The Olive Oil Cake Trials
…It took me four times to get this recipe down. Four friggin’ times. ”Labor of Love” really meant “Major Pain in the A**” in this particular venture.
I’ve been obsessed with olive oil cake ever since I watched Michael Chiarello make one on Top Chef Masters (the only cooking series I voluntarily watch). Of course, I could’ve just used his recipe, but noooooo, I had to make things difficult and torture myself with this blasted project.*
Essentially, I wanted a cake that would be dense but tender like a tea cake, and also have a hint of honey, buttermilk and some cornmeal, because I’m a sucker for cornbread. I was also interested in testing out a few techniques as a refresher course in baking.
Olive Oil Cake Data:
CAKE No. 1: The basic ingredients were as follows: flour, cornmeal, orange zest, rosemary, honey, olive oil, sugar, salt, eggs, buttermilk and baking powder. The technique: beat the eggs with the sugar, then add in the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with combined milk, honey and oil. The result was good, but not nearly as tender as I would’ve liked, and the rosemary, even in a minimal amount, made the cake smell like a forest, which would’ve been lovely…if I had wanted to eat a flippin’ pine tree.
CAKE No. 2: Repeat after me: ”Cat-a-stroph-ic.” My cake probably would’ve turned into a rubber brick if I had let it cool before throwing it out. The ingredients were mostly the same, with a few adjustments in measurements, but it was the technique that was the cake’s downfall. Beat the sugar, eggs, oil and honey, and then alternately added dry ingredients and buttermilk. So very bad it was. Quite embarrassing.
CAKE No. 3: Again, very little change to the ingredients, although I did add on some sugar and toasted almonds on top for a crust. Beat the sugar and eggs, and then folded in the remaining ingredients. Added in some lemon zest. Ten times better than No.2, but not as good as No. 1. The lemon coupled with the orange made the cake taste like Trix Cereal, no bueno.
AT LAST, success came the fourth time. Used the first technique with some slight tweaking of the ingredients. I ended up with a very moist, tender and dense cake with a crunchy topping. The texture is somewhat reminiscent of pound cake, though more rustic with the cornmeal. Is it perfect? No. I think there might be too many elements involved. I also think a bigger, shallower baking pan would’ve been better to get a more tender crust and less color. But for the moment, I’m satisfied. It did at least make a nice, sweet complement to my tart, twice-macerated apricot jam. Don’t get me wrong, this cake is good, I just won’t be making it again for a loooong time due to the trauma of experimentation…
OLIVE OIL CAKE No. 4
a.k.a. Pain-in-the-A** Cake…
INGREDIENTS
2 ea, large eggs, room temperature
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C corn meal
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil (not too bitter)
1/2 C buttermilk
1 tbl honey
for topping:
2 tbl sugar
1/6 C Marcona almonds, lightly toasted and chopped
1/6 C regular almonds, sliced and lightly toasted
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Oil a cake pan with olive oil.
Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and zest in a small bowl. Mix to make sure zest is evenly distributed. (Easily done with hand.)
Combine oil, buttermilk, and honey in a measuring cup. Give a quick stir to mix everything.
In an electric mixer, cream sugar and eggs with paddle attachment on medium high until pale yellow, about 1 minute. On medium speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the wet ingredients. With every addition, make sure to incorporate without overbeating. Scrape down sides as necessary.
With a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the oiled baking dish. Sprinkle sugar and almond mixture on top. Place in middle rack of oven, and bake until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour.
*Here is Chiarello’s recipe.
18 comments
Great looking cake. I admire your patience. The almonds on top are a lovely touch. If you ever want to venture again into baking with olive oil, we’ve got some recipes:
http://chefs.californiaoliveranch.com/recipes/olive-oil-and-sherry-pound-cake-with-peaches/ — Pound Cake
http://chefs.californiaoliveranch.com/recipes/trey-foshees-blood-orange-olive-oil-cake/ — Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
http://consumers.californiaoliveranch.com/health/baking-with-extra-virgin-olive-oil-instead-of-butter-part-ii/ — Tips on baking with olive oil instead of butter
Love your perserverence and sense of humor. The cake takes the cake. Sure, it wasn’t a cake walk but look what you accomplished! BTW: All of my cooking and baking recipes in my The Healing Powers of Chocolate and The Healing Powers of Olive Oil? EVOO is the fat of choice. To think folks think you can’t bake with the good stuff. Nonsense. Will you cut me a slice of that wonder cake #4 and UPS it to me? I’ll send you a luxury chocolate bar.
Roger: Thanks for visiting and providing those links, I will check them out, they sound awesome, especially the blood orange!
Cal Orey: Thank you so much! Its the first cake (well, the first four) I ever made with olive oil, and I didn’t miss the butter. Though I still love butter, the olive oil opens up a whole new range of possibilities.
Very yummy !
Anne: Merci!
Hat’s off to your patience and your ability to carry on tirelessly. Feel a little guilty sailing in & getting such a beautiful tried & tasted recipe…gulp! Your travails are a bit like my macaron ordeal…ye gads! I like the use of olive oil; buttermilk makes it even better. Merci…
Deeba: You’re welcome and thank you! It was a lot of work but if anything, this made me appreciate recipes, especially baking recipes, a whole lot more. I can’t even imagine what it was like before people figured out the techniques for cakes, breads and…macarons!
This looks stunning and delicious! Good for you for putting all the time and effort in to get the right cake.
Hungry dog: Thank you! I think my patience stems from being an Aquarius, at least so my husband claims.
I enjoyed reading about your trials; experimentation in the kitchen is exhausting, but often rewarding. At least it -only- took you three times; I have a few cookie recipes that are nearing the double digit mark in trials. Eek. I, too, have been eager to make an olive oil cake, and your combination sounds ideal! Nice work!
CinnamonQuill: Thank you, and wow, you have all my respect and admiration to have that much patience to perfect your cookies! But you’re right, it is a rewarding experience in the long run.
I admit that when I saw the title I did a double-take. A neighbor of mine once promised to bring a cake to a work function and decided last-minute that he was going to bake it himself… from a box of mix and a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, which was the only oil he happened to have in his apartment. To make a long story short, the cake smelled of chocolate and garlic bread (and apparently tasted quite like it too, from what I heard). He’d called me over to ask if I had any frosting, since he didn’t have any, and I did. After a lot of laughing, I helped him form a skull and crossbones out of chocolate chips on the top as a warning that the cake was… a little off
Clearly, the man was simply ahead of his time, as I see there are multiple recipes for cakes (by real chefs!) using the very substance that made his cake so funky–extra virgin olive oil! I really must send him a link to this entry for old times’ sake
Oraxia: Haha, love that story! Clever idea with the skull and crossbones. Your friend was definitely onto something, apparently there are some Spanish desserts made with chocolate and olive oil (which I need to check out,) pretty awesome. Hope your friend enjoys the memories!
I will be trying the recipe posted by Matt at mattbites.com very soon. I will let you know how that recipe goes!
Your experience is quite like my pumpkin bread I made last year over and over again for a friend who loved pb and was dying. She is gone now, but she appreciated every loaf.
Like you, I could have followed someone else’s recipe, but I have this determination to make my own. But, then should I try your olive oil cake? It sounds so charmingly good.
Angela: I’m so sorry to hear about your friend, she was very lucky to have you around. So good of you to make her pumpkin bread all the time.
As for trying out my cake, well, of course, I must say yes
. Thank you for visiting, by the way!
I love the CIA side towel as a trivet:)
Curt: Good eye!
Best towels ever, miss them, I used to have three.
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