If you’ve ever walked past an Ottolenghi Deli window display you’ve probably stopped to admire the mountains of cakes, biscuits, meringues and tarts. I want to try them all but I keep going back for his apple and olive oil cake.
Because Ottolenghi is an Israeli-British chef his flavour combinations are really interesting. I wouldn’t have thought that olive oil would work in a sweet bake, but it does, the cake isn’t too sweet so it is perfect for those who don’t like desserts. The cake in the deli is served with a maple icing, but it is equally delicious without.
Apple and olive oil cake
Ingredients
- 80g raisins
- 280g plain flour
- 120ml olive oil
- 160g caster sugar
- 2 free-range eggs (lightly beaten)
- 3 Bramley apples, peeled and diced
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 free-range egg whites
- icing sugar for dusting (optional)
- 4 tbsp water
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ vanilla pod or ½ tsp of vanilla essence
Instructions
- Grease a medium sized cake tin and line with baking paper
- Put the raisins in boiling water in a saucepan and simmer over a low heat until all the water has been absorbed
- Preheat the oven to 170°C
- Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl
- In another bowl add the sugar and oil
- Using an electric whisk to mix the sugar and oil together with the vanilla
- Slowly add the eggs and gently mix
- Add the apples, raisins and lemon zest and mix with a spoon
- Gently fold in the dry ingredients
- To make the cake extra fluffy, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl with the electric whisk. You need to get soft peaks.
- Fold the meringue into the cake batter slowly and try to keep as much air in the batter as you can
- Pour the cake batter into the baking tin and bake for an hour and a half
- Once a skewer comes out clean remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin
- Once the cake is out of the tin dust with icing sugar
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