Clementine and Olive Oil Cake

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I have been reading a lot of recipes for olive oil cake so I decided to try it. I found a recipe on Cafe Fernando for a clementine and olive oil cake and decided to try my hand at it. The recipe itself was super easy and I found some good variations on it as well like a Lemon/Thyme Olive Oil Cake. I learned from the latter that using extra-virgin results in a fruitier, more pronounced olive-oil flavor, while regular olive oil yields a lighter taste. I wanted to stay true to the recipe for my first try so I used EVOO. The other thing to note about this recipe as it takes quite a few clementines to come up with 1 cup of juice, far more then the 2 or 3 they suggest, for me, it was more like a dozen. Also, I cooked it for 50 minutes but next time, I would probably cook it for about ten minutes less.


Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1+1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp clementine zest*
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup clementine juice*

* Depending on size, 2-3 clementines would be enough for the zest and juice.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease and flour one 12 x 4 inch loaf pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and clementine zest and rub together to extract the fragrant oil from the zest.
4. Add olive oil and mix on high speed until completely combined (preferably with the whisk attachment).
5. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on slow speed.
7. Add half of the clementine juice and continue mixing.
8. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the clementine juice and the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined between each addition.
9. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
10. Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Remove the cake from the oven, wait 10 minutes for it to cool down and then remove from the pan.

I served this as dessert to a meal of sweet potato and fig ravioli with browned butter and the simple green salad I have posted about before with the homemade vinaigrette.