Olive Oil and Citrus Cake
1 hour · One 9-inch cake, 12 slices
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 3/4 cup fine polenta or cornmeal
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar or caster sugar
- 3/4 cup good olive oil
- 2 oranges — zest of both, juice of one
- 1 lemon — zest and juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp honey, for the syrup
- 01 Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9-inch springform tin with parchment and oil the sides.
- 02 Whisk almond flour, polenta, tapioca starch, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- 03 In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for a full 3 minutes, until pale and thickened — this is the only lift the cake gets, so do not rush it.
- 04 Pour in the olive oil in a slow stream, beating constantly, then beat in the citrus zests, the lemon juice, and the vanilla.
- 05 Fold in the dry ingredients in two additions, until just smooth.
- 06 Bake 40–45 minutes, until deep gold and a skewer comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil at 30 minutes if it is darkening fast.
- 07 Warm the orange juice with the honey until just dissolved. Spike the warm cake all over with a skewer and spoon the syrup over slowly, letting it sink in.
- 08 Cool completely in the tin. The crumb tightens and the syrup settles as it cools.
Use an olive oil you would put on a salad — this is a cake where you can taste it, and a flat, cheap oil makes a flat, cheap cake. Something grassy and a bit peppery is ideal.
The polenta is what gives it that slightly sandy, north-Italian crumb. Fine grind only; coarse polenta stays gritty.