Brown Butter Olive Oil Cake

1. 1Melt the butter in a light-coloured pan over medium heat, swirling often. It will foam, then quiet down, then the milk solids at the bottom will turn golden-brown and smell like toasted hazelnuts — about 5–7 minutes. Pour it immediately into a bowl, browned bits and all, or it will keep cooking and turn bitter. Let it cool until just warm.
2. 2Heat the oven to 175°C / 155°C fan / 350°F. Line a 23 cm round tin with parchment and grease the sides.
3. 3Rub the orange zest into the caster sugar with your fingertips until the sugar is damp and fragrant. This releases far more citrus oil than simply stirring it in.
4. 4Whisk the eggs into the sugar and beat hard for 2–3 minutes, until pale and noticeably thickened.
5. 5Pour in the cooled brown butter and the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly, then whisk in the milk, orange juice and vanilla. It may look slightly split at this stage — the flour brings it back together.
6. 6Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt over the bowl and fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. Stop there; overworking now means a tough cake.
7. 7Scrape into the tin, level the top and scatter over the demerara sugar. Bake for 45–55 minutes, until deep golden and a skewer in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
8. 8Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Let it cool completely before slicing — warm olive oil cake tears instead of cutting cleanly.

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