Olive Oil Cake

Olive Oil Cake.

Olive oil we normally associate in our salads or cooking however you can also use it for baking, too!
Olive oil is a dense fat and it gives the cake a soft and moist texture. Adding whipped egg whites to the cake batter separates the fat and the fine air bubbles lifting the batter so it gives it a lighter structure.. like angel cake or a chiffon cake.. to give an idea.

So for this olive oil cake it is basically mixed using a sponge cake method.

Oil, flour, egg yolks, sugar, and lemon zest are mixed together.
A separate mixture of meringue ( egg whites and sugar) is prepared and folded in carefully to the oil/egg/yolk mixture to give it volume.

So technique is required. Cake becomes dense when in the process of folding the egg whites the mixture is deflated. If meringue is folded properly the batter is light. Thus you get a very light cake texture.

So here's the cake baked into a sheet pan and cut into squares. It is garnished with a blood orange foam (blood orange juice, gelatin and whipped cream), purple pansy and cara cara orange zest.