Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake

Curled up in the fetal position, I was in my own personal nightmare.

If you’ve been to the CeramicCanvas.com in the past two weeks you may have noticed something….there was no CeramicCanvas.com. It seems that we were experiencing some technical difficulties or as our web hosting support tech calls it, “a fatal programming loop.”

I confess, I’m way too IT-challenged to even begin to understand what that means. But luckily for me, all is well again with our little slice of the internets…and I’ve managed to pick myself up off of the floor.  There’s just one little problem. Because of our blackout, most of you never got the chance to see last week’s Blackberry Custard Tart recipe – which is a real shame, cause it is one of my favorite desserts of all time.

I found it back in 2000 while perusing a copy of Saveur magazine – and have loved it ever since. Packed with a one-two punch of berry flavor, it’s one of those fail safe recipes that you make when really need to wow a crowd. If you get a chance, check it out.

And speaking of desserts that I’ve had a long term affair with, the Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake featured in this post is nothing to sneeze at.

When I first came across this recipe in 2002, I was a bit scandalized. At the time I had never heard of using olive oil and rosemary in a dessert before. I was immediately skeptical and thought to myself, “Olive Oil and rosemary in a dessert? This is just crazy talk!”

But it was a Mario Batali recipe (from The Babbo Cookbook) so, I knew I had to try it. I figured it would expand my culinary horizons. With a small amount of trepidation I nervously got down to baking and about an hour later dove my fork into my first slice of Rosemary-Olive Oil Cake.

It’s been eight years now and I have to say I love this cake as much today as I did that first day. It’s super moist and delicate. It’s sweet but not overly sweet.

The rosemary adds a subtle smoky- woodsy twist to what looks to be a very ordinary pound cake. And the olive oil lends it’s unmistakable richness to this classic Italian treat.

It’s a perfect cake to serve with coffee and/or tea.

Cheers!

ROSEMARY & OLIVE OIL CAKE

As printed in The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali

4 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 TBL fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 TBL baking powder

½ TSP Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325⁰F. Spray a 10-inch loaf pan (or an 8-inch round cake pan) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat the eggs for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is very foamy and pale in color. With the mixer running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Using a spatula, gently stir the rosemary into the batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through for even color. The cake is done when it is golden brown, springs back when touched, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool briefly in the pan, then tip out onto a cake rack to continue cooling.

Tagged as: Olive Oil, Rosemary