Inspiration Needed (and found), Citrus Olive Oil Cake

Life right now might be a little far from perfect.

Securing our futures is at the top on our minds, now more than ever.

We pore over spreadsheets and numbers, reports and maps.

But sometimes, one has to break out of it and do the things you love.

Like baking a joyously fragrant, citrus-kissed cake, a spur of the moment decision looking for inspirations from this blog. It's funny how one thing inspires another, inspires another.

I love this for a couple of reasons. First of all, no need to wait for the butter to soften, just pour olive oil from the bottle, and off you go. Secondly, how the baking process filled the house with a fruity, citrusy scent. Thirdly, I sprinkled the top of the cake with demarara sugar for a crunchy little topping. Good move, that one. Fourth, when your other half demolishes one-third of the cake in one night, you know you're on to something. Priceless.

So here's my adaptation of this inspiring recipe.

ORANGE AND OLIVE OIL CAKE Inspired by this post

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
zest from 2 oranges
3 large eggs
Juice from 2 oranges
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons demerara sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Grease and flour one 12 x 4 inch loaf pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and clementine zest and rub together to extract the fragrant oil from the zest.
Add olive oil and mix on high speed until completely combined (preferably with the whisk attachment).
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on slow speed.
Add half of the juice and continue mixing.
Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the citrus juice and the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined between each addition.
Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle demerara sugar on top.
Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, wait 10 minutes for it to cool down and then remove from the pan.