Olive Oil Cake with Candied Fennel Recipe

Shannon Swindle is the executive pastry chef at Italian restaurants Funk in Beverly Hills and Felix in Venice, and she’s probably got a recipe or a hundred in her pocket when it comes to simple but effective desserts. This olive oil cake is one of them: delicious, comforting and not too sweet. He’s tweaked the recipe over the years to come up with just the right amount of olive oil and crème fraîche (or sour cream) for the kind of cake you can eat with your morning coffee or serve to guests for a special occasion. She bakes her cake in a large 10-inch cake pan that is 3 inches high. You can also use an 8-by-2-inch pan; Just consider the cooking time. Start checking it for doneness (the top will be firm) at 40 minutes.

He calls it a seasonal cake, because you can add whatever fruit is in season as a garnish. In the fall she likes to make milky fennel. This recipe makes more candied fennel than needed for the cake, but it keeps well. (The candied fennel recipe is also easily halved.)

Pastry chef Shannon Swindle shows us how to make an olive oil cake that’s easy and beautiful.