Tuesdays with Dorie DAC: Fall Harvest Cake

November 18, 2025 at 9:55 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, DAC, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 Comments
Tags: baking, cake

The most fun thing about making this Fall Harvest Cake is that you get to choose what you “harvest” to put in it. Pick some fresh fruit, pick some dried fruit, pick a nut, pick a glaze– it’s like the ultimate “playing around” cake, and I think you’d have to try hard to choose a combo that didn’t work well.

The base for this bounty of fruit and nuts is a sturdy but moist olive oil cake. It’s easily whisked together by hand, and I made it even easier by making it a one bowl affair. A couple of days before I baked this cake, I happened to have devoted a few hours to poaching several quince. Rather than apple or pear, I used slices of sweet, deeply rosy quince that I cut into chunks. For my other add-ins I used seedless red grapes, candied orange peel, dried cranberries and the last dregs from bag of sliced almonds. Quince has a lot of natural pectin, and its poaching liquid basically gels into a glaze when it cools, so I just used that to add some shine and extra fall fruitiness to the top of my baked cake.

Wow, was this good. I don’t do too much baking with grapes, but Dorie’s right that they are a surprise treat here. This cake stayed soft and delicious for four days on my counter (my kitchen has basically zero climate control and is as cold as a root cellar in the fall and winter, else I may have chosen to refrigerate it if keeping it that long).

If you don’t have the book Dorie’s Anytime Cakes by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every third Tuesday of the month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

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I agree – this cake was da bomb – so good..

Comment by Cakelaw— November 18, 2025 #

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QUINCE! That’s inspired! Yours is gorgeous – need to glaze mine next time!

Comment by Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.)— November 19, 2025 #

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Scrumptious!

Comment by Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen— November 19, 2025 #

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Beautiful cake as always. That sounds like a cold kitchen.

Comment by Diane Zwang— November 19, 2025 #

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- already wearing a fleece that won’t come off till may!
  
  Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— November 19, 2025 #
  
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This is just beautiful! I always love to see how you improvise and make use of what you have!! I seem to think I have to follow the recipe hahahaha. You are inspirational to bake alongside!

Comment by isthisakeeper— December 8, 2025 #

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- aw, thanks! once in a while I certainly have a flop, but I think you can play around with baking a bit more than most people lead you to believe.
  
  Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— December 8, 2025 #
  
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Such a beautiful, versatile cake!

Comment by Judy— December 12, 2025 #

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