Already a fan of her first effort, a month or so ago I bought Chloe Coscarelli’s second cookbook, Chloe’s Vegan Desserts. I’d yet to make anything from it so decided that a friend’s birthday dinner would be an ideal time to pop that particular cherry.
But what cake to make? Neither of us are fans of chocolate cake (we’re weird, I know), my friend isn’t big on icing (he’s weirder) and I’m always drawn to fruity cakes.
After surprisingly little deliberation with myself, I decided on the Lemon Olive Oil Cake, as it was chocolate-free, icing-free and fruit-based. Tick, tick and tick!
As I was already making my famous vegetarian lasagne for dinner and we were planning on opening the limoncello that I bought in Tuscany, it also topped off our Italian feast perfectly.
I only made a few minor changes to the recipe; for the benefit of my friend’s gluten-intolerant housemate, I subbed the regular flour and baking powder for gluten-free versions (plus added one teaspoon of xanthan gum because apparently that’s what you do) and for the benefit of my wallet, I subbed the maple syrup for agave nectar (the maple syrup in the supermarket was extortionate! Maybe prices were raised for Canada Day today? Sneaky.).
When I’d made the cake mix, I was worried I’d done something wrong as it was really fluffy and airy – almost mousse-like, as opposed to regular, thick cake mix. However, I think it’s meant to be like this as the cake turned out perfectly, if I do say so myself. It was moist, super-fluffy and had just a light lemony flavour that was delicious with fresh berries.
I’d never made a gluten-free cake before and was worried it may be a little stodgy or dry but it was neither of those things. Success!
The recipe for the cake is on Chloe’s website if you want to try it out. I highly recommend that you do.
I’m dying to try out more of Chloe’s recipes as they all look amazing. Plus, not to gloat or anything (read: totally gloating), she’s now re-tweeted me twice on Twitter so, naturally, I’m a massive fan.
I made lemon cake today! But I will definitely take a look at this recipe, as I’ve wanted to make an olive oil cake for some time now. Looks very tasty! 😀
It was really good – you should definitely try it out! 🙂
This looks absolutely delish! I’m making it this weekend!
Ooh, enjoy! It’s such a lovely and light, not-too-rich cake. 🙂
Sounds perfect!
I love baking with olive oil anyway, so I know I would be over the moon about a cake that really features that flavor. That crumb looks so moist, too!
I have baked with other oils before but never with olive oil. I am a convert! The cake really was deliciously moist! Definitely one to make again.
I’m so excited to try this! I make a lemon olive oil cake that I lie but it gets a left from eggs, which my husband has stopped eating. I look forward to trying this version! Do you think I could use more zest in place of the extract?
Yeah, I was really pleased with how it turned out!
I think you could definitely use more zest instead of the extract, or even a little more lemon juice. I guess the extract just adds another layer of lemon flavouring but more zest would give it that extra ‘zing’!
Looks amazing, I’ll give this one a go!
Thanks! I highly recommend the recipe. (And the rest of the book!) 🙂
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