Citrus season is the best season so here’s a quick and light cake to scarf down with some espresso or tea.

A special recipe I’ve been lucky enough to work on with Villa Graziella!

I used a chiffon cake method for this to give what was originally a denser cake a lighter texture. The cake has a really good blend of orange and olive flavors, nothing too subtle, nothing too overwhelming. A solid light cake. It’s also really easy to make and bake.

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

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one cup Villa Graziella Extra Virgin Olive Oil plus three tablespoons

one and one third cup all purpose flour

two thirds cup semolina flour

three fourths teaspoon of salt

half teaspoon baking soda

half cup of sugar, divided into fourths

four eggs plus one egg white, seperated

four teaspoons orange zest

four teaspoons of orange juice

two teaspoons grand marnier (optional, an extra teaspoon of orange juice if leaving out)

one and on half teaspoons of vanilla extract

two thirds cup whole milk greek yogurt

two tablespoons honey

half cup of milk (I used plant based, so I would recommend a lower fat milk if using dairy)

three tablespoons powdered sugar

one fourth cup hazelnuts (optional as a topping)

Preheat your oven to three hundred and fifty degrees. Grease a nine-inch cake pan with spray oil or butter.

In a stand mixer, whisk together olive oil, egg yolks, one fourth cup of sugar, orange zest, orange juice, grand marnier, yogurt, and honey.

In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients together. Have the milk ready in a cup to pour.

In another bowl beat five egg whites and the other fourth cup of sugar together until you get stiff peaks on the mixers. A good and dangerous test to see if they’re ready is to flip the bowl upside down. Hopefully nothing falls out.

Switch the whisk attachment for a paddle mixer. Alternating milk and dry ingredients, add them to the to the stand mixer until fully incorporated into a batter.

In four batches by hand, add in and fold the egg whites to the batter with a spatula. Do your best to do this slowly and not over fold, you don’t want to knock the air out of the egg whites.

Pour batter into your cake pan and smooth out the top. Place in the center rack of your oven.

Bake for forty to fifty minutes. My cake came out perfectly at forty-five minutes but it all depends on your oven, mine is really fidgety so I’m never sure. As always, test the center with a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean, then you’re good to go.

Optional: Toast your hazelnuts on a pan for about four minutes on high heat, stirring frequently. The brown peels should fall off easily after and the nut should have softened up a bit. Break them down to whatever consistency you’d like using a processor, a mallet, your fist, anything to get that anger out.

Once you remove the cake, brush it with about a tablespoon of the extra olive oil. Let cool for ten minutes before removing it from the pan and putting it on a wire rack. Let sit on the rack until completely cooled.

When it has cooled, brush with another tablespoon of olive oil, dust with powdered sugar, and throw on the chopped nuts to top.

Serve with whatever your heart desires, I like it with after dinner drinks or some coffee