Tangerine Olive Oil Cake is infused with a refreshing winter flavor from tangerine zest and made super moist with olive oil. These little soft bundt cakes will brighten up any gloomy winter day.
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These little mini bundt cakes are extremely moist and soft. They are perfect with tea or coffee and don’t need any additional frosting or icing. Though you could certainly add a tangerine icing similar to the lemon icing on these mini lemon bundt cakes.
For me, the sweetness is perfect with just a dusting of powdered sugar to give them a little snowy winter effect.
What you’ll need
This easy tangerine olive oil cake can be made with tangerines, clementines or any type of orange zest you have on hand. I originally made these cakes with a tangerine infused olive oil, gifted to me by Paso Olivo. But you can easily substitute regular olive oil and increase the amount of zest to boost the flavor.
Here are all the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
➤ The advantage of using olive oil or any type of oil in cake is that you will always get extremely moist crumb.
How to make Tangerine Olive Oil Cake
My original recipe uses these mini bundt tins. I got them a few years back at TJMaxx very cheaply but I don’t know if you can still find them easily these days. So I decided to test the recipe in a cake pan and also in muffin tins.
I’m happy to report this tangerine olive oil cake recipe can be baked in pretty much anything. They’re still loveliest as mini bundt cakes, but my second choice would be to bake it as a whole cake.
Making mini tangerine bundt cakes
- Rub the tangerine zest with sugar in a small bowl until fragrant and the sugar turns light yellow. Add the dry ingredients to the tangerine sugar and set aside.
- Add egg, yogurt, olive oil and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl.
- Beat with a hand whisk until smooth. You could also use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer here.
- Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture.
- Mix with a whisk or fold with a spatula until incorporated.
- Divide batter evenly among your bundt pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Making them in muffin tins
If you don’t have mini bundt pans, you can bake these in standard size muffin tins. One batch will yield about 10-11 muffins. Bake them at the same oven temperature for 17-18 minutes.
However, note that these will not come out with a high dome like your typical muffins since the recipe was developed to have flat bundt cake bottoms. Muffin tins will work but they won’t be very pretty.
Make it in a cake pan
You could also opt to bake the whole thing in an 8” cake pan. If I didn’t have bundt pans, this would be my preferred way to bake this tangerine cake. Bake the cake at the same oven temperature for about 27 minutes.
The cake will come out totally flat on top, which will actually be perfect if you want to make a layer cake. The crumb is extremely moist and soft, and so delicious.
➤ Tip: If you want to make a layer cake, double the recipe and bake in 2 cake pans. I would recommend a tangy cream cheese frosting to go with it.
Baker’s Tips
- If you don’t have tangerine olive oil, simply use more tangerine zest to boost the flavor along with regular olive oil.
- You can use any type of citrus zest in this recipe: tangerine, clementine, even regular orange zest. Try it with lemon zest or grapefruit zest for a different flavor.
- You can substitute sour cream instead of yogurt.
- This recipe will work in an 8” round cake pan or standard size muffin tins.
- Note that when baking in a cake pan or muffin tins, the cake will come out flat on top. So aesthetically, the muffins won’t look super pretty. If you need the cake to look pretty, go with the mini bundt cakes or a whole round cake.
How to serve it
I love these mini tangerine bundt cakes with just a light dusting of powdered sugar. But if you want something extra, you could serve them with:
- A dollop of homemade whipped cream
- A scoop of vanilla ice cream or orange ice cream
- Or a drizzle of tangerine icing made with 2 tablespoons of tangerine juice, zest of 1 tangerine and about 1 ½ cup of powdered sugar.
Storage
Store leftover tangerine olive oil cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can refrigerate the cake for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months.
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More citrusy treats
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📖 Recipe card
Tangerine Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (144 g)
- Zest of 2 tangerines (use more zest to boost flavor as desired, see note)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (133 g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 cup plain yogurt (room temperature, 239 g)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 oz volume tangerine olive oil (or regular olive oil, 75 g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add sugar and tangerine zest to a small bowl, rub together until fragrant and sugar turn a light yellow. Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda into the bowl with the tangerine sugar, stir in the kosher salt, mix well to distribute thoroughly. Set aside.
- Add egg, yogurt, olive oil and vanilla extract to a large bowl and beat until smooth. Fold in the flour mixture until incorporated.
- Place the mini bundt pans on a large baking sheet and spray them with a thin layer of nonstick cooking spray. Divide the batter evenly among four pans. Tap the pans to level the batter. Bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Remove from the oven, and place the bundt pans on a wire rack to cool. When the bundt pans are cool enough to touch, flip them over and tap to loosen the bundt cake onto the wire rack, let cool completely.
- Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Notes
- If you don’t have tangerine olive oil, simply use more tangerine zest to boost the flavor along with regular olive oil.
- You can substitute sour cream instead of yogurt.
- You can also bake this recipe in an 8” round cake pan for about 27 minutes.
- You can also bake these in muffin tins. This recipe will yield about 10 – 11 muffins. Bake them for 17-18 minutes.
- Note that when baking in a cake pan or muffin tins, the cake will come out flat on top.
- Optional tangerine icing: 2 tablespoons of tangerine juice + zest of 1 tangerine + 1 ½ cup of powdered sugar.
Nutrition
Originally published on 11/26/2018. Post updated and republished on 1/3/2021 with more tips and substitutions, additional ways to bake the cake in a cake pan and muffin tins, no change to the original recipe.
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I made this in a 9” square pan. I added 50% to the recipe, using two eggs, separating the second one, and using the volume of the white to reduce the amount of yogurt. I also added fresh chopped rosemary, about 1T. I should have added more—up to double that amount. I brushed lightly with EVOO when cool. We really enjoyed it.
So glad to hear you enjoyed this cake Sheila. Rosemary is a such a wonderful addition!
Love these! They’re so moist and is always a hit when I make them. Perfect for a warm Florida Christmas where citrus is in abundance
Yum! This looks delicious! Orange is a favorite of mine! Pinning this for later!
I follow you on instagram and love your stuff. Your photos are gorgeous!
Hi Sarah! Thank you so much 🙂 Be sure to tag me when you make it, I love seeing the final product!
These look beautiful and that piece at the end showing how fluffy it is. So so good.
Great post! Love pasolivo products!
Thank you so much! They’re wonderful to cook and bake with.
These are the sweetest little bundt cakes!