Grape and Olive Oil Cake

I haven’t been baking much these days because unless I am having company over, I do not need to have the temptations around. I am really trying to lose weight, and have cut out almost all sweets and sugars. But every now and then, and especially when we have company, I indulge. I miss baking too, but it is a necessary sacrifice. 🙂

As I mentioned yesterday, A Simple Marinara, we had Peter over for dinner. Of course I had to have dessert too. I made a grape and olive oil cake for the occasion. I didn’t feel quite so guilty because it had grapes, which are fruit. So it was kind of healthy, right?! Of course Larry and Peter added ice cream to their cake, so forget about it being healthier, at least for them. 🙂

Grape Cake with Olive Oil

You can use either red or green grapes for this cake. I’ve made it with both. This time I had green grapes.

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C.

Spray a 9″ cake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup olive oil

4 TBSP melted butter

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp orange zest

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups seedless grapes

powdered sugar for topping

Combine all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar together until creamy, then add the melted butter, vanilla, milk and olive oil. Mix together thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients 1/2 a time, mixing in between. Don’t over mix or your cake will turn out tough and dry.

Fold in about 2/3 of the grapes. And pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly. Add the rest of the grapes on top of the batter.

Bake for about 1 hour, or until the cake is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Dust with powdered sugar on top if you like and enjoy. This was another hit, and we ended sending about 1/4 of the cake home with Peter, for him to enjoy again later.

Have a great day and maker everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.