Having Your Cake and Eating it too

Posted by Olivia on Fri, February 26, 2010

A recent Greek study showed that olive oil, when used to replace margarine in commercial cake recipes, did not adversely affect the texture of the cake (and in some cases, actually improved it by increasing the cake batter volume and resulting in a fluffier cake), as well as resulted in a healthier cake, thanks to the good fats found in olive oil. This is good news, not only for olive oil lovers (like myself), but also for those of us (also like myself), who are trying to eat well but don't want to give up great taste. According to the Greek researchers, they  "...formulated cakes with margarine only as a shortening, extra virgin olive oil only, or with a combination of margarine and olive oil. Results showed that inclusion of extra virgin olive oil increased the batter density, and boosted the cake volume" (Steven Daniels, foodnavigator.com), giving us yet another reason to bake with olive oil.

A recent New York Times Diner's Journal post linked to a recipe for a tasty-looking blood orange and olive oil cake, which sounded delicious (you know we love olive oil with blood oranges), and it led me on a recipe hunt for something similar that I could make, perhaps with our delicious Blood Orange Olive Oil. My current favorite is this delicious recipe from The Wright Recipes, a fantastic food blog, with the addition of our scrumptious Blood Orange Olive Oil in place of the regular Extra Virgin Olive Oil called for. Here it is, Upside-Down Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake:

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

¾ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 large egg

½ cup orange juice (fresh or store-bought)

½ cup Blood Orange Olive Oil, plus more for pan

¾ cup sugar, divided

5 blood oranges, peeled, sliced 1 ½-inch thick, seeds remove

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and next 3 ingredients; in a separate bowl, whisk together egg, orange juice, olive oil and 1/2 cup sugar. Stir together dry and wet ingredients.

Oil an 8-inch cake pan; sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup sugar. Arrange orange slices in bottom of prepared dish. Pour batter over oranges. Bake in a preheated 375˚ oven until toothpick inserted into center of cake tests clean, about 45 minutes. Cool in pan 1 hour; invert onto a plate.

Serves 6-8.