Sourdough Discard Orange + Olive Oil Cake

Picture this – you have a healthy, happy sourdough starter. It’s 83 degrees outside on a late spring day, and you just went to Costco for a big bag of oranges. Now, you get to make this simple and delicious summer orange + olive oil cake. It’s filled with zesty flavors, moist from the combination of olive oil and sour cream and uses your sourdough discard!

❤️ Why You’ll Love Orange + Olive Oil Cake

Not a “baker”? Not a problem! I love to bake bread, but baked sweets were always a little tough for me. But this cake is an approachable recipe that I truly believe anyone could try. It’s a simple summer showstopper that’s perfect to bring to your backyard BBQ’s and bonus – it’s made with sourdough discard.

🍲 Ingredients

Sourdough Discard – Inactive, unfed sourdough starter.

Flour – I’ve found that even if you’re not an everyday baker, most people still have a bag of all-purpose flour in their pantry. We like Kirkland’s organic, unbleached all-purpose flour. While organic isn’t totally necessary, I recommend always using unbleached flour.

Oranges – I use around 6 large Naval oranges in this recipe for all the zest, juice, and garnishes.

Olive oil – Like with any ingredient in any recipe, good quality ones are better. So if you have a nice olive oil, I believe it would make an impactful difference.

Sour cream – This helps the cake remain extra moist, but this can also be substituted for Greek yogurt.

Baking soda + baking powder – This is what will make the bread rise and give it its fluffy texture.

👩‍🍳 How to Make Orange + Olive Oil Cake

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and orange zest. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl with a whisk), mix together the eggs, olive oil and sugar until fully combined. Slowly add in the sour cream, sourdough discard, and orange juice until combined.
• On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until there is a smooth batter.
• Generously grease two round cake pans and evenly pour the batter into each pan.
• Bake at 375 for 30 – 33 minutes until you can stick the dull end of a butter knife through the middle and no batter sticks to it.
• Let cool completely before icing.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

• I like to use a stand mixer, because it does the work for you. But you can easily use a large bowl with a whisk or electric mixer.
• Zesting the orange before juicing it will ensure you use the whole orange easily. If you juice first, it will be hard to get all the zest off the skin.
• Using a good quality olive oil will intensify the flavor of the cake.

🗒 Variations

Spring/Summer cakes are such a treat to make, and I have a lot of different flavors up my sleeve that you must try!

• Blueberry Crumble Cake
• Strawberry Shortcake Cake

🗒 Substitutions

There are plenty of substitutions you can make with this cake while still keeping the integrity and flavor the same. You can switch the sour cream for Greek yogurt, and the olive oil for melted coconut oil or butter.

• Sour cream – Greek yogurt.
• Olive oil – Coconut oil/ Butter.

🗒 Best served with

• Summer Desserts
• Cup of coffee (everything is better with a cup of coffee)
• Fresh fruit salad.

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store your leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days to maintain its freshness.

🤔 Common Questions

4.75 from 4 votes

Orange + Olive Oil Cake

Print recipe

This is the perfect summer cake. It's zesty, moist, and you don't need to be a professional baker to make this cake lovely. It has a creamy cream cheese frosting and smells like a candle while it's baking, this is for sure going to make it on your summer dessert menu.

Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:32 minutes mins

Total Time:47 minutes mins

Equipment

• stand mixer or large bowl + whisk
• 2 round cake pans
• Spatula
• Measuring cups

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cup all- purpose flour
• 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup olive oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup sourdough discard
• ½ cup fresh orange juice about 3 – 4 large oranges
• 2 tsp orange zest about 1 -2 full oranges

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 6 tbs butter softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp orange zest or lemon zest
• 2-3 tbs orange juice the juice of one large lemon

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and orange zest. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl with a whisk), mix together the eggs, olive oil and sugar until fully combined. Slowly add in the sour cream, sourdough discard, and orange juice until combined.
• On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until there is a smooth batter.
• Generously grease two round cake pans and evenly pour the batter into each pan.
• Bake at 375 for 30 – 33 minutes until you can stick the dull end of a butter knife through the middle and no batter sticks to it.
• Let cool completely before icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

• While your cake is baking, assemble the icing.
• In your stand mixer, mix the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, orange zest and orange juice until fully combined.
• Place the cake on a cake pan and dollop 1/3 of the frosting on the top, smoothing it out with a spatula. Place the second cake on top of the icing and add 1/3 more of the frosting on top, smoothing out with a spatula. Then frost the sides of the cake until everything is even and coated.
• Slice one orange for garnish and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 615kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 494mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 615IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 2mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cake, orange cake, Sourdough, Sourdough Discard, summer cake

Servings: 12

Calories: 615kcal