OLIVE OIL CAKE! DON'T TELL POPEYE

OLIVE OIL CAKE!  DON'T TELL POPEYE

As we have in previous years, we relied on the kindness of strangers (well, not strangers, but good friends) to supply our Christmas Eve party w/ desserts, though I did make my annual brownies.

However, Richard has discovered baking and has fallen in love w/ Cat Cora's olive oil cake.  Yes, really - olive oil.  No butter. (Don't tell Julia!)  No shortening.

The recipe calls for a 10" cake pan, but our round cake pans are only 9".  Didn't matter.  He used the ones we had and though the cake overflowed the edges and was a little difficult to 'de-pan' - it was moist and delicious.

However (Pt. 2), when he was foraging through the storage space above our refrigerator for the platters and bowls and sterling serving plates and bowl we use once a year, he found a 10" square cake pan.  The cake came out beautifully - no overflowing edges. 

However (Pt. 3), when he 'de-panned' the cake, we discovered we didn't have a plate large enough for a square 10" cake -- a round 10" cake would be fine -- but the corners of the square over-reached the plate.  No matter, it still looked good, if not a perfect presentation, and was still moist and delicious.  It's not spinach, but Popeye and Olive Oil would have loved it.

OLIVE OIL CAKE: LADI TOURTA

Recipe courtesy Cat Cora

Prep Time:     20 minutes

Level:             easy

Cook Time:   1-hour

Serves:          12

Ingredients:

3 large eggs, beaten

2 cups granulated sugar

12 ounces extra-virgin olive oil - Richard found that 12 ounces is way too much and only

        uses 8 ounces, sometimes 9

10 ounces milk

2 ounces orange liqueur

2 ounces fresh orange juice

3 teaspoons lemon zest

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 ounces blanched almonds, finely chopped

powdered sugar, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Butter a 10" cake pan (Richard also put parchment paper on the bottom of the pan)

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, olive oil, milk, liqueur, orange juice and lemon zest.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture.  Whisk until well blended.  Fold in the almonds.

Pour the mixture into the buttered cake pan.  Bake for 1-hour.  Place on a rack to cool.  Run a knife around the edges and place it on a plate.  Sprinkle w/ powdered sugar and serve.