Blue/Black Berry Lemon Olive Oil Cake
This light, moist olive oil cake is a simple to make way to take a short break from butter and is flavored with fresh lemon zest, blueberries, and blackberries for a gorgeous, just sweet enough summer cake that can be served with whipped cream, powdered sugar or more fruit!
Jump to RecipeBerry Season
We are in the thick of summer, trying to make it through July to latter August. I can finally see the light waning from an all-too-bright sky. The humidity starts choking on the last push of its fumes. A back note of cool breezes rides quietly beneath the hot air. But, that is August. We are still the weeds of July.
Needless to say, the less I can use the oven this month, the better. I’m working at making sorbets, ice creams, and everything in between creamy and frozen. Today, it is not about the oven, but lightening my load of butter and sugar. I had my first olive oil cake (chocolate) in Carbone in the West Village. Though only opening in 2012, Carbone reminded me of one of those special little restaurants in what New York used to be (don’t get me started, I’ve been downstate since the 90’s): artisanal without artiface, and one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Sadly, the olive oil cake was my first and I was in my late 30’s.
An Olive Oil For All Seasons
I started trying to make my own–it was mildly disturbing to me in the beginning, using olive oil for a sweet cake, but I soon got over it. I then ventured from chocolate and created an mandarin infused, gluten free almond orange olive oil cake. This time, I wanted something with those plentiful mid-summer berries that helped cool my taste buds while the sun shines too brightly on my face.
I used the main elements from my orange almond olive oil cake, and simplified it. No liquor needed, just some lemon juice and its zest, and a healthy dose of summer berries. I wanted to stick to the darker tones, so concentrated on blueberries and blackberries since they compliment each other and are perfect for lemon, but everything is…
Mirror Image
This recipe is very similar to my orange almond olive oil cake, but I adjust the liquid ingredients and only escaped the fruit-sinking-to-the-bottom result after the first try. I had forgotten about dousing the fruit in flour–my mother reminded me of this basic trick. Also, I cut the larger of the blackberries in half to ease their weight a bit.
- If you purchase two packs of berries, a typical 6 oz package each of blackberries and blueberries is enough to get 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup of both, respectively, leaving enough over to decorate the top of your cake.
- I used to think you had to stick to regular olive oil and not extra virgin for use in cake, since the extra virgin is a bit more viscous and strong in flavor, but I love using E.V.O.O. It is truly up to your preference. For E.V.O.O., I stick to the brand I always saw on top of the refrigerator in my mothers kitchen, Filippo Berio, usually in a giant size. However, whether extra virgin or regular, use a good brand you would trust for your best sauces and comfort meals.
- Because of the olive oil, the cake will grow golden quite quickly; if it begins to get too dark, bake it on a lower rack or cover with some aluminum foil if need be. Otherwise. it should be a rich golden brown by the time the toothpick is clean.
Blue/Black Berry Lemon Olive Oil Cake
Equipment
- 8-9 inch layer cake pan, spring form pan, or 2 lb loaf tin
Ingredients
Olive Oil Cake
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup olive oil, plus additional for greasing pan
- Juice and Zest of two lemons
- 2 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¾ cup all purpose flour, plus 1/4 cup for dusting fruit
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup blueberries, reserve a few for top of cake
- ½ cup blackberries, cut in half if large, plus a few for top of cake
- Confectioners sugar for dusting
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9 inch cake pan with olive oil, spring form pan, or loaf tin if preferred. You can also add parchment paper on the bottom and grease again.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
- Separate the eggs, and add the egg yolks to a mixing bowl. Set aside the egg whites.
- Beat the egg yolks and the granulated sugar for at least 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Add in the olive oil, slowly, and keep mixing on a slightly lower speed since the mixture will become more thin with the addition of oil.
- Add in the lemon rind, the lemon juice, and the milk. Mix on low speed until incorporated.
- Add in the vanilla extract and mix briefly to incorporate again.
- Add in dry ingredients spoon by spoon, letting it incorporate before adding more, and beat until the mix thickens again for at least a minute or two. Set aside for a moment.
- In a bowl, add the blueberries and blackberries and mix in with the flour, making sure to coat all the fruit completely. Sieve the berries so any excess flour is removed.
- Beat the egg whites until they move past foamy and soft peaks are achieved.
- Very carefully fold the egg whites into the cake mixture, being sure to integrate without knocking the air out of the egg whites. Add in the flour coated berries and give a few gentle folds of the spatula until the berries are evenly floating throughout the batter. Do not mix too hard or too much, otherwise the fruit will break up and bleed into the cake batter.
- Drop batter into the pan and bake for at least 35-40 minutes, checking with a toothpick to make sure no batter appears.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with whipped cream, creme fraiche, or simply with confectioners sugar and a more berries. I added fresh flowers for a pretty, but inedible effect. The cake keeps well and can be frozen for a couple weeks to get you to that first note of cool autumn.
