Home › recipes › cake › layer cakes › Citrus Olive Oil Cake with Honey and Figs

Facebook0Tweet0Pin0

link to follow on instagram  link to follow on Pinterest  Follow on Bloglovin

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Constellation Inspiration

Constellation Inspiration

A Dessert Blog

  • Cookbook
  • Tutorials
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Recipes:
  • cake
  • cookies
  • cream puffs
  • tarts
  • bars
  • candy
  • Asian-inspired
  • seasonal
    • Valentines
    • halloween
    • christmas
Jump to Recipe
layer cakes

Citrus Olive Oil Cake with Honey and Figs

by: Amy on: Jun 5, 2016

I am a bit embarrassed to admit this but I only had my first fig two years ago. My coworker brought in a box of figs and offered me one. I was put off by its weird wrinkly...

Review  or  Print Recipe

I am a bit embarrassed to admit this but I only had my first fig two years ago. My coworker brought in a box of figs and offered me one. I was put off by its weird wrinkly matte skin so I bit into it with this unattractive wrinkled up nose kind of look on my face, with much resemblance to the fig itself. As I continued eating, I was getting so intrigued by its vibrant and fleshy interior. Then I lost it. I lost all control and downed the other four in the box. Before I continue talking all things fig cake, can we take a moment to talk about how come figs come in a box of only five or six figs but can still cost to an upwards of $7? What is this devil magic. But real talk, take my money. Give me the figs.

Let’s back track a little. Why olive oil cake? Why not stick to butter since it is an ingredient of the gods? To answer that question, I have to talk about May 2014. I was in New York and was eating everything the city had to offer. When I was en route to Central Park, I stopped by Abraço for a quick morning snack. I saw the olive oil cake in the pastry case and remembered reading somewhere that it is a must-try. I ordered it along with an iced latte and sat down on one of the wooden benches by the storefront. The olive oil cake looked unassuming but after the first bite, I was in love. It was so incredible moist, flavourful, and had the most tender crumb. I promised myself that I would look up the recipe or the recipe for something similar when I got back to Vancouver.

Luckily there were many versions of olive oil cake on the internet, but I managed to find the Abraço recipe that Bon Appetit published. I have made the cake in loaf forms quite a few times but found that it was never as flavourful as I remembered it being. The citrus flavours were never strong enough for someone to notice it. The recipe calls for adding the citrus zest in with the olive oil but the last time I made it I used my fingers to rub the zest with the sugar first, before adding it to the olive oil. It actually made quite a difference and the citrus became much more prominent! A bite of this cake sends me right back to the blistery hot summery day when I first had this cake on the wooden benches of Abraço.

Citrus Olive Oil Cake with Honey and Figs

Makes 1 Two-layer 6-inch cake
By Amy

Ingredients

Citrus Olive Oil Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoon finely grated orange, lemon, or grapefruit zest
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup mild-flavoured olive oil

Honey Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • Pistachios for garnish, optional

Instructions

Citrus Olive Oil Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325F. Grease two 6 inch cake pans.
  • Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  • With your hands, rub the citrus zest with the one cup of granulated sugar. I found this produced a more fragrant citrus note compared to mixing the zest in the olive oil as the recipe suggests. Add in the remaining wet ingredients to this sugar mixture.
  • Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently mix the batter until everything is just incorporated.
  • Divide batter evenly into the two cake pans and bake for 30 – 33 minutes until tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  • Note: alternatively you can bake this as a loaf (like how Abraco does it!). Baking it in a standard loaf pan (roughly 9x5x3 inches) will take around 50-60 minutes at 325F.

Honey Whipped Cream

  • In a standing or hand mixer, whisk whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gradually pour in the honey and mix well.
  • Note: I find this cake much more delicious at room temperature.

Notes

Heavily adapted from Abraco’s Olive Oil Cake recipe seen in Bon Appetit Magazine 

more like this:

Flamingo Pink Velvet Cake with Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

Mermaid Oreo Funfetti Birthday Cake

Coconut Cake with Pineapple Coconut Curd and Pineapple Jam (Lactose-Free)

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sweet Comments:

  1. Unknown says

    Jun 5, 2016 at 6:04 pm

    Amy this is so beautiful! You are always so talented with the naked cake style. I want all the figs now!!!! <3

    Reply
  2. Unknown says

    Jun 11, 2016 at 4:17 am

    What a fun cake! I get so tired of chocolate cake and the usual stand by cakes. This recipe sounds amazing!
    Thanks for the beautiful photos too!
    Michelle

    Reply
  3. Unknown says

    Jun 15, 2016 at 4:24 am

    This looks amazing! Your photography is incredible! I struggle with the naked cake look, but this gives me the motivation to give it another go! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  4. csallsazar says

    Nov 20, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    Can you make the cakes in advance a day or two, by any chance? We are thinking about doing this Thanksgiving and, well, you know. The less last minute stuff, the better.

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

a sweet hello.

Welcome to Constellation Inspiration, a buttercream-coated journal of recipes, stories, and love letters that are sweet to read, and even sweeter to eat. These love letters are dedicated to you.

sneak peaks & bonus recipes!

