• Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C). Grease and flour a 12-serving muffin pan.

To make the Orange Simple Syrup:

• In a small saucepan, stir together the sugar, orange juice, lemon juice, and orange zest.
• Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until the sugar dissolves.
• Remove the simple syrup from the heat and set it aside to cool.

To make the Orange Olive Oil Cakes:

• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, eggs, orange zest and vanilla extract together by hand or with an electric mixer until it is smooth.
• Gradually mix in the olive oil and beat until the ingredients are well combined.
• Stir in the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk and the orange juice. Stir just until everything is combined.
• Fill the prepared muffin pan two-thirds full with the batter. Do not overfill or the cakes will be more difficult to remove.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops look lightly golden, but still moist and a toothpick can be inserted into the center of the cakes and come out clean. They bake very quickly, so check them a couple of minutes early to avoid overbaking.
• Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes.
• Remove them from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.
• Brush the warm cakes with the orange simple syrup and allow them to cool completely.
• Dust the cooled cakes with powdered sugar. Top with edible flowers, if desired.