Two Olive Oil Cake Recipes that will Blow your Mind…
It’s birthday season in the Prieur household. So what does this mean? Loads of delicious treats fill the kitchen backlog and the sweet smells of baked goods fill the air. So I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share two of my favorite cake recipes that are olive oil based to change your mind on what ‘should’ be in a cake. Perhaps it was reading Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat that had me nodding my head with glee that someone agreed to the testament that olive oil makes for better cakes, or perhaps it’s because I’m obsessed with a good olive oil. Whatever it is… the creamy balance it brings to a cake is chef’s kiss…perfection.
So, here’s the two that I have living in my dreams on repeat:
Pg 362 of The Simply Real Health Cookbook
Sarah Adler’s Molten Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (GF): Believe it or not, I’ve owned this cookbook for at least 7 years…and I’ve never made this cake until last week. I think she posted a reminder on her instagram account the other day about this recipe that she also uses as a go to for birthdays in her house. So, since I’ve been on a gluten free kick recently, I thought I’d finally give it a try and see how it would turn out, and if it was indeed birthday worthy. Well it was indeed… t’was delicious. (It didn’t last long enough to take a picture of it for the blog. Oops!) It had the essence of a French mi-cuit (half cooked) which is one of Aymeric’s and my favorite menu items at Les Deux Magots in Paris. So it took me back to sitting arm in arm at a tiny cafe table looking out on the streets of Paris sipping champagne and eating ooey, gooey, creamy, rich, molten chocolate cake. Except…this version has slightly less guilt since it’s gluten free and relatively low in sugar. Once it cooled down enough to not burn the roof of our mouths, I served it with cut up strawberries and some dairy free vanilla ice cream. Aymeric opted for the real deal and skipped the df ice cream for a nice creamy topper. No bother, more df for me! Here’s the recipe:
1 1/2 cups almond flour or almond meal
2/3 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
6 tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or swap at least one tsp for vanilla bean paste)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325°F & line a pie pan with parchment paper
In a medium bowl whisk together cocoa powder, sugar and boiling water
Add olive oil, eggs to the chocolate mixture & whisk again
In a different bowl add remaining dry ingredients
Combine dry ingredients with chocolate mix and stir well until you make a batter
Pour into pie pan and bake for 45 mins for gooey inside or 50 mins for more cakey texture
The dream worthy mi-cuit in honor of the chocolate cake I didn’t take a picture of
Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake in the flesh
Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake: I made this cake all together too many times while pregnant. The fluffy, acidic, wonderland gave me nothing but pure joy. LBB also gave a few flips of joy in utero whenever I consumed it. I’d fall asleep craving it and somehow find myself in the kitchen at 4:30am with prego insomnia making this cake. It must have been a prego premonition. This one did last long enough to take a picture, but that is only due to the fact that everyone else in my family was still asleep most of the time when I finished. I just love grapefruit. I think the tart, sweet, juicy segments just bring me back to my childhood. Both my jido (Lebanese for Grandpa) and my mom were obsessed with them so we used to eat them on repeat when they were in season. So when I found this recipe and made it, needless to say, it was a winner in my book. Please do yourself a favor and make it for your next event or evening in… you won’t be sorry (link above).
So I hope all of you find some time over this holiday weekend to enjoy some time with family and indulge in some decadent cake to go along with it. Bon Appétit!
