This is a beautiful and simple cake with surprising flavors. If you haven't baked with grapes yet (and I highly recommend it), this recipe is a good way to start. The fruit is first lightly caramelized, adding a wonderful natural sweetness to the batter. I love it with olive oil, but it can also be made with butter.
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Hidden cake recipe
This is a vintage recipe that has been around here for a long time. The batter encases the fruit completely (or almost), and you need to cut it to see what fruit is inside. Hence, the hidden cake name.
It makes a great fresh cherry cake, but today I modernized it a little with grapes and olive oil. You can use any vegetable oil, and I also included a butter alternative in the recipe card for those who don't want to bake with it. But trust me, it's worth it.
After reading an old cookbook, I caramelized grapes one afternoon many years ago, and I was hooked on those fruity, candied pieces. The skin shriveled with a flavor so sweet I would've sworn (with the utmost authority, lol) that additional sugar had been sprinkled on them, but there wasn't, since I had baked them myself. At the time, I used them on top of the sour cream cheesecake, and this crunchy whole wheat focaccia, and they were incredible.
Cakes with oil, especially dense and thick olive oil, are moister and don't rise as fluffy as a classic butter cake. So don't be fooled by that; it's a delicious cake and is not pasty or dense in a bad way.
So, the sweet grapes 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 felt festive.
Testing Notes
Seedless grapes are the easiest to use, but they are not always the best-tasting ones. Remember they're roasted, so their flavor deepens and sweetens. That said, you can use other types of grapes, cut them in half and remove the seeds before using.
Oil or butter: you can use olive oil or any other, such as canola or sunflower oil. 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 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 hide the fruit very well. 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.
Storing: Refrigerate leftovers well-wrapped to prevent drying out. You can keep them for maybe one day at room temperature, but they have grapes that will start to ferment if the room is not cool. So, I recommend not taking a chance.
Ingredients
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Oil: Use a mild or light olive oil that doesn't overpower the other flavors. You can also use another vegetable oil, like sunflower.
- 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.
- Flour: all-purpose or cake flour, both work.
- Baking powder: make sure it's not expired.
Process steps
There are two parts: caramelizing the grapes and making the cake. Both are easy.
Caramelizing grapes
I used to top focaccia with these grapes. I still do sometimes, but I realized there are different ways of using them. They're like natural candy; their natural sweetness when roasted is just fantastic.
Wash the seedless grapes and roast them in the oven until caramelized and juicy.
The cake batter
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
The flour mixture has to be sifted before being added to the egg/oil mixture. I measure them and sift them directly over the batter, but you can also sift them in another large bowl first.
Final mix
At the end, fold the batter 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.
Grapes
The last step is pouring the batter into the prepared pan and scattering the caramelized grapes on top.
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Roasted Grape Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
Caramelized grapes:
- 1 ½ cups whole grapes, seedless, the sweeter the better
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Vanilla cake:
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup olive oil, if using butter, see Notes below
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon powdered sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
For the grapes:
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF (170ºC).
- Wash 1 ½ cups whole grapes, dry them, and place them in an oven pan or sheet. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and stir to coat lightly.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, until shriveled and juicy. Depending on the size of your grapes, it may take more or less time. Some will be more roasted than others.
For the cake batter:
- Turn the oven up to 350°F/180°C.
- Butter or spray an 8-inch springform cake pan.
- Beat 2 eggs in a large bowl and add 1 cup sugar gradually, beating for a minute until it thickens.
- Add ⅓ cup olive oil in a thin stream while constantly beating until it's thick and light-colored, similar to homemade mayonnaise.
- Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix well.
- Sift together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Or have it all measured and sift directly over the batter.
- Add the dry ingredients in 2 parts, beating just until it's incorporated. Don't overbeat at this point.
- Pour into the prepared pan, and scatter the grapes on top.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden brown and puffed and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. The middle might sink slightly after you remove the cake from the oven.
- Let cool on a wire rack, run a smooth-bladed knife around the edge to loosen and remove from the pan.
- Sift with 1 teaspoon powdered sugar before serving.
- Keep leftovers wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator.
Michelle Ajram says
Loved this recipe, easy and very tasty. I made with gluten free flour and still wonderful.
Paula Montenegro says
Great to know GF also works! Thanks Michelle!
Kate says
Hi, this looks delicious and I’m about to make it. Can you tell me: will it freeze ok or is it better not to bc of the grapes? Thanks!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Kate! Let it cool and immediately wrap it and freeze it. Don’t let the grapes release more moisture. You should be fine. If needed, heat it slightly in a medium oven before eating.