Citrus Olive Oil Cake & Chocolate Orange Glaze - Dairy Free

I hope you had a good holiday weekend! Mr. Official Taster and I stayed very busy and spent a lot of time visiting friends (both in and out-of-towners), which was great. However, by Monday afternoon I was ready to lay in bed with a good book and read. alone. It was fabulous. (more on the book later this week)

Anyway, on Saturday this couple had a housewarming/anniversary bash, so bringing a cake seemed fitting. Plus I like cake.

This cake has lots of great qualities. It's light, sweet, and moist. It can be baked and served from the same container, which just makes things easier. It can handle lots of different frosting varieties, or none at all. It can also be made with fresh ingredients in winter or summer.

I chose a super simple glaze and decoration. If I had more time or inclination, I would have loved to have tried these candied orange slices or homemade gumdrops.

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Citrus Olive Oil Cake - Dairy Free
adapted from How to Cook Everything
cooking spray for pan
4 eggs, separated and room temperature
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 + 3/4 C sugar
2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C orange juice
zest of one lemon or orange

Separate your eggs when you first take them out of the refrigerator because it's easier when they are cold. Then allow them to come to room temperature for 30 min or so.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 (or thereabouts) pan with cooking spray (I used olive oil spray)

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs whites in a small bowl until they foam. Then sprinkle in 1/4 C sugar while still beating the whites. Continue beating until the whites hold soft peaks.

In a large bowl, add the olive oil and 3/4 C sugar and mix together. Add the egg yolks and beat until thick and fluffy (5-7 minutes). Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Next, mix in the orange juice and zest. The mixture will be very thick and/or crumbly. If it's crumbly, add in a splash more of juice. Don't despair.

Add the beaten egg whites to this thick mixture. As gently as possible, thoroughly mix together the batter and egg whites. You may think they will never combine, but they will.

Turn the mixture into your prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan, frost it if you'd like, and serve it directly from there.

Chocolate Orange Glaze - Vegan and Gluten Free
This is barely a recipe. I've mentioned before that I don't really measure for glazes. Here's a previous recipe.  For this one, I mixed together some confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and orange juice until I had a good amount and the right consistency to just pour it on.

Notes:
I actually used lemon zest and Orange Peach Mango juice from Trader Joe's. It's delicious.

The decorations are also from TJ's. They are Citrus Gumdrops and the best gumdrops I've ever tasted.