Recipe: Apple and Olive Oil Cake (Lactose-Free)

I’m still going strong with the easy bakes, and this one is another example. When I baked this apple and olive oil cake a week or two ago, I really didn’t know what I wanted to bake at first. I was coming up with complicated ideas that just ended up stressing me out, and I realised that I needed to go with something simple but delicious – my favourite kind of bake.

Wanting to add a little bit of a twist, however, I decided to use olive oil instead of butter for the cake batter. I use olive oil in salads and for stir-frying all the time, but I’d never baked with it, so I was curious to find out how this cake would taste. In all honesty, I’m not sure if it would have tasted that much differently if I’d used a more neutral type of oil instead (like sunflower oil), but I do really like how silky smooth the texture of the cake turned out. Plus, it’s completely lactose-free!

I also added a bit of ground ginger to the cake batter for some extra flavour. I know ginger is a pretty divisive flavour, though, so you could just leave it out or replace it with some cinnamon instead. It’ll still taste good!

You’ll need…

• 100 ml olive oil
• 140 g cane sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavouring
• 225 g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 2 apples (peeled, cored and diced)
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger (optional if you don’t like ginger!)
• springform tin (18 cm, but 20 will still work too)
• and an oven of course! This cake needs to be baked at 180 °C (don’t forget to preheat your oven!)

So, let’s get baking!

1. Mix sugar and oil together Put the cane sugar and the olive oil in a large bowl and mix them together using a whisk. You won’t get anything resembling something pale and fluffy like you would get with butter, but that’s fine! It actually makes things easier. Just whisk them together and that’s it.

2. Add the eggs and the vanilla Next, add the eggs one by one, mixing them through in between. Also add the teaspoon of vanilla flavouring at this point and whisk it through as well.

3. Add dry ingredients Sieve the flour, baking powder and ground ginger above the bowl with the wet mixture and also add a pinch of salt. Using a spatula, gently mix the dry ingredients with the wet ones until they’re just combined.

4. Add the apple If you haven’t yet, peel, core and dice your apple into whatever size and shape you like and then add them to the cake batter. Mix them through using the spatula.

Tip: If you want to add some extra flavour and texture to your cake, try adding about 50 grams of raisins! I didn’t do this because I only thought of it after baking the cake, but I think it would be a really nice addition.

5. Bake! Grease and flour your baking tin. Transfer the batter to the tin and make sure it’s spread out evenly. Then, bake the cake in your preheated oven at 180 °C for at least 45 minutes (less than this if you’re using a bigger tin). Insert a skewer to check whether the cake is done. If it comes out clean, it’s done – if there’s batter stuck to the skewer, it needs an extra couple of minutes. Once it’s done, take the cake out of the oven and let it cool in the tin for 5 minutes.

And that’s it! You’ve got your own apple and olive oil cake, which is perfect for a nice tea time treat. Enjoy!