It’s funny to see the rise in popularity with olive oil cakes, especially here in Los Angeles, over the past 4 years. It’s almost as if post-pandemic, that became the “it” cake in the city. You would be amazed to see how many bakeries and cafes sell a variation of it, and almost all are equally delicious. To appeal of that kind of cake, to me anyways, is the sweet and savory mix between the sugar and vanilla against the grassiness of the olive oil. Granted, I love olive oil gelato, so I might already just love olive oil in desserts to begin with. This cake was also my birthday gift to my dear friend, Naama. Naama loves all things Mediterranean, so for her birthday, I wanted to embody that. Olive oil, citrus, and tahini just sounded. like the best way to combine Southern Californian and Mediterranean flavors into one. I used tangerines throughout this recipe because my family friend from Temecula owns a tangerine orchard, and they gifted me a ton of delicious tangerines to use/eat. So this specific recipe uses tangerine instead of the typical lemon, just to embrace their seasonality. Admittedly, the tangerines were a bit of a last-minute addition to this cake; I knew I wanted to do olive oil and tahini from the jump, but as I was thinking about what else this cake needed, acidity and citrus just made perfect sense to cut through all of the heaviness and richness. That being said, it was a very well-balanced cake, and the most important part was that Naama enjoyed the cake! So for anyone who wants to try a slightly different take on your typical olive oil cake, feel free to try this recipe!

This recipe honestly is a 4/10 in terms of difficulty; so long as you own a 6-inch ring mold, mixing bowls, and a sheet tray, you can make this recipe with relative ease! While I have probably eaten five times my weight in olive oil cakes, I’d like to think I also make a mean olive oil cake that can contend with most of them. Most olive oil cake recipes use tons of lemon zest and almond flour in them to create a tender, buttery crumb with a zesty fragrance; the almond flour, being gluten-free, lends itself well to creating a softer cake. My olive oil cake uses semolina flour, which is a high gluten-flour, and while that would normally create a firmer, dryer cake, it works with the high quantity of olive oil I would use in my recipe to create a firm, stable cake with a rich, olive oil flavor. Also, I soak my olive oil cake, either in simple syrup, or in the case of this recipe, tangerine juice, just to keep the cake from being dry. There is also a layer of tangerine gelee, meant to add a bit of zestiness and fragrance in the same way lemon zest would. You can totally add 1-2 tbsp of finely grated tangerine zest to your cake batter as well, but my tangerines were really soft, so I was only really able to grate enough for the gelee itself, and I did not really think to do that until my cake was already baking in the oven and I was rummaging around my pantry for what other ingredients I wanted to pair with this olive oil cake at the time. I also used brown butter and tahini just to add an extra layer of nuttiness; usually olive oil cakes are served on their own, with a dusting of powdered sugar, or maybe with lemon curd, but you rarely ever see them frosted. I get that, in the sense that buttercream can overtake olive oil, but in this case, I went with a cream cheese frosting that has brown butter and tahini, just to give the cake some lift.

For the semolina-olive oil cake:
3/4 cups semolina flour
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, whisk everything together until combined. Pour the cake batter into a lined quarter sheet tray and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Allow the cake to fully cool before cutting out 2 6-inch rounds and then forming a third out of the cake scraps.

For the brown butter-tahini cream cheese frosting:
10 tbsp unsalted butter, browned
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
8oz cream cheese
4oz tahini paste
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

In a bowl, start by whipping the brown butter and confectioner’s sugar until combined. Mix into that the other ingredients and whip until smooth and spreadable.

For the tangerine gelee:
juice and zest from 4 tangerines
a pinch of salt
1 tsp agar agar

In a pot, heat everything up until the agar dissolves into the liquid. Pour the liquid into a shallow container and allow it to firm up. Transfer the firmed up gelee into a blender and puree until spreadable; add water, 1 tbsp at a time, as needed.

For assembly:
1/4 cup tangerine juice
Toasted white sesame seeds

Line a 6-inch ring mold with an acetate collar and place onto a sheet tray that can fit into your freezer. Place down the scrap layer of cake first, then drizzle on 1/3 of the tangerine juice. Then spread on 1/3 of the frosting and 1/3 of the gelee. Repeat these steps with the next two layers, sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top of the cake, and transfer to the freezer for 2 hours. Unmold and allow the cake to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before attempting to serve.