Olive oil cake recipe
This simple and delicious olive oil cake embodies our new culinary contributor’s approach to cooking. It’s an instant classic.
All good relationships need to be built on trust, and a side of attraction helps. I’m starting our cooking relationship with my olive oil cake. This cake delivers on both.
It’s amazingly simple to make; in fact, it’s as straightforward as baking a cake goes. All it requires is the dry ingredients be mixed, followed by the wet ingredients, throw it all together for quick mix, and pour into a standard 20cm cake tin. The ingredients are ones you will most probably have on hand. The magic is, of course, in the olive oil. Choose something mellow and light with a fruity flavour. Avoid the robust, peppery extra virgin olive oils. The result is a bright yellow, incredibly moist, almost pudding-like cake with a golden crust. It’s rich and flavoursome but completely adaptable to how, and when, you want to serve it.
She’s perfectly happy enjoyed for morning tea with a cup of coffee, Italian style, but equally fitting when rolled out for dessert (with the help of a little cream).
I like to serve this cake alongside the best fruits of the season.
Stone fruits are so good this time of year and therefore should be celebrated. A great peach requires nothing more than halving, pitting and slicing. Serve alongside the cake with a dollop of crème fraiche or thick Greek yoghurt.
Of course, if stone fruits aren’t your thing (we can’t all be friends), then serve with fresh berries, strawberries, or simply a dusting of icing sugar.
This cake is a good representation of how I like to cook – simple, approachable, and adaptable. I look forward to cooking with you.
-
Effortless olive oil cake recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ cups caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt flakes
- 3 eggs, whisked
- 1 cup full fat milk
- 1 cup mellow extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/3 cup)
- Peaches (or your favourite fruit)
to serve - Crème fraiche, Greek yoghurt
to serve (optional)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C.
- Oil a 20cm round cake tin with high sides. Line the base and
sides with baking paper. When lining the sides, I like to have a
5-10cm overhang of baking
paper. This encourages the cake to rise evenly. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. - In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, olive oil, vanilla, zest and lemon juice.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Pour the mixture into your lined and greased cake tin. Bake for 1 hour or until top is a beautiful golden colour, and a skewer comes out clean. Another tell-tale sign of a cooked cake is that the cake sides will be coming away from the tin.
- Leave cake in the tin for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge and transfer to a cool rack. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Serve with fruit, crème fraîche or Greek yoghurt. The cake will keep for up to 3 days in a sealed container. Serves 10-12.
From next week, The Weekend Australian Magazine’s new food writers Elizabeth Hewson and Lennox Hastie will contribute on alternate weeks, starting with Hewson.