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Have you ever made an olive oil cake? They’re moist, easy to bake, and totally delicious — basically, everything you want a cake to be. Here, Hetty McKinnon, author of the new cookbook Family, shares her rosemary orange version…
Rosemary Orange Olive Oil Cake
From the cookbook Family by Hetty McKinnon
If you are a lazy baker like me, olive oil cakes are an essential weapon to have in your repertoire. Oil is much more forgiving than butter, and helps keep cakes moist. I adore the richness of this cake — the delicate savory undertones move so elegantly with the herbaceous rosemary and zesty citrus. Feel free to omit the rosemary if you want a plainer finish. A simple yet impressive cake for all occasions.
Recipe: Rosemary Orange Olive Oil Cake
Serves 6 to 8
You’ll need:
1 cup superfine sugar (or regular sugar)
zest and juice of 2 small oranges
2 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups self-rising flour (If you only have plain flour in your pantry, just add the “rising” agent by incorporating 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt for every 1 cup of plain flour.)
icing sugar, to dust
Substitutes:
Instead of orange, try lemon or mandarin
Instead of extra-virgin olive oil, try light olive oil, macadamia oil or coconut oil
Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a springform tin with parchment paper. Add the sugar, orange zest and rosemary in a bowl and, using your fingertips, rub everything together until the sugar is fragrant and damp. Add the eggs and whisk until pale and thick. Beat in the yogurt and orange juice, then gradually whisk in the olive oil.
Sift the flour into a large bowl so it’s lovely and aerated. Slowly pour in the wet ingredients and, using a large spoon or spatula, gently fold everything together until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely. When cool and ready to eat, dust with icing sugar.
Thank you so much, Hetty! Your new book is beautiful.
P.S. More dessert recipes, including double vanilla butter cake and four-ingredient apple crisp.
(Photos courtesy of Hetty McKinnon.)
