Last Updated on September 30, 2021 by Chenée Lewis
This rosemary olive oil cake is bursting with orange flavor and it's so moist and easy to make! I love making this orange rosemary cake recipe for any occasion! And if you love olive oil cakes, you've got to try my Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Crystallized Ginger or my Vegan Olive Oil Cake with Lemon and Pistachio!
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Orange Rosemary Olive Oil Cake Recipe
This olive oil cake was the result of some experimenting after a Great British Bake-Off binge got me very excited about olive oil cake. So I picked some brightly flavored olive oil and settled on brightening up the cake with some orange zest and a little rosemary. The flavors worked perfectly, and this orange rosemary olive oil cake was born!
If you haven't had an olive oil cake, you're missing out! The olive oil balances sweetness perfectly. And in this version, the orange and rosemary flavors complement the olive oil so well. So you end up with a less decadent dessert, but one that is so satisfying, especially after a delicious Italian meal! Plus, olive oil keeps the cake moist for days and gives it a distinctive flavor that is amazing! Best of all, it's SO easy-- truly a bowl-and-whisk recipe!
Rosemary Olive Oil Cake Ingredients
- orange zest - the main source of the orange flavor in this olive oil cake! It brightens up the cake so much -- I love how much flavor it adds.
- eggs - your eggs should be room temperature to ensure a light and fluffy cake.
- white sugar - adds a little sweetness.
- extra-virgin olive oil - I used this one, but you can use whatever full-flavored EVOO you prefer! Just make sure you enjoy the flavor, since it's a major part of the flavor of this orange rosemary cake recipe.
- whole milk - helps to add a little moisture, while keeping the texture nice and light.
- pure vanilla extract - the flavor of vanilla balances so well with the orange in this cake!
- orange extract - this is optional, if you want to boost the orange flavor. If you don't have orange extract, you can also just bump up the amount of orange zest!
- all-purpose flour - measured using the spoon-and-level method, or even better -- measured by weight using a food scale.
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- optional toppings including more olive oil to bump up that EVOO flavor, powdered sugar, and a rosemary sprig for garnish.
Equipment
This orange rosemary cake recipe is so easy, you won't need any special equipment! All you'll need is a cake pan, a whisk, a bowl, and (ideally) a food scale to measure your flour.
Orange Rosemary Cake Recipe, Step by Step
The best part about this orange olive oil cake is how easy it is. I've been baking a lot of cakes recently, and this cake was a welcome break. This recipe calls for NO stand mixer, NO handheld mixer, NO softening of butter, and NO layering/assembling. It all comes together with a quick whisk (just try to set out your eggs to come to room temp).
- It takes about 5 minutes to get the batter together, basically as long as it took for the oven to preheat. You'll just whisk together all of the ingredients in order in one bowl and then add it to your cake pan!
- You'll bake it for about 35 minutes and let it cool.
- You can brush on some olive oil on the warm cake to bump up the olive oil flavor, or dust it with powdered sugar. I like to garnish with a sprig of rosemary for a nice touch. I wanted to keep this recipe simple, but you could definitely trade out the powdered sugar topping for a citrus icing or glaze, or even a cream cheese frosting. This orange rosemary cake recipe is pretty much foolproof, so I would definitely feel free to customize! Let me know what changes you make in the comments!
Tips and F.A.Q.
We'll use olive oil to replace butter in this cake, giving our cake a more moist texture and a slightly fruity, peppery flavor. We also use olive oil to help keep the cake moist, since oil has a higher fat content than butter. 
Quite the contrary! I find that this orange rosemary olive oil cake is quicker and easier to make than most cakes, and has a lovely balanced sweetness. The olive oil and rosemary also give the cake a more complex flavor that is perfect!
I haven't tried this cake with dried rosemary, so I can't say if it would work or not -- I highly recommend using fresh rosemary.
This rosemary olive oil cake will keep, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days, or you can freeze it, well wrapped, for up to 2 months.
