Pistachio olive oil cake with crème fraîche and berry compote
SERVES 10-12 // PREP TIME 20 MINS // COOK 45 MINS (PLUS COOLING)
With a moist and tender crumb, this cake showcases the subtle, fruity notes of olive oil, which pair perfectly with pistachios and berry compote.
160 ml (2/3 cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 170 gm caster sugar, plus extra for scattering 2 eggs 2 tsp lemon zest 1 tsp vanilla extract 50 ml milk 70 gm ground pistachios (see note) 150 gm (1 cup) plain flour 2 tsp baking powder
Crème fraîche, candied orange slices and slivered pistachios, to serve BERRY COMPOTE 500 gm mixed berries 50 gm caster sugar
Juice of ½ lemon and ½ orange 1 vanilla bean
1 Preheat oven to 170°C fan-forced. Grease and line base and sides of a 20cm cake tin. Add olive oil, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla and milk in a bowl and whisk until combined and sugar begins to dissolve (1-2 minute). Stir in pistachios then fold in flour, baking powder and ½ tsp salt until combined.
2 Pour batter into prepared tin and scatter about 2 tsp of extra caster sugar on top. Bake until lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (40-45 minutes), then remove and leave to cool.
3 Meanwhile, for berry compote, place ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until thickened (10-12 minutes). Remove from heat and cool.
4 Serve slices of cake with a dollop of crème fraîche, a drizzle of olive oil, berry compote and scatter with candied orange slices and slivered pistachios. Note To make ground pistachios, take shelled, unsalted, roasted pistachios and place them in a high-powered blender or spice grinder, grinding
¼ cup at a time. Pulse to a flour-like consistency. Take care not to overgrind or it will turn to paste. ●