Lemony Olive Oil Cake

This cake celebrates winter citrus, and it's a delicious not-too sweet dessert any time of year.  Made with two of our favorite pantry provisions, Extra Virgin Olive oil and Preserved Lemon Cream, it's an interaction of a class favorite - lemon bars.   The lemon cream adds a silkiness to the cake, along with bits of aromatic preserved lemon.  The olive oil amplifies the fruitiness of the lemon, and creates a moist and tender textured cake.  Super simple to make, naturally gluten free. 

SHOPPING LIST: 
1 cup almond flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 cup Bella Cucina Extra Virgin Olive Oil
zest and juice of 1 lemon
pinch salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup Bella Cucina Preserved Lemon Cream 

For the topping: 

1 cup heavy whipping cream                                                                                   Rest of the jar of lemon cream (about 1/4 cup) 

PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a food processor, add the flour and sugar.  Pulse until combined. Add the vanilla, eggs, olive oil and lemon zest and juice. Process until the mixture is thick. Add the salt, baking powder and lemon cream.  Pulse just until combined. 

Drizzle a Tablespoon of olive oil in an 8 inch non-stick spring form pan.  Coat the pan with 1 Tablespoon almond flour.  Tap the pan and disgard any excess flour that doesn't stick to the pan. Pour in the batter.   Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean at the center of the cake.  Cool the cake, then gently remove from the pan and place on a plate.  

In a bowl, whisk the whip cream until light peaks form. Fold in the lemon cream just until combined. Serve the cake warm or room temperature with a generous dollop of the cream. 

VARIATIONS: 

- Use all purpose flour or almond meal instead of flour. You can even use ground pistachio flour

- Use Bella Cucina Key Lime Spread and substitute with lime zest and juice 

-  Make a warm lemony simple syrup and pour over the top of the cake after it's cooled a bit:  1/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup lemon juice. Top with fresh lemon zest. 

- Scrape the inside of a vanilla bean, or add dried vanilla sugar beans when processing the sugar for added vanilla flavor