Olive Oil Apple Loaf

Who feels like baking Fall into a cake? 🙋🏻‍♀️ We have just the thing for you! This Olive Oil Loaf hits all the right autumnal notes with cardamom, ginger and cinnamon, using olive oil instead of butter for a slightly denser texture with grated apple lending, dare I say it? Next level moistnessssss. 😂

The recipe is slightly adapted from an @epicurious recipe, which called for ground pepper. But I knew my kids wouldn’t touch a cake with pepper in it with a ten foot pole 🙄 and I’d end up scarfing the whole thing down by myself… So out went the pepper, I reduced the cardamom by half and added something I love baking with: Whiskey Barrel Smoked Sugar from the Savory Spice Shop in Westfield, NJ, go order it online stat! While using a good 4 tablespoons gave me medium level anxiety about using up my stash, it added such a lovely smokey note to the cake that I felt it was worth the sacrifice! xoxo Donata

Ingredients

1 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan

1/2 cup plus 1 tsp. (100 g plus 10 g) granulated sugar, plus more for pan

2 sweet apples, such as Golden Delicious or Gala

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

3 tbsp Whiskey Barrel Smoked Sugar plus 1 tbsp for the topping

1 1/2 cups (185 g) all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 large eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup (100 g) packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (190°C).

Pour about 1 tbsp of the olive oil into a 9x5" loaf pan and coat bottom and sides with fingertips. Sprinkle granulated sugar onto sides and bottom of pan to lightly coat.

Grate apples, peel and all, on the large holes of a box grater. Gather apples in a clean kitchen towel and wring out excess liquid. Be aggressive! You want them as dry as possible when they go into the batter.

Whisk cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, and ginger in a medium bowl. Transfer 1/4 tsp spice mixture to a small bowl and add 1 tbsp of the Whiskey Barrel Smoked Sugar; set aside.

Add flour and baking powder to remaining spice mixture and whisk to combine.

Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, brown sugar, Whiskey Barrel Smoked Sugar, vanilla, salt, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl. Continue whisking vigorously until lightened in color and thickened. Whisking with one hand and pouring with the other, slowly stream 1 cup oil into egg mixture until combined.

Gently fold flour mixture into whipped eggs with a flexible rubber spatula just until combined, taking care not to overmix.

Fluff up grated apples and scatter over batter. Gently fold to incorporate.

Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.

Add 1 tsp. granulated sugar to reserved spice/Whiskey Barrel Smoked Sugar mixture and mix to combine. Sprinkle spiced sugar evenly over top of batter.

Bake cake until deep golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60–70 minutes (For me it was 55-50 minutes, so keep an eye on that oven!).

Let cake cool in pan. Run a butter knife or offset spatula along edge of cake to loosen and invert onto a platter.

Do Ahead: Cake can be made 3 days ahead (the flavor gets slightly more intense each day). Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Adapted from a recipe by David Tamarkin, Epicurious https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/olive-oil-apple-cake-with-spiced-sugar