Grandma’s apple cake without butter, made with extra virgin olive oil, soft and fragrant. Apple desserts are my favorites, from the classic apple fritters to the more classic apple crumble, not to mention the famous American apple pie and the apple strudel. You can never say no to an apple dessert, especially when it’s a super soft grandma-style apple cake! My grandmother was a wizard at making fruit cakes and especially those with apples; she made them with her eyes closed even when she didn’t have butter. She often replaced it with olive oil and even used it for cookies, and I remember that breakfast at her house was always magical and special. A few days ago I found two slightly shriveled apples in the fridge and didn’t want to waste them; I thought of grandma and decided to make an apple cake. Since I didn’t have butter, I used olive oil like she would have, and I added some yogurt to make it moister and softer: my cake turned out delicious, just like hers—very fluffy and fragrant! Ready to run to the kitchen and make it together? Let’s go, but before we roll up our sleeves, remember that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Very inexpensive
Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Portions: 6-8 servings
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring

Ingredients to make the butter-free apple cake with olive oil

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs (medium)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (about 4 fl oz)
2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar (I used cane sugar)
2 apples (green or red)
1 packet baking powder (about 4 tsp)
1 packet vanillin (vanilla powder)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
to taste lemon zest (grated)

Tools

Mixer
Oven
Pan 9.5 in (24 cm)

Preparation of the olive oil apple cake

To make grandma’s olive oil apple cake, beat the eggs with the sugar; once you have a frothy, airy mixture add the oil in a thin stream while continuing to beat. Then add the yogurt, mix, and finish by adding the sifted flour. Put aside the electric beaters and combine everything with a spoon or a hand whisk.
Add the lemon zest, cinnamon, vanillin and baking powder, mix, and finally fold in one apple cut into small cubes.
Grease a pan and flour it, or line it with parchment paper, pour in the batter and arrange the other apple thinly sliced on top in a radial pattern.
The cake is ready; you can dust it with powdered sugar and serve it for breakfast or as a snack.

Bake at 356°F (convection) for 45 minutes. Do the toothpick test before removing from the oven; if it comes out damp, extend baking by another ten minutes, test again, then turn off the oven and let the cake cool slightly before unmolding.
Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy