of leavening used in this cake. It’s a delicious cake and worth tinkering with the recipe to see if I can get the cake to bake properly. My dad has been baking for probably 40 years and he was unable to get the cake to bake evenly.
Recipe calls for an 8in pan placed on a pan with sides in case of overflow. Now I know why – I used my mothers original 8 in cake pan – it filled the pan to the top with some left over. I took out some batter. It DID overflow the edges making it almost impossible to get out. I’m a baker – this has never happened before. I reviewed earlier videos of her making the cake – you never see it coming out of the pan. Other olive oil cake recipes call for a 9 in spring foam pan. If I make it again I definitely will do that. It will be a thinner, but pretty slice.
@Janice Miller—Either pan should work as long as it an 8-inch cake pan! Hope this helps!
How tall should be the sides on the 8" cake pan? I have 2 sizes available, one is 1 1/2" and the other 3"
Simply wow! What a wonderful recipe. The cake is perfectly moist and balanced in sweetness. Everyone loved it
Pretty disappointed because made the cake twice before a Christmas party and both times it sank. The taste was great because we ate it afterwards but the first time it sank I thought I did something wrong. Then my daughter made it and it sank again. :(. I see that it sank for someone else here too. Would love to know how to address this because I could not put it out because it looked so bad.
Due to allergies, is there a substitute for the whole milk?
@Laura Hi there! Thanks so much for your feedback. We have added in extra instructions to specify the timing.