The Panettone we baked in December was the perfect segue into this years theme…Italian baking! What, you couldn’t find the post on Panettone? Well, there wasn’t one, but my post on unmet goals kinda covers it. It was sweet and fluffy and delicious and fairly easy to make. Definitely a redo in the future. But enough about the past, it’s 2021 now and we will be baking from the Southern Italian Desserts cookbook by Rosetta Costantino. AND…middle son Alex is getting in on the baking action in between nursing school and work! To welcome him, Eric and I decided to put the pressure on and make him choose the first bake.
The recipe can be found here https://labellasorella.com/2018/01/orange-scented-olive-oil-cake/ or if you purchase the cookbook it’s on page 126.
Whole lotta orange going on in this cake! 
Orange Juice, zest and candied orange peel.
This is a pretty straight forward cake mix. The beating and folding of the egg whites the most difficult step, only because I’m always afraid I’m going to get carried away with the folding and deflate my batter.
Ready to pop in the oven, see all the orangy bits floating aroung? 
Fresh out and you can still see all those bursts of sunshine!
The end result was so moist and fresh, the candied orange peel burst between my teeth like little pops of sunshine. The perfect dessert on a cold winter day, bringing forth memories of long summer days, juice dripping down my chin from a fresh orange, but not as sticky. I think this would make an equally luscious lemon cake, perhaps lime too, if you’re a lime person (I’m not…well, in margaritas, I like lime in margaritas).
My only thoughts on what I would do differently…I don’t think the final step of pouring orange juice over the top was necessary, the cake was truly one of the moistest cakes I’ve had even without pour over. I think a finish of a glaze, like a dark chocolate one would have added another dimension to this tasty sponge. A hit for everyone! Well, except for my youngest son Cody, apparently he’s not a fan of moist cakes. All I can say is….he’s always been a special child. Side note: It’s hard to get exciting pictures of a bundt cake, but I tried!
Alex 
Me 
Eric
Looks delicious and it is good that Alex joined you and Eric. Looks like you all did a good job!
Thank you, it was really good!