Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt: Baked Sunday Mornings

This is not my mom's recipe ... just what the Baked Boys called the recipe, but this recipe belonged to a neighbor of Renato's (co-author of the cookbook) mother-Annette, a lovely French woman from Marseilles, France. But Renato's mother baked it so ofter it became Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt!  My initial excitement level for this cake wasn't that great cause I wasn't really in the mood to try another French recipe this week and olive oil in a baked good sounded kinda yucky.  And when you hear the word "bundt", I think many of us go to this:

But I decided to try the recipe.  My husband and 8 yr old daughter both came in the kitchen to help and while we were mixing the ingredients, we couldn't get enough of the wonderful smells coming from this batter.  The good smells continued as the bundt baked.  I was surprised how much I like the flavor of this cake.  I couldn't taste the olive oil at all.  We shared some of our cake on Sunday night with some of our new neighbors.  One man called us around 9pm that night to tell us how much he enjoyed it, that the recipe was definitely a keeper, and one that we should pass on to our kids and grandkids someday.

We enjoyed our bundt for Sunday night dessert although I think it would be wonderful for a brunch or morning-time baby or bridal shower.  Next time I think I'll serve it with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  It was a little hard to swallow.  I don't know if I'd say it was dry though ... just kinda thick.