Olive Oil Cake (served wth orange segments and whipped cream)

Post date: Jun 09, 2015 3:29:23 AM

150g sugar                            150g or 165ml NZ extra virgin olive oil

100g flour                             50g semolina

2 egg yolks                            3 egg whites

1 lemon, zest and juice       ½ tsp vanilla paste

Pinch of salt

Cream the sugar with the egg yolks until pale and fluffy. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla paste followed by the flour and semolina. Beat until smooth.

Slowly pour the olive oil into the mixture and stir until the oil is incorporated into the batter. It will be quite thick and shiny. Let it rest for a while so that the flour and semolina can absorb the oil. Stir again.

Add a good pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat them to a very firm peak. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the cake mixture, then the second third and then the last third. This will ensure that the cake is light and fluffy. You can either pour the batter into a round spring-form tin or into a ring-form tin depending on how you want to serve it.

Bake at 170C for about 40 minutes.

To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar and server in wedges with orange segments and whipped cream. Mascarpone or yoghurt makes a nice alternative to whipped cream.