Harvest Grape & Olive Oil Cake
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This lovely Italian-style cake is studded with juicy red grapes and flavored with hints of vanilla and citrus.
Studded with juicy red grapes and subtly flavored with vanilla and citrus, this Italian-style cake is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon snack. It’s equally wonderful as a dessert with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. Traditionally called a “harvest cake,” it’s made during grape harvest season to use up smaller grapes that aren’t destined for pressing. More practically, it’s a great way to use up grapes that are slightly past their prime—think soft or tough-skinned.
This cake has the richness of a classic Italian olive oil cake without being overwhelmed by the olive oil flavor. It’s perfectly balanced with a blend of butter and olive oil, making it extra moist and giving it more depth than your typical butter cake. It keeps beautifully for days and is the kind of cake you leave on the counter, only to watch disappear one sliver at a time. (Hint: If you’re a fan of my French apple cake, plum cake, or strawberry cake, you’ll love this one too.)
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Harvest Grape & Olive Oil Cake
- All-purpose flour: Forms the base of the cake, giving it structure. Always measure flour using the spoon-and-level method to ensure accuracy.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor of the cake and balances the sweetness.
- Baking powder: Helps the cake rise, making it light and fluffy.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together and add richness to the batter.
- Sugar: Adds sweetness to the cake—some goes in the batter, and the rest is sprinkled on top for a sweet, slightly crunchy finish.
- Milk: Provides moisture and helps the cake achieve its tender crumb.
- Olive oil: Adds a subtle richness and keeps the cake moist without overpowering the flavor.
- Unsalted butter: A blend of butter and olive oil gives the cake an extra layer of richness and flavor.
- Lemon zest & orange zest: Brightens up the flavor with a touch of citrusy zing.
- Vanilla extract: Adds warmth and depth to the overall flavor.
- Red grapes: The juicy, sweet stars of the cake—make sure they’re seedless for the best texture.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and 2/3 cup of the sugar until pale yellow. Add the milk, olive oil, melted butter, lemon zest, orange zest and vanilla.
Beat until well combined, then add the dry ingredients.
Using a rubber spatula, stir in 1-1/2 cups of the grapes.
Transfer the batter the the prepared pan. Then top with the remaining grapes and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Bake for about 50 minutes, until the top of the cake is golden and a tester comes out clean.
Let the cake cool on a rack for about 15 minutes, then unfasten the latch on the side of the pan and gently ease the side of the pan off of the cake. Let cool on a rack completely. Serve the cake as a breakfast, brunch or afternoon snack, or top it with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream for an elegant dessert.
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Harvest Grape & Olive Oil Cake
This lovely Italian-style cake is studded with juicy red grapes and flavored with hints of vanilla and citrus.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
- ⅓ cup milk (low fat is fine)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon orange zest, from one orange
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups seedless red grapes, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray with flour, such as Pam Baking or Baker's Joy. (If you don't have a springform pan, it's fine to use a 9-inch nonstick cake pan. For extra insurance that the cake will release, spray the pan, then place a 9-inch round of parchment paper on the bottom and spray again.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs with ⅔ cup of the sugar until pale and slightly thickened, about a minute. Add the milk, olive oil, melted butter, lemon zest, orange zest and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in 1½ cups of the grapes. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with the spatula. Scatter the remaining grapes evenly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly over top. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the cake is lightly golden and a tester comes out clean. Cool the cake for about 15 minutes on a rack.
- Slide a butter knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Unfasten the latch on the side of the pan and gently ease the side of the pan off of the cake. Slide a wide metal spatula between the bottom of the cake and the pan, lift the cake off the base and transfer to a serving plate. (If you used a regular nonstick cake pan, simply invert the cake onto a plate and flip over.)
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place a freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Calories: 211
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Sugar: 17 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 144 mg
- Cholesterol: 42 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Came out exactly as pictured and tastes like a restaurant pastry.
Didn’t have the lovely red grapes on hand (and I’m avoiding going to the grocery store any more than necessary) so used green seedless grapes. Such a good recipe — Sunday dessert with a little vanilla yogurt. Yum!
Loved making this with my 2 year old daughter to use up some red grapes she didn’t want to eat. Really lovely. I think I might make it again in Summer when our plums are ready. It wasn’t as sickenly sweet as I expected, although I did reduce the sugar to be sure of that.
Hi Danielle, how much did you reduce the sugar by, out of interest?
So good thank you very much for adding this lovely recipe. It reminds me of an old french recipe for rhubarb cake which is very similar in its density but doesn’t have the citrus zest in. Thank you again, happy cooking everyone.
Hi Jen
Hope you and your family are doing good under the current world situation. I wanted to thank you for posting such lovely and reliable recipes on your website.
I was looking for a nice olive oil cake recipe (using no butter). The ones I hace tried are either too dense or too dry. Are there any recipes you could recommend?
Thanks in advance!
Regards
Vanita
So glad you like the recipes and they’re bringing you some semblance of comfort right now. 🙂
You could make this cake with all oil – I think it will still be delicious!
Thank you for your response!! Do you think I can omit the whole fruit (ie grapes) altogether and make it like a lemon olive oil cake? Or use orange zest and extract and make it like a orange olive oil cake?? I’m not a fan of grapes.
Thanks again in advance
Vanita
Sure, Vanita, I think either of those alternatives would work. 🙂
Made this cake once really liked it. Can I make this gluten free and get the same results?
So glad you liked it, Carol! I haven’t made this with gluten-free flour (and no readers have commented yet that they have), but I think it should work. A lot of gluten-free bakers have mentioned that they have good luck wf with King Arthur’s gluten-free flour.
I’m so happy with this cake! Thank you for so many great recipes!
Jenn, could you please help me with metric measure in weight?
Hi Janice, I just added them to the recipe. Hope you enjoy the cake!
I saw this recipe on a HuffPost round-up of “breakfast cakes.” I didn’t have enough grapes so I used cherries and I didn’t have any oranges for zest. The cake was tasty. The family loved it. Oh and I also used gluten free flour because we have a family member with celiac. The substitution was fine.
Worked out great! Moist, not too sweet. Made it in a foil 9 inch square pan- used coconut oil spray and flour, had absolutely no problem popping it out intact. So happy to have used a bunch of sour red grapes that I thought I would have to toss!!
Jen, have been making a very similar cake for years except that mine has wine instead of milk. On Epicurious…Beaumes-De-Veniseake with Grapes