Go Back
Print

Olive Oil Cake with Pears


Course Dessert, Tea Time
Difficulty Low
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 12 people, a 25cm round mould
Author Lorena Salinas from Cravings Journal

Ingredients

For the cake batter:

  • 360 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 200 g sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 180 ml milk
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Zest from 2 limes
  • 480 g all-purpose flour
  • 2 pears

For cooking and garnishing:

  • Vegetable oil for greasing the mould
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour to flour the mould
  • Flaked / silvered almonds to garnish
  • Powdered sugar to dust optional

Instructions

  1. Mix the olive oil with the sugar and honey using a whisk.

  2. Add the eggs and milk and mix again.

  3. Add the dry ingredients (cardamom, salt, baking powder, flour) as well as the lime zest and give it a last mix.
  4. Grease the mould lightly using a bit of vegetable oil and spreading it with kitchen paper. Stick a piece of baking paper cut to size and grease on top as well. Add a bit of flour and tap the mould to stick a light coat all around. Remove any excess.
  5. Put the batter inside the mould.
  6. Cut pears in half, core and slice. We do this at the very last minute to prevent them from going dark on the inside.
  7. Lay the pears on the top of the cake along with the almonds.
  8. Take to a preheated oven at 180C for 40min or until you can insert a pointy knife and it comes out clean. Remember that when you do this you need to leave the knife inside for 3 seconds before removing it so the dough can stick to it if any is left uncooked.
  9. Check the cake at 20 and 30 to see if it’s golden enough on top. If it is then cover with tin foil for the rest of the cooking process.
  10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely before unmoulding.
  11. Dust with icing sugar and serve.