California Almond and Olive Oil Cake

A moist, barely sweet cake of the Central Valley harvest: ground almonds and fruity olive oil, scented with citrus

Origin: California, United States

From the journey of Almond.

The almond and olive oil cake is the most characteristic Californian expression of a nut the state now grows in overwhelming abundance. California was given the almond and the olive together by the same hands, the Spanish Franciscan missionaries who planted Mediterranean orchards along the mission chain in the eighteenth century; when the almond moved inland to the hot, frost-protected floor of the Central Valley, it found one of the most perfect growing climates on earth, and the state now produces the great majority of all the almonds in the world. The cake brings the two mission crops back together, the orchard's nut and the valley's oil, in a single moist, fragrant round. It belongs to the fresh, market-driven cooking that California made its own in the late twentieth century, the style of Alice Waters and the Chez Panisse circle, which prized good ingredients lightly handled and let the produce speak. The cake is barely sweet, dense and tender from the ground almonds, kept moist for days by the fruity olive oil that replaces butter, and lifted with the zest and juice of the citrus that grows in the same Californian sun. Often it is made flourless or nearly so, leaning wholly on the almond, and finished with no more than a dusting of sugar or a spoonful of soft cream and seasonal fruit. Unfussy, wholesome, and deeply almond, the California almond and olive oil cake is the modern New World face of an ancient Mediterranean nut.

Ingredients

Cake

200 g ground almonds
100 g plain flour (or fine polenta/more ground almonds for a flourless cake)
1.5 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
180 g caster sugar
180 ml fruity extra-virgin olive oil
1 orange, zest and juice
1 lemon, zest only
0.25 tsp salt

To finish

2 tbsp flaked almonds, to top
icing sugar, to dust

Method

Grease and line a 23cm round springform tin. Heat the oven to 160°C (fan).
Whisk the eggs and caster sugar until pale and thick, about 3 minutes, then whisk in the olive oil in a steady stream until emulsified and glossy.
Whisk in the orange zest and juice and the lemon zest.
Combine the ground almonds, flour, baking powder, and salt, then fold into the wet mixture until just smooth.
Pour into the tin, scatter the flaked almonds over the top, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden, risen, and a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then release and cool on a rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Notes

The olive oil keeps this cake moist for up to five days in an airtight tin, and the flavour deepens overnight. Serve plain, or with crème fraîche and macerated stone fruit or berries in the Californian way. Use a fruity, not bitter, olive oil; a peppery oil can overwhelm the delicate almond.

The Gastrographer

Name: California Almond and Olive Oil Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 200 g ground almonds; 100 g plain flour (or fine polenta/more ground almonds for a flourless cake); 1.5 tsp baking powder; 3 eggs; 180 g caster sugar; 180 ml fruity extra-virgin olive oil; 1 orange, zest and juice; 1 lemon, zest only; 0.25 tsp salt; 2 tbsp flaked almonds, to top; icing sugar, to dust

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control