I too, find this hard to believe, but I think I may have spent the whole month of October eating entirely too much pumpkin. It’s lost its appeal to me, at least for now. Talk to me in a week.
This recipe comes from the brilliant Yotam Ottolenghi. If you’ve never flipped through any of his cookbooks (Plenty, Jerusalem, Ottolenghi), you’re in for a treat.
In a little ski town with limited options for Asian/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cuisine, Zack and I love Yotam’s globally-inspired and vegetable-heavy recipes. They are a refreshing breath of air when we get into a what-to-make-for-dinner or repeat-meals rut.
The cake calls for olive oil, with lemon zest, diced apples, and raisins playing a supporting role in the cake’s flavor. It’s surprisingly delicious, and different. Just what I needed. Seasonally appropriate, with a twist.
The batter is very thick and you may think you messed up, but trust me, it’s going to be okay. When the cake is done you can eat it plain, dust it with powdered sugar, or add the maple icing. I opted to apply only a tiny bit on the top.
Maybe another reason I’ve lost my taste for anything sweet is due to these mischievous suckers:
That’s right (Have you ever baked twelve varieties of cookies in a day?). Thanks to all of you the High Altitude Bakes Holiday Cookie book is almost here.
Recipes have been tested and typed. Photographs have been taken and re-sized. A few more finishing touches and this bad boy is all yours. This is your secret high altitude weapon for baking mounds of holiday cookies this season. I can’t wait to share it with you!
Also, one last thing. We had beautiful weather last week- blue skies, ample sunshine, glowing sunsets…if anyone knows where it went please send it back this way. I’m not quite ready to let go of it.
Happy baking 🙂
How to make this high altitude adjusted recipe:
Apple Olive Oil Cake
Adapted from Ottolenghi by Yotam Ottolenghi
- Cake:
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small dice
- ½ cup raisins
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 egg whites
- Maple Icing:
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup
- Preheat your oven to 325 F.
- Grease and line a tall 8" round or springform cake pan with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In another bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs until smooth.
- Stir in the apple, raisins, and lemon zest.
- Fold in the dry ingredients. The batter will be very thick.
- Beat the egg whites until they have a soft meringue consistency. Fold them into the batter in two additions.
- Spread the batter into your prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the cake is a light golden brown and feels firm.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the icing by beating the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar and brown sugar. Add the maple syrup.
- Once cooled, the cake may be cut in half and iced, iced on the top, or left plain to be enjoyed.
Note: This recipe was adapted for high altitude baking. To make at sea level, increase baking powder to 1/2 teaspoon and baking soda to 1 1/4 teaspoons. Baking times may vary slightly.
