So, I made this simple olive oil buttermilk cake for the ninth episode of my oil-based baking series with Colavita Olive Oil, and I could not be more excited about it. I. was inspired to make the cake in the first place after participating in the global Bakers Agains Racism bake sale, as one of the women (the lovely pastry chef at King, to be exact) selling her baked goods along side me sold just such a cake and it knocked my socks off. I begged her to share the recipe with me, assuming the texture and moistness of the cake must come from some complicated process involving stiffly beaten whipped egg whites or a long time spent whipping egg yolks and sugar. And much to my surprise (and delight) she explained that the recipe was from the restaurant, Maialino, in NYC, was a genius recipe of Food52’s (that she had tweaked a bit) and, wait for it, COULD NOT BE EASIER. Yes, peeps, an easy peasy recipe and then some. And because that is my favorite kind, I immediately made loads of tweaks and changes in order to make it my own – removing all the booze (keeping it family-friendly peeps) adding buttermilk, using less citrus, etc. etc.
But you know what I did not change? The assembly – because it is my favorite kind. a) It is like practically one-bowl – I mean yes, there are two bowls, but one just holds the dry ingredients and I’m not even interested in counting it; and, b) You use only a whisk – no flexible spatula – which I love. I like this cake with only 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1 1/4 cup olive oil, for a REALLY strong olive oil flavor, but I have written the recipe to include 1/2 cup of lemon juice, as I think most folks will prefer that. Finally, you can watch me make this cake here but be warned: I have tweaked the recipe slightly since I filmed the video – but only slightly.
Simple Olive Oil Buttermilk Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups Colavita Olive Oil
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
- In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, buttermilk, eggs and lemon juice together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until just combined. It’s okay if the batter is lumpy.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about one hour, until the top is nicely browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let cool until you can safely touch the pan, about a half an hour.
- Release the cake from the pan by running a knife around the edge and invert the cake onto the rack. Let cool for two hours before slicing and serving. The cake will keep for at least 3 days on the counter, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.
