Apple Olive Oil Cake with Maple Frosting
I’m detouring slightly away from the Christmas cookies this week to share a recipe that I made for Thanksgiving this year - an Apple Olive Oil Cake with Maple Frosting. This recipe originates from the Sweet cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh - one of my absolute favorite cookbooks. I adapted this recipe to swap out the granulated and brown sugars for Sucanat.
As a reminder, Sucanat is an abbreviation for “sucre de canne naturel” or natural cane sugar and is a less processed, more natural sugar in comparison to granulated white sugar/brown sugar. Due to the minimal processing involved in producing Sucanat, it retains more of its nutritional properties as well. The minimal processing does mean that the granules of Sucanat are larger and not uniform though so when adding it to recipes, including this one, you will need to grind it in a coffee or spice grinder first so that it can better incorporate in with the the rest of the ingredients.
This cake is so delicious and such a crowd pleaser - the combination of the moist apples and golden raisins with the olive oil and the maple frosting makes it hard to resist going back for seconds. I hope you’ll give it a try!
Makes one 9-inch cake
Ingredients
100 g (2/3 cups) golden raisins
240 ml (1 cup) water
350 g (2 and 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large apples (about 800 g)
160 g (1 cup) Sucanat, ground in coffee/spice grinder
160 ml (2/3 cup) olive oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten, plus 2 egg whites
Scraped seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
Maple Frosting
100 g (7 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
90 g (1/2 cup) Sucanat, ground in coffee/spice grinder
85 g (1/3 cup) maple syrup
8 oz (220 g) cream cheese, room temperature
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease the base and sides of a 9-inch round springform pan (you can also line with parchment paper if you would like).
Place the raisins and 2/3 cup (160 ml) of the water in a medium saucepan. Simmer over low heat until all the water has been absorbed, set aside.
Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.
Peel and core the apples and cut into a 1-inch dice.
Place the Sucanat, olive oil, whole eggs, vanilla seeds, and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat for 6-7 minutes on medium speed, until the mixture has thickened a bit and is fully incorporated. [Note: Don’t increase the speed above medium as this will create air bubbles, which you don’t want]. Remove the bowl from the machine and use a spatula to fold in the apples, raisins, and remaining 1/3 cup (80 ml) water. Add the dry ingredients and fold to combine.
Place the egg whites in a separate clean bowl and whisk to form soft peaks. Gently but thoroughly fold the egg whites into the cake batter and then scrape the batter into the pan. Bake for about 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
To make the frosting: Place the butter, Sucanat, and maple syrup in the bowl of an electric mixer (or use a handheld mixer) and beat until light and airy. Add the cream cheese, a quarter at a time, and mix until thoroughly combined and smooth.
When the cake is completely cool, remove it from the pan. Use a large serrated knife to cut it in half horizontally. Spread half the frosting over the bottom layer of the cake; then place the other layer on top; and spread the remaining frosting on top (the sides will remain unfrosted).
