Vineyard Cake (aka Cleopatra Cake) – Candy Coated Culinista
A gourmet cake that’s so light and unique it’s a absolute must try.
Yield/Serving: 12
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 60 min.
Difficulty level is: Medium
From Sweet by Ottolenghi & Goh
Ingredients
Cake
• 4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• ¾ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Finely grated zest of 2 lemons (2 tsp)
• Finely grated zest of 1 oranges (2 tsp)
• Scraped seeds of ½ vanilla pod
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ¾ cups Carte d’Or or Muscat de Beaumes de Venise wine, at room temperature
• 3 ½ oz seedless red grapes, washed and halved lengthwise
Sugar Crust Topping
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 ½ oz seedless red grapes, washed and halved lengthwise
Assembly
Cake
1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease and lightly flour the angel food cake or chiffon cake pan, tapping away excess flour.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment add sugar, butter, olive oil, lemon zest, orange zest along with vanilla seeds and beat for minutes at medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one by one letting them incorporate before adding the next.
5. Turn down to low speed and add a third of the flour mixture followed by half the wine.
6. Repeat with the remaining flour and wine finishing with the final third of flour continuing to beat at a low speed.
7. Once combined pour into pan and scatter grapes on top.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
Sugar Crust
1. While the cake is in the oven immediately start on the sugar crust.
2. Place butter and sugar into a small bowl and beat into a thick paste using a wooden spoon.
3. When cake has been in oven for 20 minutes, remove from oven and scatter sugar crust onto cake into small pieces. Then add grapes evenly on top and place back in oven.
4. Immediately lower oven temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for 40 minutes, or until skewer inserted comes out clean.
5. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
6. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.
Tips
• The cake must be made in an angel food cake or chiffon pan. The cake is so large this is the only pan that can ensure an even bake. A Bundt pan will not work as you want the sugar crust and grapes to remain on top when it is served.
• The cake will keep for 5 days in an air-tight container.
• To make this non-alcoholic add grape juice, like I did.
• I added my grapes to the sugar crust mixture. Either way works out well.
Please Enjoy
My thoughts
This cake is a total hit and I can’t gush about this enough. Now some wouldn’t think this is a great idea for a cake adding olive oil, grapes or wine; but this cake is sheer magnificence. I subbed out wine for a concord grape juice to make this a non-alcoholic version and it tasted just as wonderful. My taste tester loved it and tucked in upon receiving their slices; which was 10:45 in the morning I might add and my other guest enjoyed it with Sunday dinner. I had to purchase a new cake pan for this recipe as I have never made an angel food cake before. I didn’t think I could make this and then I got lucky and found a cake pan. I will be making this recipe again for sure and I may try a different fruit and juice combination.
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