Olive Oil Cake with Pine Nuts, Lemon & Thyme
February 16, 2010 • Desserts,
It’s rare, but every once in awhile I get the urge to bake something. Last week one of my Operation Frontline students asked me about substituting olive oil for butter in baking, and that inspired me to create this cake.
A friend recently asked me where all of my recipes come from, how I create them. I usually start with something in mind – in this case a cake using olive oil instead of a less healthy fat where I would incorporate some whole wheat flour into it. Then I scan for base recipes -Â for this, I pulled my Lemon Thyme Cornmeal Cake post and an olive oil cake recipe, both of which were recipes from Giada. From here is where I got creative. I looked over these recipes for ideas on ratios (since I’m not a pastry chef) and decided that 1 1/2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 3/4 cup of olive oil would be the base. From there, I started playing.
Beat together eggs with sugar and lemon zest until really fluffy. Add plain yogurt and olive oil.
Mix dry ingredients together then add to wet ingredients with the mixer on low.
Add thyme leaves and pine nuts and mix just to combine.
Spray a round cake pan with cooking spray then pour the batter in and bake.
Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes on a rack before inverting it onto a cake plate.
Then decorate it with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and some thyme sprigs for garnish before digging in.
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from one lemon)
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup nonfat plain yogurt
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- ⅔ cup pine nuts
- powdered sugar, optional, for garnish
- Beat eggs with sugar until fluffy. Add lemon zest, oil, and yogurt and mix until combined. Stir together flours with baking powder and salt, then add to wet ingredients with mixer on low just until incorporated. Add thyme and pint nuts, mixing on low to combine.
- Pour into an oiled 8″ round cake pan and bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove to a cake plate. Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.
Comments
10 Comments • Comments Feed
fresh365 says:
Ooh I was just reading about an olive oil cake, but I love this version with lemon- my favorite!
February 17, 2010 at 2:27 pm
2friendscooking says:
so amazing.I have made a similar one but never thought of putting thyme.Great idea!Love your blog and photos. You should do a cook book!ciao from Rome
April 26, 2010 at 3:50 am
Erin Turner says:
Olive oil is very tasty and it has very low saturated fats.’.~
July 26, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Molly Moore says:
Cake recipes are the specialty of my best friend, my favorite ones are those exotic fruit cakes`~”
August 11, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Landon Phillips says:
olive oil is a great additive on foods since it has low saturated fat,-`
September 12, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Mohammed Hughes says:
i love to eat cakes and bake them too that is why i am always on the lookout for cake recipes.;-
September 30, 2010 at 9:43 am
Kids Pools says:
i love to munch cakes and i bake receipes based on different cake recipes that i can find on the net**”
October 18, 2010 at 9:16 am
Girls Bedroom : says:
the taste of olive oil is very very good, it is one of the best tasting cooking oils out there:.;
October 24, 2010 at 11:07 am
Capricorn Horoscope · says:
the cake recipes on the internet are all very delicious and i want to try and bake all of them..
November 7, 2010 at 10:00 am
wedding photographers philadelphia says:
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August 8, 2011 at 2:55 pm