cozy apple olive oil cake

My mom makes a delicious apple cake in a bundt pan, and my favorite part is the way the sugar creates a crispy crust while the apples serve as little gems within the fluffy cake. An apple a day keeps the doctor away after all! One dish that my dinner party clients love is my rosemary olive oil cake with almond sugar crumble. It is delicious, and there is over a cup of oil in it, with most of the oil being Olinda olive oil. I recently did a bit of a delicious and rewarding experiment that is inspired by both cakes: apple olive oil cake with warm spices, applesauce, and chunks. Applesauce replaces some of the oil and reinforces the apple flavor provided by the chunks of apple. As a private chef in Charleston, this is a dish that will be making its way onto both brunch and dinner menus.

2 cups all purpose flour

1 ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large eggs

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 1/3 cup milk

1 ½ teaspoons orange zest, about one orange

3/4 teaspoon lemon zest, about one lemon

2 tablespoons orange juice, about one orange

1 tablespoon lemon juice, about one lemon

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons orange liqueur, optional, or orange juice

2 cups peeled, cored, and roughly chopped 1/2 inch pieces Granny Smith apples, about 2 apples

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Butter or spray with oil spray and lightly dust a 9 inch springform pan on the bottom and all interior sides with sugar.

3. To make cleanup easy, cover a baking sheet with foil. Make sure the springform pan fits on top of the baking sheet.

4. Put the prepared springform pan on the prepared sheet.

5. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.

6. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, applesauce, milk, orange zest, lemon zest, orange juice, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and orange liqueur or additional orange juice.

7. Mix until thoroughly combined.

8. Whisk the dry ingredients into the olive oil mixture until just combined. Fold in the chopped apples using a rubber spatula.

9. Pour batter into prepared springform pan.

10. Bake at 350 F for an hour or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 30 minutes.

11. Remove the springform pan ring carefully. When cooled completely, invert the cake onto a plate and using a second plate, then invert the cake so that it is upright.