So easy to make, so delicious.
Every once in a while a recipe comes along that is so perfect, you can hardly believe your good fortune. This is one of those recipes.
I was reading the blog 101 Cookbooks by Heidi Swanson – a blog I love for it’s excellent photography and the fantastic recipes that utilize natural ingredients to create beautiful, delicious food. She’d posted a recipe from the book Good to the Grain by Kimberly Boyce for Rosemary Olive Oil Cake. I love rosemary, and olive oil does something fantastic to baked goods, so I was already intrigued. Then I got to the part about the dark chocolate chunks, and started writing a shopping list.
I made it for the Secret Garden meeting (more on that later, but not today – it’s still a secret), using organic Farro flour (also known as emmer wheat) from Malmgård because I didn’t have any Spelt flour, and baking the cake in and 8″ by 8″ square pan, but otherwise following the recipe as modified by Heidi from Kimberley’s original.
A note on farro flour: Farro is one of the oldest known grains on the planet. It belongs to the same family as hulled grains, but has an unusually high amount of fiber, and is lower in gluten and higher in protein than regular wheat. Because farro’s husk is tougher, farmers need fewer insecticides and the nutrients are protected better than with regular wheat. This is good stuff! Definitely worth a try if you can find it. More on farro here, if you are interested in learning more about this ancient grain.
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| evening snack |
The rosemary is a surprising flavor in the cake – it tastes almost like mint in the beginning, but then you inhale as you bite into the cake, and the rosemary scent comes through first, and then the distinctive rosemary flavor – paired with the deep dark chocolate and a lovely moist crumb from the mixture of flours up against the olive oil. It really is perfect.
For those of you who requested the recipe – here it is! And for those of you who haven’t tried this yet, don’t wait. This is a winner to make again and again.
Olive Oil Cake
by Kimberly Boyce in Good to the Grain
I noticed when I came home to write this blog that the original title doesn’t have rosemary or chocolate in it – but I feel like it should, so I’ve added it in parentheses as an artistic license. The chocolate and rosemary are such a key ingredients here, they shouldn’t be ignored. Use some really good dark chocolate – around 70% cacao.
Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C
Coat an 8″x8″ square pan with olive oil (you can use any size pan you want: a tart tin or a loaf pan would work – you just need to adjust the baking times.
Chop and set aside:
5 oz/140g bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), roughly chopped (you want some big chunks here)
In a bowl combine:
3/4 cup / 3 oz / 80g spelt flour (I used farro flour)
1 1/2 cups / 7.5 oz / 210 g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup / 4 oz / 115g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups / 7.5 oz / 210 g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup / 4 oz / 115g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
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| wrapped and ready to go |
In another bowl combine:
3 eggs
1 cup/240 ml olive oil
3/4 cup/180 ml whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped
Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in 2/3 of the chocolate until just distributed throughout. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and top with the remaining chocolate. Press the chocolate down with a fork until it’s pressed slightly into the batter. Sprinkle the top with one tablespoon of granulated sugar. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until the top puffs up and is a nice golden brown and a toothpick, skewer or knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool and serve. Makes 12 – 16 servings