Healthy Olive Oil Cake

Olive oil cake is the perfect Mediterranean classic to celebrate another year of harvest! Olive oil is typically harvested in the late fall and to ensure that your cake is the highest quality, it is essential that you choose the right olive oil to be on your ingredient list.


When shopping for olive oil you want to look for the following qualities: 

Extra Virgin, Cold Pressed: Extra Virgin Olive Oil means that there was no heat involved in the extraction of the oil from the fruit. Heat yields a higher yield, but it greatly decreases the nutritional profile of the oil. This is why true olive oil farmers chose to have the small batches of oil that come from being cold pressed in order to retain the integrity of their product.


Buy Local: There are little to no regulations on imported olive oils, so much of what is on the shelf at grocery stores is very low quality oil. Even if an imported oil claims to be extra virgin, this is not always the case since much of the low quality olive oil is shipped out of Europe to the United Stated where the consumer is less educated on what it means to have a fresh healthy olive oil. Do your research, and try to support farmers who are doing it the right way.


High Polyphenol Count: Polyphenols are the naturally accruing antioxidants that can be found in high quality olive oil. When olives are harvested early on in their ripening process, the farmer will have a lower yield of fruit, however the polyphenol count will be much higher, thus greatly increasing the health benefits of the oil. You can tell if a farmer is doing an early harvest by the robust flavor of the oil that is produced. This bold flavor is perfect in an olive oil cake to complement its sweet zesty citrus flavor. Plus anytime you can make a dessert with health benefits that is always a bonus, too!

Here is a simple breakdown of a traditional olive oil cake that is easy to make and an absolute crowd-pleaser. We love our Templeton Olive Oil in this dish, but whichever olive oil you use, make sure that it hits all the requirements above to get the most out of this amazing little cake!


Ingredient List

  • Zest of 2 lemons or oranges

  • 1 Rosemary sprig

  • 4 Eggs

  • 1 & 1/2 tsp Baking powder

  • 1 & 3/4 cups Flour

  • 1 tbs Powdered sugar

  • 1 cup Sugar

  • 3/4 cup Olive oil

  • 7 tbsp Butter

  • 3 tbsp Milk

Instructions


Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, use parchment paper lined with butter & flour to prep a 10 inch round pan. Set aside.


Step 2: Sift together the flour & baking powder until combined.


Step 3: Mix together milk, butter, & olive oil in a separate bowl.


Step 4: Use an electric mixer to mix together eggs, sugar, & citrus zest until creamy in a large bowl.

Step 5: Take half of the flour mixture you created in step 2 and mix that into your egg mixture until completely combined. Next do the same thing with the milk mixture from step 3. Continue alternating adding parts of these mixtures to that egg mixture until all ingredients are completely combined in that main bowl started in step 4.


Step 6: Take your batter and pour it slowly into your prepared round pan so that it is distributed evenly.


Step 7: Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cake cool, then garnish with dusted powdered sugar & rosemary. Enjoy!!




Via Shoemaker