A simple delicious harvest cake to make this weekend
A simple delicious harvest cake to make this weekend! I wish I could share it with Mary Ann and Cindy while we discuss our favorites of the week! This is definitely one of my favorites this week!
Last weekend we stayed home due to the tropical storm that never really materialized in our area, thank goodness since we are just a few houses from the water, but it gave us a day to cook together leisurely, which is kind of nice. We had some Thomcord grapes that I bought from Trader Joe’s, they are so pretty. When I searched for a recipe, I found an Italian Grape Harvest Cake and I had almost everything I needed in the panty. Thank goodness, because everything was closed for Henri!
This is sort of an olive oil cake, but the addition of the grapes makes it so special. I did substitute orange essential oil for fresh orange zest because we did not have an orange and I love the taste of orange. The substitution was perfect with just a hint of orange! I used about 15 drops.
Grape Harvest Cake
This is the perfect cake to serve for a casual, rustic lunch or dinner in the autumn.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Orange zest from one orange or substitute with 15 drops of orange essential oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 cups seedless Thomcord grapes (divided)
- Powdered Sugar for dusting the cake after it has cooled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º
- Grease and flour a 9” tart pan with a removable bottom
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar until a pale yellow (about 3 minutes)
- Mix in the olive oil, milk, vanilla, orange zest, or orange essential oil and blend until incorporated.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix in flour until combined.
- Fold in one cup of the grapes to the batter and transfer to the prepared tart pan.
- Scatter the remaining grapes on top and sprinkle the thyme leaves.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The cake will be a golden brown.
- Allow cake to cool and transfer to a cake stand. Dust with powdered sugar and fresh thyme.
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I discovered Trade Coffee on Instagram and took their quiz to see what it was all about. Here is what I learned. Trade Coffee is ethically and sustainably sourced and delivered in compostable bags right to your door. First, you’ll take a quick quiz so they can match your coffee preferences to the roasters, and then they won’t roast your beans until you order. That assures your coffee arrives fresh to your door. The first time I received a bag of Trade Coffee in my mailbox, I walked up the steps and could immediately smell the fresh aroma..from one bag of coffee! It usually takes a store full of coffee to get this aroma! We have received three bags so far and I can say that we absolutely loved each one!
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Do you love to do laundry?
I know I might be crazy to say that I love doing laundry, but I do! This last week I had a conversation with my friend Juliet (Make Mine a Spritzer) about laundry, the book Laundry Love, and how many changes we have both made in doing or laundry. (Read this post). Author Patric Richardson has a show on Discovery, a book, and a camp. Yes, a laundry camp, sign me up! Have you heard of the Laundry Guy?
Are you one of the 1,889,326 people that have watched the Chanel Shoe Restoration on YouTube?
It’s fascinating! Thank you Sandra Sallin for posting it! You can watch and be mesmerized by clicking here! And then let’s all find a vintage pair to have restored! Madeline just found a beautiful pair of Gucci loafers for $180 on Poshmark! She waited for a few days once she saw them and the seller emailed her and offered her a lower price. They started at $250, $200 and she bought them finally for $180. It pays to be patient, something I am not.
My Favorite Spray Paint for all my DIY Projects
Behr came out with chalk spray paint that covers everything so beautifully with one coat. I think I’ve mentioned it before maybe on Instagram, but I love it so much it has to be one of my Sunday Favorites. I painted some mismatched pots with the spray paint in Noir and I could not be more thrilled with how they turned out! These free pots from Trader Joe’s painted all one color look so pretty for a simple, low-cost outdoor display.
WOW…I would love a piece of your cake with your coffee right now!!! It is genius to paint the pots all one color. You are so creative, Annie.
Oh my gosh I am so happy to hear about that BEHR chalk spray. We (I mean Steve he doesn’t approve of my paint jobs) are getting ready to paint a couple of terra cotta pots and a bench. We are going to have to try it!! That cake looks like something I could make, and it sounds delicious!
My husband loves grape desserts. With his birthday coming up this week, I’ve printed the cake and will head to Trader Joe’s tomorrow.
Thank you from Camano Island,
Diney
Would you share the info on your blue and white plates used with the harvest cake?
They are from a thrift shop. I always love to find pretty dessert plates and I think I got these for 25 cents each!
Do you have a picture of the pots you sprayed with Behr paint? I must have missed it. The cake looks delicious.
Hi Cindylou, I just added a couple of photos to the post showing the pots that I painted!
That cake looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe! Great photos too!
It’s so good! Simple, but delicious!!