Lemon, Rosemary and Citrus Olive Oil Cake

This recipe was developed from my original adaptation of the Olive oil, Rosemary & Lemon cake that I found on the Olive Oil Times website which was contributed by Mooney Farms.  

I made this version using using Soralina's Italian Citrus Olive Oil which is a wonderful cold pressed combination of Italian fresh olives, Sicilian lemons, mandarins, oranges and pink grapefruits which are crushed together, releasing the amazing citrus oils directly in to the oil, imparting their amazing flavour and fragrance, without the need for artificial additions.  Soralina were awarded the Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday Winner on 25th May 2014. When I met them personally at the BBC Good Food Show in May, this is clearly something that the family owned business are incredibly proud of. Mo and Sylvia were kind enough to let me have a sample of their oil to take home and try.

I know I've made this cake and published the recipe before using a fabulous Spanish Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil which turned out beautifully, but I was curious to see how the Citrus oil would enhance the flavours of the lemons used in the cake.  Time was of the essence in getting this made and into the oven, so this time, I made it using the 'all in one' method.

385g Self raising flour

1½tbs Fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2tsp Baking powder

½tsp Bicarbonate of soda

½tsp Salt

370g Granulated sugar

125ml Soralina Citrus extra virgin olive oil

125ml Milk

2 Lemons, zested

60ml Lemon juice

1tsp Vanilla extract

3 Large eggs

Icing

150g Icing sugar

15ml Lemon juice

1. Heat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C.

2. Line a 22cm/9" springform tin with a cake case (I buy mine from Lakeland).

3. In a large bowl, place all of the cake ingredients.

4. Whisk together using an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until until smooth.

5. Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out cleanly.

6. Remove from the oven, but leave in the tin for 10 minutes.

7. Remove the cake from the tin, leaving it in the parchment cake case, and place on a wire cooling rack and leave until cold.

8. For the icing, mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice until you get a smooth, soft paste.

9. Spread over the top of the cooled cake. If the icing is a little too stiff, you can heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds which will make it easier to spread.

10. Decorate with a small sprig of fresh rosemary.

11. Serve and enjoy in thin slices.

As a thank you to Mo and Sylvia, I made another of these cakes for them, which I took down to the Taste of London festival in Regents Park on Sunday 22nd June.  They shared a few slices with customers who were interested in this oil, but Mo decided very early on that he was going to enjoy this gift and share it with his family.  I hope he did share it too!!! 

The oil was generously supplied to me by Soralina.  I adapted my original posting of the recipe, initially as a family cake for myself prior to making one for Mo & Sylvia. I was under no obligation to blog this recipe or to give a favourable review of their product.  The views are my own and are a genuine reflection of how I found their oil.