Ok, when I told everyone that I was making olive oil cake for Christmas this year, I got looks of confusion and absolute disgust all around LOL! I know it sounds weird, but it. is. GOOD!
So I tried it once many years ago and loved it, and for some reason, I’ve been craving it lately. This is the product of me making it up as I went along, and I kid you not, I have been making it for every occasion since. I even made a vegan version of it, and OMG, SO GOOD!!
So this cake definitely has the olive oil taste, but it’s not overpowering at all! It actually gives a nice depth of flavor, but it stays neutral, and the citrus I add really brightens things up. The oil keeps the cake moist (so sorry, there is just no other word I can use LOL), but what surprised me was how beautifully it rose! This is true for both the vegan and non-vegan version.
This recipe is also superrr easy to make, doesn’t require a mixer, and has yet to fail me. It is seriously fool-proof, and would be the perfect treat for Valentine’s Day this weekend!
Here’s how to make it:
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 4 eggs OR 4 tbsp of Bob’s Red Mill Egg Alternative
- 1 cup of your choice of milk. For dairy- free, I would recommend cashew or coconut milk as they are the creamiest
- 1 tsp orange zest
- juice from half a medium orange
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F
- Prepare a 9-in cake pan with baking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, egg, juice, milk, zest, vanilla extract and sugar.
- Whisk to combine and set aside
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix thoroughly.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until all ingredients are incorporated. This batter it on the more liquid side so don’t panic!
- Pour cake mixture into prepared pan and bake for about 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. NOTE: I find that the vegan version takes closer to 45 minutes to fully bake.
- If baking it in little bundtini molds, I would check them at about 25 minutes or so.
- Allow cake to cool for about 10 minutes before carefully removing it from the pan and letting it cool the rest of the way.
P.S. Look how cute my strawberry hearts came out! Such a quick and easy way to dress up a cake – just slice the strawberry longways, and cut a wedge out of the middle-top portion. Then round the edges, and voila!
I topped it with some confectioners sugar, whipped cream and fruits which made it really yummy and fresh!
Here’s a quick chantilly cream recipe you can make:
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and whip (you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer for this).
I really look forward to tweaking the recipe and changing some flavors. I would be curious to try it with some rosewater, maybe a lemon and poppyseed flavor or a pumpkin-spiced holiday version.
Hope someone tries this out and enjoys it!
Happy Valentines Day!
XOXO,
Monica
