Margarita's International Recipes

Israel

TAHINI OLIVE OIL CAKE

TAHINI OLIVE OIL CAKE


This is a vegan(ish) recipe.

At this point in my international food project, I have cooked over 180 cuisines. In my fifty-plus years, I have gone to a plethora of restaurants and discovered many others. It's very rare that I ever taste something that is completely new to me. This modern Israeli cake qualifies. It's probably closest to a dense spice cake, but less sweet than most and the tahini flavor really brings it somewhere altogether new. I wouldn't say it's delicious, but it's pleasant, it has a very nice texture and it's just interesting.

I don't know when Israelis started using tahini in cakes, but it seems a logical fusion of European and Middle Eastern flavors and ingredients. I particularly appreciate the fact that this cake doesn't include eggs or dairy products. It does contain honey, but fortunately my vegan daughter is not that radical yet.

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TAHINI OLIVE OIL CAKE

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp ground green cardamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon essence

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8" round pan, cover it with parchment paper and grease again.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, cardamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

Put the olive oil, honey and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix together until well combined. Add the tahini, lemon juice and lemon essence and mix well.

Add the flour combination and mix on low until combined. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the center has set.


Adapted from Melinda Strauss' recipe at Jamie Geller


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