A moist and flavourful olive oil cake perfectly flavoured with bright orange and warm cardamom.
Preheat oven to 350F and set the rack to the middle. Grease or line the bottom of a 9" round cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, add the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cardamom, and salt and mix to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl, rub the granulated sugar and orange zest together with your fingers to help release the oils from the orange.
Add the eggs to the sugar-zest mixture and beat with a whisk or mixer for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture becomes pale and light in colour.
Slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking the batter. Continue to whisk/beat until the olive oil is fully combined.
Add the 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, whole milk, and vanilla extract and mix everything together until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 parts, mixing to combine after each addition. Do not overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place the pan onto the middle rack in the oven.
Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out clean.
Remove from oven and immediately pour the 3 tbsp of orange juice over the cake as evenly as possible.
Allow the cake to cool for about 15-20 minutes in the pan, then remove cake from the pan and place on a baking rack to cool completely.
In a medium bowl, add the powdered sugar and orange blossom water and mix. Add 1 tbsp of milk and whisk thoroughly. If the mixture is too thick to spoon over cake, add another tbsp of milk, or until you reach desired consistency to pour over the cake.
Pour the glaze over the entire cake or over individual slices.
Garnish with fresh orange slices, if desired.