Maple Syrup Olive Oil Pound Cake and Plums Poached in Wine: Great together or separately

Two dessert recipes that can be used together or on their own: A pleasingly dense olive oil pound cake flavored with maple syrup and cardamom and Italian prune plums poached in red wine. Recipes below.

I SUSPECT THAT EVERYBODY WHO BLOGS ABOUT BAKING has, at some time or other, done an olive oil pound cake. And I can see why. It is easy to make, the results are pleasing, and from the nutritional side, it is not as horrifying as a conventional butter-laden pound cake. But, simply because it’s everywhere, I thought, well, it doesn’t need to be here.

Then recently, Terry brought home a great pile of Italian prune plums to make last week’s grilled pork chops and Italian plums. With a still impressive number of plums remaining, he asked me to think about a dessert approach, and pound cake seemed like an ideal complement.

Cardamom is the star adornment in this dessert, providing a fresh grace note in both the cake and the plums. This version of olive oil pound cake also features plain Greek yogurt and the subtle notes of maple syrup. It’s dense, moist and not too sweet.

This loaf cake would also be very nice with classics like vanilla ice cream or lemon curd. After a couple of days, you could toast slices and have them with tea and a bit of jam (we liked this with blueberry jam). And the plum compote would also be fantastic with vanilla ice cream, or a little cloud of ricotta, or a traditional butter pound cake.

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Maple Syrup Cardamom Olive Oil Pound Cake

A pleasingly dense olive oil pound cake flavored with maple syrup and cardamom.
Course Dessert
Servings 1 loaf pan-sized cake

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • scant 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1-1/2 cups white flour
  • zest of one lemon, divided
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon fresh ground cardamom (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/8 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup light olive oil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF and oil an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan (See Kitchen Notes).
  • Pour the maple syrup into a medium bowl, then add the Greek yogurt and sugar and whisk together until smoothly blended. Add the 3 eggs, one at a time, mixing well, then add the vanilla and stir again.
  • Sift the flour and then measure it into another bowl. Add the baking powder, coriander, 2/3 of the lemon zest, the ginger and salt, and stir lightly.
  • Gradually add the maple syrup into the dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Finally, pour in the olive oil and mix well. The batter will be beautifully shiny.
  • Pour into the loaf pan and place in the center of the oven. Bake about 50 minutes or until a thin blade inserted near the center comes out clean. By the way, the outside of the loaf will be a beautiful, unusual orange color. I did not expect that at all—the batter is a fairly conventional beige.
  • Place the pan on a rack to cool and run a thin blade around the inside between the loaf and the wall of the pan. When the loaf has cooled (and you can do this when it is still slightly warm), tip it out of the pan.

Kitchen Notes

Loafer. I used a glass loaf pan because I like the slightly crustier exterior. A metal pan will give you a thinner, lighter outside.
Yes, you may use a slightly larger 9 x 5-inch pan if that is what you have. Expect the cake to come up faster—test it sooner. Whatever you use, be sure to oil it well so the loaf won’t stick. If you are not confident that your pan will release the cake, then it is a good idea to line the pan with parchment paper or waxed paper, with a nice length hanging out to make a handle for you to lift out the cake.
Grinder. I grind cardamom in an old coffee grinder that we keep around for milling spices, then pass it through a sieve and then measure it.  That way I’m sure it is very fresh and fragrant.
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Plums Poached in Red Wine

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup red wine (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon cardamom
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 12 ripe Italian prune plums, cut in half and the stones discarded
  • The rest of the lemon zest from making the cake

Instructions

  • Place the wine, sugar, cardamom and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for three or four minutes. Then slip the plum halves into the simmering liquid. Simmer for 70 seconds, no more!, then lift the plums out of the liquid with a slotted spoon and gently transfer them to a shallow bowl.
  • Reduce the liquid in the pan a bit until it just starts to thicken. Any juice that drains from the plums should be added into the simmering liquid.
  • And that’s it. To serve, slice the cake—about a one-inch cut is nice for a serving. Center a slice on an attractive plate, then adorn with a few poached plums and the sauce. Garnish with the rest of the lemon zest.

Kitchen Notes

Get your wine on. For a lot of recipes here at Blue Kitchen, when we call for red wine in cooking, we are fine with using wine that is inexpensive and convenient. But for this recipe, don’t use anything you wouldn’t want to drink. I’m not calling for a 2003 Côte Rôtie, but, in a recipe with so few ingredients, the quality of the wine makes a difference.

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14 thoughts on “Maple Syrup Olive Oil Pound Cake and Plums Poached in Wine: Great together or separately”

  1. Nice, seasonal dish! We’ve been eating plums like crazy, but haven’t yet baked with them. this season. Nice to pair them with this great looking olive pound cake – haven’t had one of those for quite awhile. Good stuff – thanks.

  4. Holy mackerel! Sorry, everyone. I’ve updated the recipe, and the answer is 1-1/2 cups of flour. And now I’ve achieved that thing I always despise: leaving out a critical ingredient. Sigh.

  9. What’s the point in stirring in one egg at a time? I’ve seen it before, and I’m willing to do it, but… why?

  10. Thanks, Louise – please let me know how it comes out.

    Anita, that’s a good question. The reason is to ensure that everything is mixed together properly. In baking you will often see recipes that ask you to add ingredients in stages. That gradual process helps everything to be incorporated evenly and smoothly. I used to be impatient and skeptical and would just dump things together all at once, and so had to learn this lesson the hard way. Things did not come out as good, and sometimes were just a mess.

  11. It is a good idea to break each egg into a small bowl to check it for freshness (clear, not cloudy egg white) before dumping it into the bowl. If you put one bad egg into the bowl by accident, the entire bowl is compromised and everything needs to be discarded instrad of just the one bad egg.

  12. Della’s point is well taken. Cracking an egg separately to check it is basic kitchen hygiene, and I recommend eyeballing both the white and the yolk for freshness while you’re at it. If you keep kosher, you will be looking for blood spots too. And btw, crack the egg onto a plate, not into a bowl – one thing you will be looking for is a yolk that stands up nice and round, and a thick white that clings closely to it, rather than the whole thing spreading out flat and runny. And of course, if it smells off, it is off.

  13. I just wanted to let you know that the step of when to add the sugar in the pound cake recipe is missing. I’m assuming it goes in with the syrup-yogurt mixture?

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