Olive Oil Cake

Hadassah Magazine November/December 2024, p. 39

2 cups flour

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 ½ tablespoons salt

½ tablespoon baking soda

½ tablespoon baking powder

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 ¼ cup whole milk

3 eggs

1 orange, zested

¼ cup orange juice

¼ cup Grand Marnier (optional)

FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM

½ cup whipping cream

½ cup sugar

FOR THE DECORATION

Orange marmalade

6 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup pistachios, shelled, toasted and roughly chopped

Orange zest

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a round cake pan with butter and flour.

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine olive oil, milk, eggs, orange zest and juice and Grand Marnier. Beat well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth and uniform batter.

Pour the batter into the greased mold and bake for 45 minutes, until golden.

Make the whipped cream: Add cream and sugar to a mixer and whip until you have a thick and spreadable whipped cream. Fold in the pistachios with a spatula.

This stuff was THE STUFF

Slice the cake after it has cooled, place a dollop of whipped cream on top, then some marmalade and orange zest. 

Toppings assembled and ready to go!

Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and toasted pistachios.

Pretty-Pretty!

My Rating: 4/5 "This cake is... unique. I was worried that it was actually going to taste like olive oil, and in the end it really did. That flavor wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, though - unusual, but kind of pleasant once you got used to it. The marmalade and pistachio glaze make everything feel satisfyingly sweet regardless. I thought it was fun to try and my MIL enjoyed it too. We were the minority in that way, though, because my husband and my 5YO each took a couple of bites and decided they didn't like it. My 2YO literally threw it at me. So this is, uh, this is for the adventurous eater."