Honey Apple Olive Oil Loaf Cake
One of my favorite go to cake recipes is this olive and summer fruit cake from Williams Sonoma. I came across this recipe a couple of years ago, and I’ve made it with many variations and sizes, such as little personal cakes blueberry olive oil cakes that are *delicious*. This recipe is definitely now a staple in my toolbox. But what does that have to do with this recipe? Well, this past week I was thinking about making a dessert for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, and I started thinking about making a honey apple cake - two traditional foods for the holiday. I also for some reason got in my head that I wanted to use a loaf pan for this cake - perhaps because it felt a little more casual since this year celebrations are much smaller due to social distancing.
As I was doing research for this recipe, I thought - why not alter this olive oil cake recipe to make a delicious honey olive oil and apple cake?? So I went to work!
I did a bit of research, and this article from the kitchn proved helpful! I used the suggestions to decrease the volume of sweetener and liquid and add in a bit of baking soda to counter the acidity of the honey.
I added in sauteed spiced apples for a Rosh Hashanah-bordering-on-fall-flavor, which added a nice change up of texture and flavor throughout the cake. I was pretty conservative with my spices but you can certainly play them up, change them up, or leave them out if thats not your style.
This cake comes out super moist and flavorful, but not too sweet! I think it’s best enjoyed the next day. You can pair it with a little whipped cream, yogurt, ice cream, mascarpone, or keep it simple with a dusting of powdered sugar.
This recipe makes 2 loafs so you could share the sweetness with a friend or neighbor. Finally, Shana Tova and have a sweet new year to those who celebrate! :)
- 2 8.5 x 4.5 loafs
- 30 minutes
- 1 hour
Ingredients
Batter:
- 1 cup (8 fl. oz./250 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
- 2 cups (10 oz./315 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 cup honey
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (8 fl. oz./250 ml) milk or dairy free alternative such as almond milk
- 3 eggs
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- Powdered sugar, optional, for serving
For apples:
- 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cubed
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp ginger
- Tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil or butter
- Pinch salt
- 1/4 cup flour
Directions
To prepare apples:
- Heat oil or butter in saute pan over medium heat.
- Add cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger to pan and toast for 30 seconds.
- Add apples, drizzle with honey, and pinch of salt. Let apples cook for about 10 minutes or until soft and have a bit of color, stirring often.
For batter:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Prepare two 8.5 x 4.5 loafs by spraying with nonstick spray, then covering with parchment paper. Leave an overhang on sides to help with pulling the cake out later.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, honey, milk, and lemon zest, just until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the larger bowl and whisk together, until everything is combined.
- Toss apples with the extra 1/4 cup of flour, then gently stir them into the batter.
- Split batter between two pans. Bake until a skewer comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Start checking for doneness around 55 minutes.
- Let cake cool for 15-20 minutes in pan before taking out to cool further.
- Dust with powdered sugar to serve.