The Only Cake Recipe You'll Ever Need
First of all, thank you for all the amazing feedback on last weeks essay! All of your stories and words of encouragement inspire me to continue to be vulnerable. I have a lot of hope that this project will turn into something bigger and every like, share, comment, text etc. helps to get it there.
This week I thought I’d share a recipe that has been an absolute staple for me over the years. Even though I’ve taken a step back from baking professionally, I still love to share recipes and see what you’re making! People ask me for my Almond Olive Oil Cake recipe a LOT. It’s probably my single most used recipe in all my years pastry chef-ing. That’s because it’s versatile, reliable and super delicious. It never comes out dry and it pairs well with all kinds of fruits and flavors. The almond paste provides a sweet nutty flavor which is complimented by the fruity and earthy tones of good extra virgin olive oil. I should say, it’s not my recipe at all. It’s a recipe that Krista (@bluettebaking) riffed off of one she found on the internet years ago. She passed it down to me when I was working for her and I’ve since passed it along to many others. No cake gatekeeping happening here!
A few ways you might want to use this recipe:
As the layers for a buttercream layer cake - fill with your favorite mousse, custard or fruit compote of choice. I usually go for lemon Bavarian which is basically just whipped cream folded into lemon curd. Ibakemistakes website is a good place to find a solid buttercream recipes for decorating.
As a composed dessert - Slice cake rounds into triangles. In a cast iron pan, grill the sides of the cake slices in butter. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream and candied citrus or macerated berries.
Gluten free dessert option. There’s an easy sub to make this cake completely gluten free (I’ll include it at the bottom of the recipe). Coat with powdered sugar when cooled and serve as is.
Upside down cake - You can easily make this into an upside down cake by putting pieces of fruit like strawberries, rhubarb or candied citrus slices and simple syrup on the bottom of the pan before pouring the batter on top. Be sure to un mold cake while it’s still warm so the fruit doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Almond Olive Oil Cake Recipe
200 grams sugar
170 grams almond paste
8 grams salt
240 grams eggs
4 grams vanilla extract
170 grams extra virgin olive oil
105 grams pastry flour (can sub All-Purpose flour)
5 grams baking powder
Gluten Free sub for pastry flour:
40 grams almond flour
65 grams gluten free oat flour
Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Grease two 9 inch baking pans and line with parchment paper.
In stand mixer, paddle together sugar, salt and almond paste until mealy. On medium speed, add vanilla and room temperature eggs one at a time. Mix until pale and fluffy. Stream in olive oil until incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl.
Remove bowl from mixer and sift in dry flour and baking powder. Fold into batter until fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Should be about 450 grams per 9 inch round.
Some notes about the recipe:
This recipe is in grams so you will need a scale which I highly recommend all bakers use over measuring cups. Scaling your ingredients ensures an accurately measured and consistent product.
Feel free to switch out the pans. You can use cupcake tins or a sheet pan as long as you leave enough room for the cake to rise.
Gluten free sub will not rise as much as the pastry flour version, so you may want to add more batter into each round.
Any almond paste will work but I prefer Mandelin Classic or Natural Almond Paste for the best flavor. Marzipan is not a good sub because it has more sugar than almond paste which will make your cake too sweet.
I didn’t specify the type of olive oil but I recommend doing a 50/50 mix of a more high quality flavorful oil and something cheaper/more neutral in order to get good flavor without breaking the bank.
Feel free to share this recipe! You can also find me on instagram and tiktok.
I can hardly wait to try it!