Olive Oil Cake
I love the simplicity and seemingly endless mutability of an olive oil cake. This cake comes together in about the time it will take your oven to heat up, if not less, and uses predominantly pantry ingredients. It is truly one of best low input, high return desserts you can have in your baking back pocket.
It shines so brightly on its own (just try to not sneak a slice with your coffee every morning), but also plays so nicely with other flavors. Serve with some unsweetened whipped cream and whatever fruit is delicious. Think fresh berries or stone fruit in the spring and summer, lightly sautéed and spiced persimmon, apples, or pears in the fall, supremes of citrus in the winter. Or lean into this cake’s true flavor soulmate (citrus) with a super tart and creamy lemon sauce (recipe on next post).
And finally, a quick note on the method used in the cake. The method is called “reverse creaming,” which is when you combine all the dry ingredients and sugar, add in the oil (or butter) until a paste is formed, and finally mix in the remaining wet ingredients. This process can seem a bit counterintuitive if you are most familiar with the traditional cake batter process – creaming butter or oil into your sugar, adding eggs, then alternating dries and remaining wet ingredients.
Just from the start you can see that putting together a batter via reverse creaming is much simpler. But the reasons for using it go far behind a simple desire for simplicity. This method allows for a more even distribution of all ingredients with a far lowered chance of over mixing. Therefore, the end result is a cake with an incredibly tender texture and little to no dome.
Makes 1 x 8” or 9” round cake
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
1/2 cup (60g) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (90g) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (40g) almond flour
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup (190g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (120g) extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (210g) plain, whole milk yogurt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Method
Preheat oven to 325F. Spray and line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment. No need to line the sides of the pan, as there is a decent amount of fat in the cake which helps it from sticking. The bottom piece of parchment is simply an insurance policy, as it is much more difficult to unstick the bottom of a cake than it is the sides.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine ½ cup (60g) all-purpose flour, ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat flour, ½ cup (40g) almond flour, ½ cup + 1/3 cup (190g) brown sugar, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp baking powder, and ½ tsp baking soda and mix with a paddle attachment on low.
Slowly stream in the ½ cup (120g) olive oil until mixture resembles wet sand. Alternatively, anchor your bowl on the counter with a wet kitchen towel and mix with a spatula until all combined.
In a small bowl, whisk ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (210g) yogurt, 2 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla until combined. Add into the bowl of the mixer all at once and mix on low until almost all the way combined. Finish off mixing by hand with a spatula.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake until dark golden brown and the center gently springs back when touched, or cake tester comes out clean, 40 - 45 minutes.
Allow cakes to fully cool before removing from pans.
To remove, lightly slide an offset spatula, paring knife, or butter knife along the perimeter of the cake, in between the edge of the cake and the pan. Try to keep your offset or knife pressed against the side of the pan, rather than the cake. This will help to ensure you don’t accidentally cut into the cake while releasing the sides. Quickly invert the cake pan onto a cooling rack, peel off the parchment round, and flip the cake over so it is right side up.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.
Additional Notes
Vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract can be used interchangeably. Use whichever you have and/or prefer.
A note on olive oils. There are soooo many types of olive oils, with so many flavor profiles and so many intended uses. In this situation, I recommend using your preferred workhorse extra virgin olive oil. Chances are if you like to cook with it, you’ll like to bake with it. Lastly, I would refrain from using any fancy finishing olive oils in this recipe, mainly because they are usually much more expensive, but they also tend to have more delicate, nuanced flavors that can be lost or muted when heated. That being said, a dollop of whipped cream and a little drizzle of the fancy stuff would be a delightful way to enjoy this cake.
Store bought almond flour or homemade both work well here! I don’t always have store bought on hand, as it can be a bit pricey and doesn’t have the longest shelf life, unless stored in the fridge. But, I do always have some sort of almonds on hand. I find slivered or sliced usually work best to create a fine and smooth flour. Simply weigh out the amount called for (plus a little extra just in case) and blend until fine in whatever sort of Nutribullet/Vitamix/food processor you have. Just be sure you don’t blend to the point of creating nut butter! Happens to the best of us!
Second note on nut flours - feel free to play around with other nuts, or even a combo of nuts. I have tried the recipe with both homemade walnut and pistachio flours and it turned out beautifully. Because the flours were homemade, and due to the nature of the nuts, their flour was a bit coarser than your average store bought, or even homemade, almond flour. Regardless the result was still super soft, just with a slight bit of texture from the nuts.
Light and dark brown sugars can be used interchangeably here, and honestly, almost anywhere. The only difference is the amount of molasses that has been added back into the sugar, of which there is no standard amount across brands. Just keep in mind, that dark brown sugar may add a bit more of a pronounced molasses flavor and will make the final product slightly darker.
Do not be alarmed if the cake looks quite dark after just a short time in the oven!