Peach raspberry olive oil cake

This peach raspberry olive oil cake is super moist with tender chunks of sweet peaches and pockets of juicy raspberries.  

From July to early September, I buy about 10 pounds of stone fruits every Sunday from Sweet Tree Farm at the Hillcrest Farmers market. The stone fruits go into the kids’ lunch boxes, salads, and desserts. One of my favorite desserts to bake is a peach raspberry olive oil cake. It’s an unfussy, one bowl cake that turns out super moist with tender chunks of sweet peaches and pocket of juicy raspberries.  

Ingredient note

Peach: for this cake, I used O’Henry peaches. They’re known for their beautiful orange skin and bright red blush with sweet and juicy flesh. I sliced the peaches instead of using chunks to create a textural contrast with the raspberries. If you can’t find peaches, nectarines, apricots, and cherries are great alternatives. It's best to use fresh fruit for this cake. Frozen peaches have a higher water content and will change the texture of this cake.

Olive oil: when it comes to baking, choose a quality fruity olive oil. Arbequina olives are small and distinctly sweet, producing buttery, fruity, and smooth olive oil, most suited for sweet baking. Cakes made with olive oil tend to bake up with a moist and tender texture compared to ones made with butter.

Greek yogurt: like other dairy products, adding Greek yogurt to cake batter makes the crumb moist and tender. Use only plain whole-milk, full-fat Greek yogurt for the best flavor. If you’re trying to cut calories, use 2% but avoid nonfat, as it contains fillers and stabilizers that change the taste and texture of what you’re baking. Sour cream, creme fraiche, and cream cheese are other alternatives that I use.

How to make this cake

This is one of the easiest cakes you can add to your dessert repertoire. It only requires a bowl, a whisk, and a few steps to make. First whisk all the wet ingredients together. Then sift in all the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Top with peaches, raspberries, and a sprinkle of turbinado sugar. In less than an hour from prep to baking, you’re rewarded with an amazing cake for the minimal amount of work.

Tips for a moist cake

Everything that goes into making a cake affects its flavor and texture. Besides measuring the right ingredients and following instructions to the t, there are a few essential steps for getting a moist cake. Preheat your oven to ensure the proper temperature. Opening the oven door during baking creates great fluctuations in heat and causes your cake to collapse.

Over-mixing the batter will incorporate too much air resulting in the cake falling and becoming dense. Don’t overbake or the texture will be dry. Place the cake on the middle rack so the heat is distributed evenly between the top and bottom. Check for doneness 5-8 minutes before the required baking time because not all ovens act the same. The best method for testing a cake's doneness is with a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake. When it comes out clean, the cake is done.

This peach raspberry olive oil cake is the epitome of a summer cake. Sweet, sunny, and unfussy. It celebrates peaches when they are at their best. With moist, tender crumbs, chunks of sweet peaches, and pockets of juicy raspberries, you're in for a delightful treat!

For more summer dessert inspiration, check these recipes: roasted strawberry cream pie, peach and blueberry cobbler, blueberry and mascarpone galette.