Spiced Olive Oil Apple Cake
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Warm apple cake makes my apartment smell heavenly
Remember all those apples you picked this fall during your apple pickin’ excursion? (Didn’t you gather more than you could possibly eat…?!)
Spiced olive oil apple cake is the perfect way to use some of those fresh (or even old!) apples. And it’s a great dessert to serve at Thanksgiving, particularly because it tastes even better 2 days after you bake it. I don’t know about you, but I love any trick that helps spread out my holiday cooking chores!
This recipe takes me back to my hometown, Raleigh. I’ve told y’all that I had the great fortune of two women who raised me, both of whom are phenomenal cooks & who are still teaching me cooking lessons to this day. Lucille Stallings used to make this incredible apple cake for me when I was a kid. I could not wait until the fall when she would bake her fresh cinnamon apple cake. The house smelled heavenly! And her cake made school bearable knowing there was a warm slice waiting for me when I got home. She always told me it was easy to make, but I didn’t believe that was possible.
Well, darlings, I’m here to tell you she is correct—it is easy to make, & it’s truly delicious! The end result is bites of tasty apple that are cooked but not mushy, a crumb that is pretty small, & a cake that is super-moist & not too sweet. So it’s perfect for after a big Thanksgiving meal or even with your morning coffee. Plus, there’s an added crunch of a toothsome nut!
Serve with whipped cream (flavored with rum, perhaps?)
I made a few tweaks & ran them by Lucille (she tasted my version & gave me her blessing that she actually preferred what i did—whew!). I use less sugar, a bit of cardamom to warm up the spices even more, & some lemon to help the apples pop, but most importantly, I substituted olive oil for the usual vegetable oil. Not only is the olive oil healthy & it creates an even better crumb, but it also tastes nicer than other vegetable oils I’ve tried in this cake. Here the olive oil flavor compliments the apples, spices, & fresh pecans (or walnuts) without tasting the acidity of the olive oil. Lucille loved it & I know you will, too!
So make yourself some spiced olive oil apple cake this holiday season. The taste will take you to my hometown, Raleigh-mazoo!
Smooches, y’all - !
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Bonus points if you can peel the entire apple in one strip!
Spiced Olive Oil Apple Cake
ingredients
3 c ap flour
½ t sea salt
1 t baking soda
½ t cinnamon
½ t allspice
½ t freshly ground nutmeg
¼ t ground cloves
¼ t cardamom
2 eggs
1 ½ c sugar
1 ½ c olive oil (balanced flavor, not too grassy)
2 t vanilla
1 c chopped pecans or walnuts
3 c peeled & diced apples tossed w/ lemon zest + juice of ½ lemon
method
sift dry ingredients & set aside.
blend eggs with sugar. add vanilla & olive oil.
add egg mixture to the dry ingredients & mix. batter will be very stiff. fold in the apples & nuts.
pour into a buttered & floured tube pan & bake for 90 minutes @ 325 degrees. let cake cool before removing from the pan & cover to keep it moist.
serve warm or cold with a dollop of slightly sweetened whipped cream, flavored with vanilla, sweet vermouth, or rum.
best if made 1-2 days ahead of serving + it freezes really well, too!
DEEELISH!