Ingredients:
- 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
- Orange juice to soak apples in
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup gold raisins, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes and then drained well
- Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the chopped apples in a bowl and add orange juice; just enough juice to toss and coat apples so as to prevent browning.
- Sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside for now
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, add sugar and extra virgin olive oil. Mix on low for 2 minutes until well-combined
- While mixer is on, add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to mix another 2 minutes until mixture increases in volume (it should be thicker but still runny)
- With mixer on lowest setting, add dry ingredients, one scoop at a time, until just blended; it will be a thick batter (do not add anything to loosen it).
- Drain raisins (which have been soaking in water) completely; and rid apples of excess juice. Add both raisins and apples to the batter and mix on low until well-combined. Again, batter will be very thick.
- Line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper. Spoon thick batter into the pan, and level the top with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Bake in 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until an inserted tooth pick or wooden skewer comes out clean. Cool completely in pan.
- When ready, simply lift parchment up to transfer cake onto a serving dish. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.
The Story:
As you can see, I’m not one of those annoying bloggers who make you read a whole story before you get the recipe. I hate that, too. You’re welcome.
What I love about this recipe is that it’s not too sweet, so adults love it as much as kids. A scoop of vanilla ice cream makes the kids happy. A scoop of whipped cream makes the adults happy. A dollop of high-protein greek yogurt for my health nuts.
The olive oil and apples make your heart happy. For my fellow food science and nutrition nerds: olive oil = monounsaturated fats, apples = fiber & phytonutrients.
It’s fancy enough for company, and you probably have the ingredients for it more often than not. And it goes great with a cup of coffee for breakfast, like a coffee cake.
Note: Granny Smith apples are alway best, due to the tartness, but you can certainly substitute another type. Just realize that a less-firm apple and the finer you chop your apples, they will turn into applesauce so you won’t see pretty chunks of it in your finished cake, though it will be nice and moist.
This is one of those cakes that is a staple in the Italian kitchen. But as you may have noticed, I’m not Italian, so don’t come for me! There are many variations, some including ricotta cheese, orange, and/or honey. I’m going to enjoy exploring those variations myself, and will report back if that changes my own family’s preferences. Please let me know if your family has a different version and why it’s your favorite!
Update: now that I’m learning how to eat healthier, I swapped out the sugar for Allulose sweetener, and replaced the all-purpose flour with Fit Flour. See the Nutrition section for how the macros break down for both versions. If you want to amp up the protein even further, you could add a scoop of vanilla protein powder, but I have not yet tried this. Same with swapping out whole wheat flour, almond flour, or a gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour.
If you’re baking for the holidays, this one looks stunning on the table! And you could certainly bake it in mini loaf pans or as muffins/cupcakes for gifting.
Links to short videos of this recipe:
Would you be interested in a full-length step-by-step video of how to make it? Let me know in the comments and I’d be happy to film it for you!
Nutrition
| Nutrition Facts – recipe prepared exactly as shown above. | |
|---|---|
| Servings 12.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 407 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 19 g | 30 % |
| Saturated Fat 3 g | 14 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 13 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 0 mg | 0 % |
| Sodium 158 mg | 7 % |
| Potassium 43 mg | 1 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 53 g | 18 % |
| Dietary Fiber 2 g | 10 % |
| Sugars 28 g | |
| Protein 5 g | 9 % |
| Vitamin A | 2 % |
| Vitamin C | 0 % |
| Calcium | 3 % |
| Iron | 4 % |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
Updated nutrition if the following swaps are made:
- Replace sugar with Allulose sweetener
- Replace all-purpose flour with Fit Flour
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings 12.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 343 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 20 g | 31 % |
| Saturated Fat 3 g | 16 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 13 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 15 mg | 5 % |
| Sodium 178 mg | 7 % |
| Potassium 42 mg | 1 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 42 g | 14 % |
| Dietary Fiber 4 g | 18 % |
| Sugars 12 g | |
| Protein 20 g | 39 % |
| Vitamin A | 2 % |
| Vitamin C | 0 % |
| Calcium | 3 % |
| Iron | 4 % |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
I would love for you to give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. Better yet, give it your own spin and report back how your tweaks worked out so I can try them out, please. And be sure to include photos.
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