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Extra Virgin Olive Oil Even Works in Cake!

Our contributor shares a recipe for an olive oil cake that uses the ubiquitous Italian ingredient in sweet offering.

Olive Oil Cake by Paola Marocchi.

Olive Oil Cake by Paola Marocchi.

Isn’t Extra Virgin Olive Oil amazing? It adds flavor and nutrition to so many dishes, so simply and in so many ways. While most olive oil is used in the preparation and enhancing of savory items and salads, it also works beautifully in desserts.

As a pastry chef, I’ve created hundreds of recipes over the years, from simple to over the top, and everything in between. This Olive Oil Cake recipe, however, remains one of my all time favorite and my go to whenever I want to make someone’s day sweeter!

The beauty of it lies in its simplicity and allowing high quality ingredients speak for themselves. Incredibly moist and bright in flavor, I like serving it with seasonal fresh fruit, in this case assorted citrus segments.

As olive oil is at the heart of this cake, make sure to choose a high quality, extra virgin one. Frankies 457 Spuntino Extra Virgin Olive Oil, made with Nocellara del Belice Olives, is a staple in my pantry and a great choice for this recipe.

Buon Appetito!

Olive Oil Cake

Olive Oil Cake

Recipe by Paola Marocchi
5.0 from 3 votes
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • Bowl 1
  • 1-1/2 cups 1-1/2 Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • 1-1/4 cups 1-1/4 milk

  • 3 3 eggs

  • 1/4 cup 1/4 fresh squeezed lemon juice

  • Bowl 2
  • 2-1/3 cups 2-1/3 all-purpose flour, sifted

  • 2 cups 2 sugar

  • 1 Tsp. 1 salt

  • 1 Tsp. 1 Baking Soda

  • 3/4 Tsp. 3/4 Baking Powder

  • 2 pieces 2 lemon zest, grated

  • Garnish
  • Confectionary sugar and assorted citrus segments (to taste)

Directions

  • Warm up oven to 350F.
  • Layer the bottom of a 9” x 3” round cake mold with parchment paper (see “Note).
  • Butter and flour the bottom and sides, including the parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Mix olive oil, milk, eggs, and fresh squeezed juice in one bowl 1.
  • Mix all purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and lemon zest in bowl 2, ensuring ingredients are evenly distributed
  • Add bowl 1 ingredients to bowl 2 ingredients and, with a hand whisk, mix just to combine, making sure not to overwork.
  • Place mixture on prepared mold and bake for approximately an hour, until a cake tester inserted in middle comes out dry.
  • Allow cake to cool before unmolding.

Notes

  • Cake usually only sticks to the center of the mold, so it’s not needed to place parchment up the sides of the mold.

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