This olive oil cake from pastry chef Catherine Schimenti is one of our favorite desserts. Based on her mother’s pound cake recipe, this olive oil cake is simple and decadent. It’s best served with a dollop of coffee-infused whipped cream. The olive oil cake has a subtle citrus flavor and is lighter than a traditional olive oil cake made with semolina.
This is our go-to recipe when we are asked to bring a dessert to a party. We made this a few weeks ago for a group of friends and it quickly disappeared as people came back for seconds! Cat’s recipe is baked in mini bundt pans, but we’ve also made it in a full size ring pan and served slices for dessert (or breakfast, if there’s any left). It’s so good, typically it’s gone in no time and people are still asking for more!
We usually make this cake with a citrus-infused olive oil, typically Round Pond’s Meyer Lemon or Blood Orange olive oil. If you don’t have time to make the coffee cream you can use plain whipped cream, but trust us, the coffee version is worth it! Thanks to Cat for allowing us to share her recipe!
Olive Oil Cake with Coffee Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons flour
- Pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon sugar, plus extra for sugaring
- 7 ounces 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (plus extra)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 ounces 5 1/2 tablespoons good fruity extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 3 oz dark-roasted whole coffee beans, (about 1 1/3 cup)
- ¼ cup sugar, (plus 2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- With rack in the center, preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a ring or bundt pan generously with butter and sugar it (similar to flouring a pan but with sugar).
- Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
- Cream sugar and butter in the bowl until mixture is a yellowish cream color with a light, almost fluffy texture.
- Combine one egg at a time fully incorporating before adding the next egg. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract - mix until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients to butter-egg mixture; mix until just combined - do not overmix. Be sure to scrape the bottom of mixing bowl where flour tends to collect.
- Fill prepared pan and bake for 55 to 70 minutes (depending on pan shape) or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Set aside to cool slightly before turning cake out of the pan.
- Serve with coffee cream.
- Combine 1 cup of cream, sugar, and coffee beans in a small pot and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat, put in a metal bowl, and place the bowl into an ice bath.
- Steep for 30 minutes.
- Add the rest of the cream, and cool completely in the refrigerator.
- While cake is baking or just before serving, strain and discard coffee beans.
- Whip to stiff peaks or put into a whipped cream charger and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
2 comments
Hi Sarah,
I’d like to try this olive oil cake. But, how do I buy fruitie olive oil I have no clue what to look for. May like to make it for Easter but would like to try it at home first.
Sounds great! You can just use olive oil and fresh lemon juice rather than a flavored olive oil. Just ignore the notes and stick with the measurements in the original recipe.
Comments are closed.