Lighter Lemon Olive Oil Mini Cake

An ode to the mini cake

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This week we look to one of my favourite bake trends of the moment, the mini cake. A little bit of joy and indulgence, to cheer us during what feels like increasingly dark and polarising times.

First up, what is a mini cake?

According to award winning pastry chef Cecilia Tolone, mini cakes are a different form to cupcakes. Unlike a tray of cupcakes, they are baked in mini cake tins - usually 3” or 4” in size. They are free standing with straight sides. Sometimes they are layered, sometimes not. In short, they are like a regular cake, but cute and diddy.

And why is a mini cake so great anyway? It sounds like a lot of work for something so tiny. Well, we’re not always feeding a crowd are we? What if you only have three people coming round? What if it’s just you and your bestie? Or what if you are throwing an absolutely enormous party and want to hand out individual cakes on silver trays?

As someone who recipe tests a lot, I am a big fan of the mini cake. It means I can try lots of flavours without having seven enormous cakes hanging around my house, tantalising me. A mini cake makes a great little gift, minimises wastage, stops you from over indulging and… they are cute and diddy!

Here are some fabulous mini cakes;

All the mini cakes by Cecilia Tolone

Strawberry and Rose Mini Cakes by Flora Manson

Mini Lemon & Elderflower Cakes from At Home with Mandy

And for something more unusual, these Chocolate, Beetroot & Sumac Mini Cakes from The Clove Coterie

My version today is a doozy - which jumps on literally every current cake trend going;

• A mini cake? Check.

• Lemony and summery? Check.

• Uses Extra Virgin Olive Oil for a light and fluffy crumb? Check.

• Strawberries! Check.

• Soft, rustically splodgy mascarpone cream? Check.

• A twist on a classic with a pine nut and honey glaze? Check, check, check!

Oh, and compared to a standard lemon cake, it has less refined sugars too.

Lighter Baking

Last month, I enjoyed taking part in a collaboration with

Ellen Kornmehl MD

, covering healthier baking.

The Loaf Givers

As part of our discussion, we experimented with healthier fats like Extra Virgin Olive Oil in baking, as well as some techniques to lower refined sugar without compromising flavour. A rich chocolate Olive Oil Loaf with hazelnut crust was the result.

Since then, I’ve been obsessed with testing a lemon cake version. It has taken several attempts, but worth it for this incredibly soft lemony crumb. It’s even better than standard lemon cake!

A lovely, light crumb

The sponge itself is adapted from Lorraine Pascale’s Limoncello and Blueberry Drizzle Cake, from her wonderful book A Lighter Way to Bake. This drizzle cake is my favourite recipe from her book. I’ve often made it for parties, and no one has been able to tell that it is a ‘lighter’ version.

Cakes with less sugar can be dense and dry, yet this crumb is made lighter with lots of whipped egg white. Kind of like a soufflé. My addition of olive oil keeps the crumb nice and even, and a lemon honey soak helps to ensure the sponge doesn't dry out.

As well as turning it into a teeny 4” cake - which can also be layered - I’ve baked this baby cake with toasted pine nuts, and topped with mascarpone cream and lightly macerated strawberries, doing my best to keep added sugar to a minimum.

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Lighter Lemon Olive Oil Mini Cake

Topped with toasted pine nuts, lemon honey glaze, mascarpone cream and macerated strawberries

This recipe today will make two 4” mini cakes - you can wrap and freeze one, or place in a little bento cake box as a gift for a friend, relative or neighbour.

Feeding a crowd? This recipe will also make a larger 6”. Or you can double the recipe and make an 8”. It’s quite a soft cake though, so larger versions may not layer well.

Level: Intermediate

Time taken: 1-2hrs

Makes: 2x 4” mini cakes, each feeding Approx. 4 people.

Specialist equipment needed: 2x 4” cake tins. Stand mixer very useful.

Ingredients

35g pine nuts

40g EVOO

Pinch of salt

50g Greek Yogurt

1 egg

125g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2x medium lemons, zested and juiced

2x egg whites (Approx. 60g)

3 tbsp light honey

For the topping

3 tbsp mascarpone

2 tbsp double cream

100g strawberries, cut into quarters

1 tbsp caster sugar

Method

Start by dry toasting your pine nuts in a small frying pan. Place them on a medium heat and occasionally give them a little shake. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes for them to take on a light colour, and smell wonderful! Set aside.

Now, grease and line your cake tins. I grease my tins with a little olive oil and use the strip method to line - simply cutting out a circle to fit the bottom, and then a strip for the sides. It’s a bit of a faff yes, but does give you lovely straight edges for your cake.

Pre heat your oven to 170°C/150°C fan/302°F. Place a small pot of water in the base of your oven - this little trick will help keep your sponge super soft.

Moving on to your sponge, beat together your EVOO, caster sugar, salt and Greek yogurt in a stand mixer on a medium speed. If you don’t have a stand mixer, an electric whisk will do. Beat until they are well combined, and take on a lovely yellow colour.

Add the egg and beat again.

Sift together your self raising flour and baking powder, before adding the zest of your two lemons. Slowly add this dry flour mixture into your EVOO mixture and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together your egg whites until they form stiff peaks. You want them to be very stiff, almost like a ball of egg white on your whisk.

Super whipped egg whites

Then, gently fold them into your cake mixture until well combined.

Gently pour your batter into each cake tin - I found each 4” tin takes Approx. 160g of batter.

Now generously sprinkle the top of your cakes with the toasted pine nuts, leaving aside a small handful of pine nuts for later.

Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. They will be ready when golden brown, a cocktail stick comes out clean and you can no longer hear bubbling from your sponges.

Just before the cakes are due to come out, pour your honey and the juice of half a lemon into your pine nut frying pan (remove your leftover pine nuts and set aside for later). Gently heat the honey until it is liquid and a pouring consistency.

As soon as your cakes are out of the oven, prick the tops all over with a cocktail stick and pour on your honey glaze. Leave to completely cool.

Your macerated strawberries

While your cake is cooling, place your strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle over the sugar. Give them a gently mix, cover and place in the fridge until ready.

Your mascarpone cream

Once your cakes are cool, whip up your mascarpone cheese with double cream and a squeeze of lemon juice. It won’t take long, just a couple of minutes in the stand mixer until stiff.

Assembly

For a simple cake, you can top this with your mascarpone cream. It’s too hot to pipe right now, so just artfully splodge it on with a spoon.

Follow with a little pile of macerated strawberries.

If you want to make a layer cake, I recommend wrapping this little guy in cling film and getting it in the fridge for at least an hour. This will make it easier for you to cut.

Once the cake is relatively firm, cut it in half using a large bread knife. For a clean cut, twist the cake into the bread knife as you saw.

Spoon a little mascarpone cream into the middle, spreading it out to the edges. You can use a small palette knife for precision, but the back of a spoon is fine. Sprinkle with the rest of your toasted pine nuts before placing your top half back on, topping again with your cream and a pile of strawberries.

You can sprinkle a little more lemon zest on top if you like. Store this cake in the fridge, but bring it out for an hour before serving to come to room temperature. Enjoy!

Until next time…