Orange Olive Oil Cake

This Orange Olive Oil Cake is ultra moist, covered in orange glaze, and just sweet enough. The perfect sidecar for your afternoon tea or coffee!

I fell in love with this cake from the moment I first made it a year ago. It’s so, so moist, with the perfect crumb and a ridiculous amount of orange flavor. You could sub in just about any citrus here and I’m certain it would be just as delicious, although I haven’t tried any but orange yet.

I don’t often stress ingredient quality here and encourage you to use what you can afford, but this cake really is best with high-quality olive oil. I’ve made it with the cheapest olive oil I could find, and the flavor simply wasn’t as good. So, if you’re able, buy the best olive oil you can afford, and I guarantee it will make this cake better. Save the cheap stuff for general cooking, where the flavor of the oil doesn’t take center stage.

More simple sweets:
Healthyish Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
The Best Fudgy Vegan Brownies
Honey-Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake

IF YOU MAKE THIS ORANGE OLIVE OIL CAKE, DON’T FORGET TO SNAP A PHOTO AND TAG ME IN IT ON INSTAGRAM @FEELINWHISKY! I LOVE SEEING WHAT YOU DO WITH MY RECIPES!

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This weekend was, in a word, healing.

I spent Sunday evening reading, a candle lit beside me, the lights from our Christmas tree the only other thing illuminating the room. And in that quiet moment, I breathed an unprompted sigh of relief. It was the first time in an indescribably long time that everything truly felt like it was going to be okay.

I also made this cake. There’s something deeply meditative about baking, especially something as humble as this olive oil cake. Just a few simple ingredients, the quiet whir of the mixer, and whatever thoughts and feelings you’re willing to welcome. I often turn to baking in those moments when I feel like it’s all just too much, and I almost always emerge feeling more like myself.

I’ve spent the past few days reconnecting with myself and, most importantly, challenging my fears. The last two years have been shrouded in insecurity, self-doubt, and, all too often, paralyzing fear. My anxiety has gone more or less unaddressed, which has left me feeling fully out of touch with who I truly am and what I want out of life.

However, I’ve taken just a few small steps this week, and I already feel lighter.

Perhaps most importantly, I’ve found a new therapist who I connect with and who urges me to face my fears with strength and integrity. We’ve only met three times so far, but I already cannot stress enough what a deep impact she’s had on my well-being.

Over the next few months (or years, or forever — who knows?), I’d like to open up a deeper dialogue about mental health and wellness here. I debated starting a separate blog for mental health, largely due to the plentiful blogger criticisms circulating the internet these days.

But then I realized that this is my truest form of expression, because all these things — food, therapy, anxiety, relationships — are inextricably tied. I can’t compartmentalize in that way, because food dredges up thoughts and feelings, and vice versa. So, maybe it feels strange to read about panic attacks and therapy between glossy photos of oranges and cake. Consider, though, how strange it feels to experience panic attacks and therapy between slices of oranges and cake.

That’s life, baby. It’s everything, all at once.

This is the message that prompted me to start this blog three years ago. I shied away from it for a long, long time because I wanted to fit into the standard food-blogger mold. But uh… that ain’t me, y’all. I don’t want to JUST write about how delicious this cake is (even though it is, and I hope you make it).

When I re-read my first blog posts, though, I feel a sense of inspiration and connection that I haven’t felt in entirely too long. This is what calls me to write. The food is just a vehicle, an expression of feeling just like writing itself. To me, this cake says comfort.

It feels like a slow Sunday spent doing your favorite thing in quiet calm.

It feels like healing and growth. Maybe it’ll feel like something entirely different to you. Maybe this cake, or another recipe, will come to you at exactly the right time. Hopefully, whatever it is, it’ll make you feel like everything is going to be okay.