Chagigah Kitchen: Olive Oil Cake

Even though Chagigah Kitchen is all about health, who can help craving something sweet every now and then? The temptation is everywhere, but we’ve found a number of kosher recipes that will follow up a delicious barbecue. Featured this week is an olive oil cake—light, delicious, and your to eat within an hour! As always, tune into Chagigah every Sunday from 8-11AM, and send in your favorite recipes to chagigah@wers.org! Happy dining, listeners, and we’ll see you next week!

Olive Oil Cake is a flavorful sponge cake recipe that is pareve and light in texture. This recipe comes from Chana Rubin, registered dietician and author of Food for the Soul – Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating. She suggests that this cake be served with fresh or cooked fruit, ice cream, or your choice of garnish.

Olive Oil Cake

Serves: 12

Ingredients:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 4 eggs, separated
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup fresh orange or tangerine juice or half juice and half citrus liqueur
• Grated zest of one lemon, orange or tangerine, preferably organic

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 C). Line the bottom of a 10″(25 cm) spring form pan with parchment paper. Spray the bottom and sides with non-stick cooking spray. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add in ¼ cup of the sugar and continue beating until soft peaks are formed. Transfer the whites to a clean bowl and set aside. In the same bowl as the electric mixer (no need to wash the bowl), beat the remaining ¾ cup of sugar with the egg yolks on high speed until they’re thick and pale. Reduce the speed of the mixer and add in the olive oil, juice, and zest. Stop the mixer, add the dry ingredients and mix together gently. The batter will be thick. Gently and gradually fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture, until they’re thoroughly incorporated. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake on a rack for 15 minutes and then remove the sides of the pan to cool completely.

By Jamie Loftus

If you liked this, check out:
Chagigah Kitchen: Kreplach
Chagigah Kitchen: Summer Brisket