Lemon Raspberry Olive Oil Cake

Baking during quarantine is both incredibly enjoyable and slightly maddening for me. On the one hand, I find baking to be a very pleasant pursuit. It creates a feeling of coziness in my kitchen, I can sometimes get my kids to help - which is usually pretty fun, and in the end, we wind up with something delicious. A generally worthwhile endeavor. 

On the other hand, baking during quarantine means that many times when I go to make something, I inevitably find I’m missing some key ingredient, and popping over to the store on a whim for an ingredient or two just isn’t going to happen these days. Instead, I have to get creative. 

This cake recipe was my creative solution to a lack of butter. Rather than forgo cake, I replaced the butter with olive oil, and honestly, I may never go back. It lends a fruity, slightly herbal flavor to the cake that complements the lemon beautifully. It’s a lovely, moist cake that’s great on its own, but I decided to go a step further and swirl some raspberry preserves into the batter before baking. It proved to be absolutely the right decision. 

Lemon Raspberry OIive Oil Cake

Serves 8

• 1 ¾ cup flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil 

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1 Tbsp lemon zest

• 3 oz Quince & Apple Raspberry Rose Preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch loaf pan. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Whisk the sugar and olive oil together, then add the eggs followed by the yogurt or sour cream and continue mixing until thoroughly combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until you reach a smooth consistency. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. 

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan (batter will be thick) and smooth it out so it’s in an even layer. Dollop the Raspberry Rose Preserves over the top and swirl them into the batter with a spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.