Olive Oil Raspberry Cake

It's been a long and busy week, but despite this my Mum and I have kept to our word by making lots of new and different recipes. I just haven't had the time to post them! This cake is one of the best ones I've tasted because it is very light. This was because Mum had used 2 ingredients that I have never associated with light cakes before - olive oil and apple juice. Very easy to make as well. Here it is:

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup extra light olive oil
1 cup apple or pear juice
3 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
300g fresh or frozen raspberries*
1 tbsp icing sugar#

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Grease and line the base and sides of a pan with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long sides.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, caster sugar and vanilla in a large bowl on high speed for 3 minutes or until pale and thick. Stir in olive oil and apple juice. Sift flour and baking powder together over the egg mixture. Fold gently until combined.
3. Pour two-thirds of cake mixture into the prepared pan. Top with half the raspberries. Pour in remaining cake mixture. Top with remaining raspberries. Bake cake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then use the baking paper to carefully lift it out onto a wire rack to cool. Dust the cake with icing sugar just before serving.

NOTES

* You can replace the raspberries with blueberries (which is what Mum did) or pitted cherries for a variety

# Australians have a tendency to put icing sugar on absolutely anything that is sweet, even when it is not required. This cake would have been nice with icing sugar, as it is a light cake and is not heavy, too sweet or rich. But even without it, just as we did, it's perfectly fine.

This is one of the best cakes I've had because it is so light and simple to make. My new favourite - I may request it for my birthday in September!