By Vida Gustafson
Contributing Writer
I had the opportunity to compete this year in the Los Olivos Jazz and Olive festival, put on by the Los Olivos Rotary, with this Olive Oil Cake. I had a blast and also a lot of requests for the recipe, so here it is!
The cake turns out light and fluffy thanks to the aerating power of thoroughly beaten eggs, and it turns out gorgeously moist thanks to the olive oil. It’s even better on the second day and doesn’t need any icing at all.
If the idea of eating a bare cake doesn’t appeal to you, this one goes well with a scoop of vanilla (or even pistachio) ice cream. I served mine with a dollop of chèvre mixed with honey.
Don’t be nervous about using a strong olive oil in this cake. I baked it with a very robust bottle from Rancho Olivos and it turned out fantastic.
Ingredients
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1 cup flour
5 large eggs, separated
¾ cup plus 1.5 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
Method
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9’’ springform pan and line the bottom with parchment, and grease the parchment. Zest the lemon, making sure you get at least 1.5 tsps lemon zest. Juice the lemon and reserve 2 tbsps of the juice.
After separating the eggs, whisk the yolks along with ½ a cup of sugar and lemon zest until pale and frothy. This will take about 5 minutes in your stand mixer. At this point, slowly stream in the olive oil, the whole ¾ of a cup, followed by the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Carefully fold in the cup of flour.
In a very clean bowl, whisk the egg whites along with ¼ cup of sugar and the ½ tsp salt to soft peaks. It is essential to clean the bowl and mixer carefully, because any oil residue will inhibit the forming of a fluffy meringue. That’s a very important part of why this cake is so light and airy.
Once the egg whites have reached the soft-peak stage, fold ⅓ of them into the yolk mixture. When this is lightly incorporated, fold in the remaining ⅔, being careful not to mix too roughly or for too long. It is fine if some of the egg white mixture is still visible in the batter.
Pour into the springform pan and sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. This will give the top of the cake a little bit of crunch and make it look appealing.
Bake at 350° F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