Sign up to get them for free:

featured

i just saw my first cherry blossoms of the season! i just saw my first cherry blossoms of the season!! so i’m going to start making 🍡🍡🍡 now!! brb!!

⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀ ⠀
⠀
⠀
#bakefromscratch #feedfeed #f52grams #huffposttaste #bhgfood #thebakefeed #foodwinewomen #foodblogfeed #foodandwine #eattheworld #bombesquad #abmlifeissweet #marthabakes #saveurmag #bakersofinstagram #imsomartha #kitchenbowl #wsbakeclub #kawaiifood #cutefood #mochi #homecafe #dishedvan #yvreats #vancouverfoodie #wagashi #japanesedessert #dango #hanami
✨🏮 lantern festival 🏮✨ marks the last da ✨🏮 lantern festival 🏮✨ marks the last day of chinese new year and one of the best parts about the festival is eating tong yuen (glutinous rice balls). instead of serving traditional sesame-filled glutinous rice balls this year, i am adding homemade taro and yam glutinous rice balls into one of my favourite traditional chinese dessert soups, 芋頭西米露 (taro and sago pearls in coconut milk). i shaped my taro and yam glutinous rice ball dough into hearts and stars because family is an important theme during chinese new year and serving heart-shaped tong yuen to my family is extra meaningful to me. to those that celebrate chinese and lunar new year, i hope you had a wonderful and safe celebration this year and may year of the ox bring you and your loved ones so much happiness. recipe is on the blog — link in the biooooo!

⠀
 ⠀
⠀
⠀
 ⠀
⠀
#bakefromscratch #baking #feedfeed #f52grams #huffposttaste #bhgfood #thebakefeed #foodwinewomen #beautifulcuisines #foodblogfeed #foodandwine #eattheworld #hautecuisine #bombesquad #abmlifeissweet #marthabakes #saveurmag #bakersofinstagram #imsomartha #kitchenbowl #bareaders #wsbakeclub #kawaiifood #williamssonoma #chinesenewyear #cny #lunarnewyear #mochi #糖水
red bean cream! matcha cream! pandan jelly! choux! red bean cream! matcha cream! pandan jelly! choux!

⠀
⠀
⠀
 ⠀
⠀
⠀
#bakefromscratch #baking #feedfeed #f52grams #huffposttaste #bhgfood #thebakefeed #foodwinewomen #beautifulcuisines #foodblogfeed #foodandwine #eattheworld #bombesquad #abmlifeissweet #marthabakes #saveurmag #bakersofinstagram #kitchenbowl #bareaders #bonappetitmag #kawaiifood #creampuff #creampuffs #choux #boba #bubbletea #bubbletealover #matchalover #matchagreentea
fruit sandos ftw !! 🍓🍊🥝🍑🍈 ⠀ ⠀ fruit sandos ftw !! 🍓🍊🥝🍑🍈

⠀
 ⠀
⠀
⠀
 ⠀
⠀
#bakefromscratch #baking #feedfeed #f52grams #huffposttaste #bhgfood #thebakefeed #foodwinewomen #beautifulcuisines #foodblogfeed #foodandwine #eattheworld #bombesquad #abmlifeissweet #marthabakes #saveurmag #bakersofinstagram #imsomartha #kitchenbowl #bareaders #wsbakeclub #kawaiifood  #fruitsandwich #homecafe #cutefood #japanesedessert #milkbread #fruitsando
last weekend, i ordered the most beautiful wagashi last weekend, i ordered the most beautiful wagashi set from @yuwa_japanese and it was so perfect. it was my first time having wagashi like this and i can’t wait to learn more about the art of wagashi making. the designs and flavours of these pieces were inspired by the blossoming of spring and to celebrate true love ✨

~tsubaki mochi (camilla flower): domyoji flour mochi with smooth red bean paste
~yaezaki (petal of late-bloom camellia): traditional japanese steamed cake with white wine jelly with sweet white bean paste
~kogiku (mini chrysanthemum): nerikiri with almond, chocolate azuki red bean smooth an paste
~hakubai (white plum flower): japanese sponge cake with sour plum and red bean paste + pink white an jelly
~shita moe (plant sprout emerging from the soil):
nerikiri with matcha green tea an bean paste
~uguisu (nightingale): yomogi green mochi with red bean paste and walnuts

⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀ ⠀
⠀
⠀
#bakefromscratch #feedfeed #f52grams #huffposttaste #bhgfood #thebakefeed #foodwinewomen #foodblogfeed #foodandwine #eattheworld #bombesquad #abmlifeissweet #marthabakes #saveurmag #bakersofinstagram #imsomartha #kitchenbowl #wsbakeclub #kawaiifood #cutefood #mochi #homecafe #dishedvan #yvreats #vancouverfoodie #wagashi #japanesedessert

Footer

Recipe Index
About
Press
Contact
Legal

sneak peaks & bonus recipes!

Sign up to get them for free:

© 2021 Constellation Inspiration · Site by Meyne