Murielle Banackissa is a Montreal-based food photographer, food stylist, recipe developer, blogger, and educator. This Olive Oil Cake Recipe is excerpted from her debut cookbook, Savoring: Meaningful Vegan Recipes from Across Oceans.
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Light, soft, and delicate in flavor, this Bundt cake is the perfect dessert to make when you are looking for a quick one that is not rich or creamy, and which will pair beautifully with a cup of tea or coffee. The fine cornmeal (or polenta) in this cake gives it a nice bite and a lovely, slightly crumbly, texture, while the all-purpose flour keeps it soft and fluffy.
My favorite way to slow down when making this olive oil cake: smelling the aroma of the rosewater as it is incorporated into the cake batter. The combination of the earthy, grassy flavor of the olive oil, along with the delicate floral taste of the rosewater, gives this cake a really refined flavor profile, making it hard to stop eating at only one slice!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Fine polenta
- Fine cornmeal
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Sea salt
- Unsweetened soy milk
- Organic cane sugar
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Rosewater
- Powdered sugar (optional)
How To Make This Olive Oil Cake
Step 1: Preparation and Pan Coating
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. Brush generously a 6-cup Bundt pan with olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 2: Mixing Wet and Dry Ingredients
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk, sugar, olive oil, and rosewater until most of the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the dry mixture to the liquid mixture, and whisk until incorporated and no large lumps remain.
Step 3: Baking and Cooling the Cake
- Pour the batter into the Bundt pan, smooth the top, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the cake pan and let cool on the rack for another 20 minutes before slicing.
- If dusting with powdered sugar, wait until the cake is completely cool before sifting some onto your cake.
- Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Enjoy your Olive Oil Cake!
Rose Polenta Olive Oil Cake – Recipe Card
Rose Polenta Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup 140 g fine polenta (#400 fine cornmeal)
- 1 cup 140 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ยผ tsp sea salt
- ยพ cup 185 ml unsweetened soy milk
- โ cup 150 g organic cane sugar
- ยฝ cup 125 ml extra virgin olive oil (see note)
- 2ยฝ tsp rosewater see note
- Powdered sugar for dusting, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. Brush generously a 6-cup Bundt pan with olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk, sugar, olive oil, and rosewater until most of the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the dry mixture to the liquid mixture, and whisk until incorporated and no large lumps remain.
- Pour the batter into the Bundt pan, smooth the top, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the cake pan and let cool on the rack for another 20 minutes before slicing. If dusting with powdered sugar, wait until the cake is completely cool before sifting some onto your cake.
- Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Notes
Excerpted from Savoring by Murielle Banackissa. Copyright ยฉ 2024 Murielle Banackissa. Photographs by Murielle Banackissa. Published by Appetite by Random Houseยฎ, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
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About The Book
There is something so satisfying about choosing to consciously slow down and create a dish without distractions: cherishing the time in the kitchen, celebrating the ingredients that give us life, and slowly transforming them into something magical. Murielle Banackissaโrecipe developer, food stylist, and photographerโhas spent hours, nights, whole weekends in her kitchen cooking for herself and for others.
In Savoring, she shares a collection of her unique plant-based recipes that is both a celebration of those special moments found in cooking (grilling flavor into peaches to top weekend waffles, sitting with mushrooms while they caramelize) and an interweaving of her different cultural influencesโfrom her upbringing in the Republic of Congo, to her motherโs Russian and Ukrainian heritage recipes, and her familyโs immigration to Montreal.
With recipes that range from stuffed savory crepes to lentil-filled dumplings to cassava leaf and spinach stew, inside, youโll find:
- Bountiful Breakfasts: Crispy Chickpea Pancakes with Avocado and Salsa; Rum-Coconut French Toast with Caramelized Bananas; Stewed Blackberries and Lemon Ricotta Toasts
- Small Plates and Salads: Pan-Fried Plantains; Pearl Barley Salad with Roasted Bell Peppers and Vegan Feta; Garlicky Miso-Glazed Bok Choy; Fufu
- Marvelous Main Dishes: Coconut-Crusted Tofu with Spicy Mango Salsa; Peanut Butter and Sweet Potato Stew; Sesame Ginger Glazed Shiitakes with Sticky Rice; Quebec Meatless Pie
- Delectable Desserts: Olive Oil and Rose Polenta Bundt Cake; Spiced Poached Pear Puff Pastry Tart; Date-Sweetened Chocolate Cream Tarts; Fried Banana Beignets
With Murielleโs stunning, atmospheric photography accompanying every recipe, Savoring is the debut cookbook from a very exciting new food talent. Filled with recipes inspired by her far-reaching family, it is a thoughtful and delicious exploration of all kinds of plant-based dishes sure to introduce new flavors to your table.
About The Author
Murielle Banackissa is a food photographer, recipe developer, and food stylist based in Montreal.
Outside of spending hours developing new recipes and shooting them in her home studio, Murielle loves paying attention to the details surrounding her as a way to feel more grounded and present. From water droplets resting on leaves after rainfall, to the golden glow of summer nights, to the way yeasted dough rises under the ideal conditions, she is always seeking the magic in seemingly mundane moments.
More Vegan Recipes You Might Like
If you enjoyed this Olive Oil Cake, you might also like:
- Crispy Baked Cauliflower Buffalo Wings (Vegan)
- Spicy Gochujang Tofu
- Meaty Vegan Chili
- Easy No Bake Dessert: Vegan Peanut Butter Tarts
Connect with Murielle on Instagram and at muriellebanackissa.com