If you’re looking for afternoon tea ideas, look no further. Tea cakes are a state of mind, and this olive oil and pistachio tea cake recipe answers the call: beautifully rich and moist, courtesy of the golden olive oil used in place of butter with a perfect crumb. Messy eaters, this is the cake for you: the dense cake crumbles perfectly, and is ideal for swiping through the accompanying crème fraîche. And, if you’re wondering, “what flavour pairs well with pisatchio?” the answer is tart berries. Make the sweet compote and dollop generously for a perfect slice, every time.
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Ingredients
Berry compote
Method
1.Preheat oven to 170°C fan-forced. Grease and line base and sides of a 20cm cake tin. Add olive oil, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla and milk in a bowl and whisk until combined and sugar begins to dissolve (1-2 minute). Stir in pistachios then fold in flour, baking powder and ½ tsp salt until combined.
2.Pour batter into prepared tin and scatter about 2 tsp of extra caster sugar on top. Bake until lightly golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (40-45 minutes), then remove and leave to cool.
3.Meanwhile, for berry compote, place ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until thickened (10-12 minutes). Remove from heat and cool.
4.Serve slices of cake with a dollop of crème fraîche, a drizzle of olive oil, berry compote and scatter with candied orange slices and slivered pistachios.
To make ground pistachios, take shelled, unsalted, roasted pistachios and place them in a high-powered blender or spice grinder, grinding ¼ cup at a time. Pulse to a flour-like consistency. Take care not to overgrind or it will turn to paste.
Ben Dearnley