More Cake Recipes You'll Love
- Cherry Coffee Cake
- Earl Grey Lavender Cake with Honey-Lemon Glaze
- Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Crystallized Ginger
- Banana Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Equipment you may need
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon (12 g) finely grated orange zest - from about 1 ½ oranges
- 1 ½ tablespoon (7 g) finely chopped rosemary leaves
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (162 g) extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅔ cup (158 ml) whole milk - or milk of your choice
- ½ teaspoon (2 ml) pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2 ml) orange extract - optional
- 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon (6 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
Optional Toppings:
- Olive oil
- Powdered sugar
- Sprig of rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray an 8-inch round cake pan with baking spray with flour; line bottom of pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl until well combined.1 cup granulated sugar, 1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Add in orange zest and rosemary and mix well.2 tablespoon finely grated orange zest, 1 ½ tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
- Add olive oil, milk, and eggs, and extracts, mixing gently between each addition. Batter will be very liquidy.3 large eggs, ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, ⅔ cup whole milk, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon orange extract
- Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 35 minutes. .
- Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, brush with additional olive oil, and let cool completely on a wire rack.Olive oil
- Store at room temperature wrapped loosely in foil or plastic wrap. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving, and garnish with a rosemary sprig.Powdered sugar, Sprig of rosemary
Notes
Nutrition
PIN this orange rosemary cake recipe for later!
Jennifer Spencer
This turned out amazing!! Hubby and I loved it! Only changes were - zest of1 orange and the juice of 1/2 orange- no orange extract and no powdered sugar. We will make this again and again!
Chenée Lewis
Fantastic! I"m so glad you both enjoyed it. 🙂
Kaluhi
Love tge mild complexity that rosemary adds to this! Must try for sure!!
Chenée Lewis
I love the rosemary too! Thanks for trying it!
Jayne Rain
This had me drooling so I made some and enjoyed!! I’m so glad I found this recipe!
Chenée Lewis
So glad you liked it!!
Brittany A Albert
So delicious! Love that beautiful herbaceous rosemary, it's one of my favorite herbs!
Chenée Lewis
Mine too! And it works so well together with the orange 🙂
Krysten
I am such a cake girl and love trying these recipes! Yours is definitely one of my favorites!
Chenée Lewis
Thanks! I'm definitely a cake girl too!
Jazz
I love the flavor profile of this cake! It's not too sweet.
Chenée Lewis
Thanks! Yeah it's really balanced 🙂
Chef Mireille
LOVE all of the flavors in this cake. I think rosemary is an under utilized herb in sweet recipes. I will definitely be trying this one out!
Chenée Lewis
Thanks! I hope you love it!
Mila
This looks so amazing. It's such a classic recipe and I'm excited to try it again.
Chenée Lewis
Thanks! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Tamara Johnson
This cake was perfect! My family devoured it. Amazing flavors, and super moist.
Chenée Lewis
Thank you! So glad you all enjoyed it!!
Capri
Wowww!! First, the flavors of this cake sounds AMAZING! And I love how easy it is to put together. This is definitely one to save and make again and again! Thank you for the recipe!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you!! I hope you enjoy this cake!
Brittany Fiero
Olive oil cakes are so delicious. Your cake looks absolutely stunning. I'm definitely going to pin this.
Chenée Lewis
I love olive oil cakes too!! Thanks 🙂
Erika | Black Girls Who Brunch
Olive oil cakes are SO good and underrated. Definitely saving this one for later.
Chenée Lewis
I agree! Thanks -- hope you enjoy it!
Emalie
I LOVE orange flavors. I can't wait to try out this recipe!
Chenée Lewis
I think you'll love this cake then!
Desirée
Ahhh! This cake was everything! Thank you for sharing!
Chenée Lewis
Great to hear! Thank you 🙂
Eric & Shanna Jones
This cake looks great! And I can only imagine adding on a heavy drizzle of citrus icing. Thanks for sharing!
Chenée Lewis
Oh yeah! A drizzle of orange icing would be, well, the icing on the cake!
Marta
I need to bake with olive oil more often after tasting this cake. It was perfectly moist and delicious.
Chenée Lewis
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!