Easy Olive Oil Cake

It’s Sunday - Are you looking for a quick and easy dessert that will surely brighten your day? Do you like moist easy to bake cakes? The good news is you probably already have all the ingredients sitting in your cupboards. One of the things I love most about this cake is it is extremely forgiving and adaptable. I have swapped out peaches for blueberries, yogurt for milk, added this, removed that - and it still comes out perfectly moist.

Olive Oil Cake

PREP: 15 minutes | COOK: 50 minutes | MAKES: 10 servings

ingredients

·       2 large eggs

·       1 – 1/2 cups granulated sugar

·       1 – 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·       1/2 cup fine almond flour + extra for dusting the cake pan (optional)

·       1 teaspoon baking powder

·       1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·       1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

·       ½ cup Bulgarian yogurt (my favorite brand is White Mountain Foods) or milk

·       1 cup fruity extra-virgin olive oil

·       1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

·       2 peaches, each pitted then cut into 8 wedges OR 1 cup of blueberries OR nothing (see variations)

directions

1.    Preheat oven to 375°.

2.   Butter a 10-in. round springform cake pan. Butter and dust a pan with almond meal or flour or just use a pan spray.

3.   Beat eggs in a mixer with the whisk attachment until frothy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat on high speed until mixture is pale and leaves a ribbon when you lift the whisk, about 5 to 7 minutes.

4.   Mix flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil, and almond extract.

5.   Add 1/3 of dry ingredients, then half of the wet ingredients to the egg mixture, beating after each addition until smooth; continue until all are added and stop a couple of times to scrape inside of the bowl.

6.   Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Bake until the cake slightly pulls away from the edge of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

7.   Cool on a rack. Serve with sweetened whip cream or vanilla ice cream.

My Favorite Variations:

• Peach and Almond: Cut 2 peaches into 8 wedges each. Arrange peaches in a circular pattern over the top and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of toasted almond slices over.

• Blueberry and Almond: Scatter 1 cup of blueberries over the top and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of toasted almond slices over.

• Lemon: Zest 1 lemon and add to batter. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon extract.

• Orange: 1 orange and add to batter. Add 1 teaspoon of orange extract.