Citrus Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Curd and Mascarpone Whipped Cream

This is hands down my favorite cake, ever. And as a bonus, it’s one of the easiest cakes to whip up, too. I may never make another kind of frosting ever again? We’ll see. I made this cake for my own birthday this year — it’s one of the activities I really look forward to as a gift to myself. Everyone loved it so much that I almost didn’t have any leftovers, which would have been a tragedy! But I was able to save myself a small slice to enjoy the next day in a post-birthday haze.

This dream cake of mine is a combination of three different recipes/ideas: Caitlin Confidential’s citrus olive oil cake for the base, Olives + Thyme’s dreamy mascarpone whipped cream frosting, and a puddle of lemon curd surrounded by an herb wreath inspired by @snarkybutdelish (who seems to no longer be on Instagram). Side note: this recipe is also saved in my S/S recipe collection for easy referencing. I added dried fig slices and the cutest candles ever from Happy Organics to make it perfectly ‘me’. I hope you make this and enjoy it with lots of loved ones!

What you’ll need

For the cake: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 and 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil, 1 and 1/4 cups whole milk, 3 large eggs, 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons grated orange and lemon zest, 1/3 cup fresh orange and lemon juice

For the whipped cream: 1 cup COLD heavy cream, 8 oz mascarpone cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tsps vanilla extract

For the garnish: lemon curd, fresh thyme, dried fig slices, blackberries or other fruits

How to do it

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a 9 inch cake pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry cake ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the liquid. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with a Tablespoon of sugar. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes. The top should be golden brown and a toothpick should come out of the center clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. (I find that I have to bake this cake longer for it to be fully baked all the way through!)

Meanwhile, make the whipped cream. It is helpful if you place your mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes before making the frosting! I do this once the cake has come out of the oven while it’s cooling. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the mascarpone on low speed until it’s smooth. Then, add the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix until well combined. Slowly add the heavy cream on low speed. Once it’s all in, increase the mixer speed to medium for 2 to 3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.

I cut my cake into two layers so that I could add frosting between them, but you don’t have to do this (I just can never get enough frosting!) In fact, I may have made two batches of frosting, I don’t remember. It’s always good to have extra ingredients in case you want them. I piped a quick, messy ruffle around the perimeter of the cake using one of the angled tips I had on hand. Then, I spooned a generous amount of lemon curd into the center until it reached the frosting. I placed fresh thyme sprigs in a wreath around the lemon curd and tucked dried fig slices (new at Trader Joe’s this year) into the ruffle. Blackberry candles that looked all too realistic were the perfect finishing touch for my birthday, but it would look just as sweet with another kind of fruit, or with just the figs!

Serve and enjoy with your favorite people xx