Roasted Grape Cake

A beautiful and simple cake with surprising flavors. If you never baked with grapes (and I highly recommend you do) this recipe is a good way to start. The fruit is first lightly caramelized so it adds a natural extra sweetness to the batter that is wonderful. I love it with olive oil, but it can also be made with butter.

I caramelized grapes one afternoon many years ago after reading an old cookbook, and I was hooked (there's a whole wheat focaccia recipe and 8-hour cheesecake to prove it) on those fruity candied pieces, the skin shriveled with a flavor so sweet I would’ve sworn - with the utmost authority - that additional sugar had been sprinkled on them, but there wasn't, since I had baked them myself.

So they found their way into this beautiful tea cake, one I had made many times going no further than apples as the fruit of choice, adding a handful of blueberries if I was feeling festive.

About this recipe

Cakes with oil, especially dense and thick olive oil, are moister and don't rise as fluffy as regular ones, like the Vanilla Butter Cake for example. So don't be fooled by that because it's a delicious cake and is not pasty or dense in a bad way.

Also, I added the butter alternative in the recipe just in case you don't want to bake with oil.

If you use small grapes, it becomes more of a hidden cake - an old recipe that has been going around for the longest time and that it seems to have been very popular – where the batter encases the fruit completely (or almost) and you need to cut it to know what fruit is inside, or if there’s any at all.

Ingredients

A few comments about them.

• Oil: use a mild or light olive oil that doesn't overpower the other flavors.
• Grapes: I always use seedless because I can use them whole. But you can seed other types of grapes and use them cut in half.
• Vanilla: this is the only extra flavoring so use the best pure extract (or vanilla paste) you can afford.
• Sugar: regular granulated is what we use.
• Eggs: make sure they're room temperature.
• Flour and extras. All-purpose or cake flour both work.

Easy steps

There are two parts: caramelizing the grapes and making the cake. Both are easy.

The grapes

Washed seedless grapes are roasted in the oven until caramelized and juicy.

Wet ingredients

Since this recipe has oil, we start by beating the eggs with the sugar and then adding the oil in a stream. It creates a smooth, thick batter.

Dry ingredients

They have to be sifted before adding to the egg/oil mixture. I have them measured and sift them directly over the batter, but you can also sift them in another large bowl first.

Final mix

At the end, mix a few times with a spatula making sure there's no flour left in the bottom of the bowl that hasn't been incorporated. The final batter should be smooth and well integrated.

Adding the grapes

The last step is pouring the batter in the prepared pan and scattering the grapes on top.

My top tips

• Instructions: read recipe first to make sure you follow the pan size, oven and ingredients temperatures to ensure a good result.
• Storing: keep leftovers refrigerated, well wrapped to prevent drying out. You can keep it maybe 1 day at room temperature, but it has grapes and they will start to ferment if the room is not cool. So I recommend not to take a chance.
• Oil or butter: you can use olive oil or any other one, such as sunflower or canola. I used to make this cake with butter (instructions in the Notes section of the recipe card) until I tried it with olive oil and never looked back. But I'm a huge fan of the oil (Lemon Olive Oil Bundt Cake anyone?) and love baking with it. It might not be your case.
• Fruit variation: you can use sliced pears, apples or stone fruit like peaches or plums, it will be more of a fruit-topped cake as the batter won't hid them it much. Either way it’s great and perfect for tea time, or when you have a solitary fruit and want to bake something simple.
• Flavorings: the batter is plain and can accommodate any spice or citrus zest you want, as long as you like it paired with grapes, or whatever fruit you use. I used a pure vanilla extract to let the sweetness of the roasted cakes shine.

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Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it, and also if you had issues, so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here, it's much appreciated.
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