Also known as Torta di Grano Saraceno, Buckwheat Apple Olive Oil Cake is a not-too-sweet "rustic" cake that's perfect for breakfast, a snack or tea. In Italy it is served filled with fruit preserves. As much as I like the idea of that, I found that with the apples, raisins and walnuts, there was no need for a fruit filling. This delicate buckwheat flour cake is good on its own or topped with whipped cream and blackberries.
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Light Buckwheat Flour vs. Dark
This cake calls for 100% buckwheat flour. I used the lighter colored buckwheat flour which comes from hulled buckwheat seeds and is milder in flavor than the dark, which comes from unhulled and is pretty robust. The first buckwheat flour I ever tried was the dark, and I actually thought I didn't like buckwheat until I tried the lighter kind. The two are very different in flavor. Plus the light buckwheat flour seems to give things a more delicate crumb than the dark.
Mix and Match the Fruit
This version of the recipe calls for apple and cardamom, but you can use other fruit in place of the apple including banana. The spices are also interchangeable, but my family loves cardamom so that was an easy decision. For a more Italian-themed cake, you could use hazelnuts in place of walnuts.
Buckwheat Apple Olive Oil Cake Pan Size
Buckwheat Apple Olive Oil Cake calls for a in a 9-inch round springform. The bottom of mine went missing (it's since been found) so I made half the recipe and baked it in a 6-inch springform. That was actually the perfect size for us, so you if want to halve the recipe you can.
Recipe
Buckwheat Apple Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups buckwheat flour (150 grams)
- 1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
- 3 large eggs, separated
- ½ cup granulated sugar, divided use (100 grams)
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 cup grated apple, undrained
- ¾ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup chopped raisins or currants
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round springform pan.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add cardamom if using.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and half of the sugar until well blended, then gradually add the olive oil, then the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture followed by the apples, nuts and raisins.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, slowly adding the reserved ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar to the whites as you beat.
- Fold the egg white mixture into the cake batter. Scrape into the greased springform pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes and remove the ring from the springform pan. When cool, you can garnish with a little powdered sugar.
Abino dunes says
This has become one of my favourite cakes to make.