Spring-Summer Menu Two Ways
Honeyed Orange Pistachio Olive Oil Cake
Sweet and moist, this honey and olive oil cake is light but decadent, with flavors of juicy orange, spicy cardamom, and roasted pistachios.
Bursting with flavor, this citrus and honey olive oil cake is the ideal dessert, no matter the season. We originally envisioned this dessert as part of our spring / summer party series, but the sweet spice of cardamom and roasted pistachio make it ideal for fall and winter as well.
We will walk you step-by-step through the recipe and how we would serve it at either a spring brunch or summer dinner party, along with our recommended honeys for the cake and honey glaze. If you'd rather skip the small talk and get straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button below!
Dessert Two Ways
Spring or Summer?
In this series of recipes, we wanted to showcase the versatility of tea and honey as ingredients and emphasize thinking outside the box. So, in this series of photos you can see the Honeyed Orange & Pistachio Olive Oil cake taking center stage at a spring brunch and a summer dinner party. Where will you serve yours?
Baking with Honey
Recommended Honeys for Your Cake
Baking with honey is not always straight forward. As we've learned in previous posts, baking with honey may require some modifications to your recipe and you always want to keep flavor profile in mind when choosing your honey for baking.
For this particular recipe, we recommend our Orange Blossom honey thanks to its citrus flavor notes. If you'd like a darker cake with a molasses-like flavor profile, try using Buckwheat Honey. Or you might try Alfalfa Honey for a milder honey flavor. You can explore all of these honeys and our other favorite honeys for cooking and baking below!
Honeyed Orange & Pistachio Olive Oil Cake
Making Your Honey Olive Oil Cake

1. Prep
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9" cake pan: line the bottom with parchment and butter the sides.

2. Combine Dry Ingredients
Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.

3. Prepare the Nuts and Spices
Pulverize the pistachios and cardamom together in a spice grinder or blender and add them to the dry ingredients with the salt and citrus zest.

4. Combine the Wet Ingredients
In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs, honey, and sugar until thickened. Whisk in the milk and olive oil in a steady steam.

5. Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, using the whisk to incorporate slowly. Be careful not to overmix.

6. Bake
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 60 minutes or until done.

7. Prepare the Glaze
For the glaze: Heat a 1/2 cup honey on the stove until warm. Whisk in 2 Tblsp of cold butter until homogeneous and drizzle over the cooled cake. Garnish with ground pistachios.
Honey Dessert Recipe
Honeyed Orange Pistachio Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup shelled roasted salted pistachios + more for garnish
4 green cardamom pods
Zest of one orange
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup honey (we recommend Orange Blossom)
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
For the glaze:
1/4 cup honey
2 Tblsp cold butter
Lightly ground salted roasted pistachios for garnish
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9" cake pan: line the bottom with parchment and butter the sides.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
3. Pulverize the pistachios and cardamom together in a spice grinder or blender and add them to the dry ingredients with the salt and citrus zest.
4. In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs, honey, and sugar until thickened. Whisk in the milk and olive oil in a steady steam.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, using the whisk to incorporate slowly. Be careful not to overmix.
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 60 minutes or until done.
7. For the glaze: Heat a 1/2 cup honey on the stove until warm. Whisk in 2 Tblsp of cold butter until homogeneous and drizzle over the cooled cake. Garnish with ground pistachios.
Orange Blossom Honey
View More Honey Recipes!
Smoke the Hive Honey Cocktail
1/4 oz honey simple syrup (we recommend Wildflower or Sourwood Honey) 1/2 oz lemon juice 3/4 oz dry curaçao 1 1/2 oz Mezcal Shake and strain into a coupe glass Garnish: Lemon twist or orange zest, expressed
Herb & Honey Vinaigrette
Vinaigrette 1/4 cup lemon juice sea salt 2 tsp sliced chives 2 Tblsp mixed soft herbs of choice: tarragon, parsley, basil, mint, chervil 1Tblsp honey (We recommend Acacia, Spanish Wild Lavender, or Spanish Orange Blossom!) 3/4 cup EVOO In a small bowl, add in the lemon juice, sea salt, herbs...
Honey Butter
1 softened stick of your favorite butter 1 Tblsp honey (We recommend Alfalfa, Orange Blossom, or Sourwood!) sea salt to finish Whip together butter and honey until smooth and then place in a small pot. Refrigerate. When serving, bring to room temperature and sprinkle with seasalt.