Rosemary, Olive Oil & Citrus Liqueur come out to play in this cake
That guy I mostly hang out with, well it was his birthday this week. He and I differ slightly in how we like to celebrate life events. Greg thinks that a birthday is “just another day” while the Latina-girl in me thinks anything less than a weeklong celebration for any milestone is just a shame. As you can see, this is one area we decidedly do not see eye to eye.
On to the compromise: we were low-key and didn’t make a big deal of it and I made him a cake. His only request was that it involved chocolate something.
Fresh Rosemary & Lemon Zest Besties
Now, the tricky part about doing any sort of baking is that our kitchen is a tiny little galley kitchen. Really, if one person wants to enter the kitchen area, the other person has to leave. My counter space for any type of food prep if the dish rack is out is exactly 10 inches x 30 inches. No room for a coveted stand mixer, no room to make anything complicated, sophisticated or over the top.
Here is my answer – a cake that is moist (thank you olive oil), easy (no heavy mixing), and still has a major WOW factor with how unusual it is. I got the idea for this cake from Maialino’s Olive Oil Cake Recipe on Food52.com
Mixing it up! Love those Rosemary specks.
Rich & fragrant, you’d never know the moisture comes from olive oil.
Ingredients
- Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 1/3 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 1/4 cup Almond Milk (Greg is semi-allergic to milk, so I tend to use alternatives. You could also use Whole Milk here)
- 3 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
- 1/2 teaspoon Fresh Rosemary, minced
- 1/3 cup Limoncello or Grand Marnier
Method
- Method:
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Oil a spring-form 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.
- In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda & baking powder). If you like your cakes sweet, you can up the sugar to 2 cups. In a separate, larger bowl mix all the wet ingredients (olive oil, milk, eggs, liqueur) plus the lemon zest and the rosemary. Add the dry ingredients and whisk together until just blended - do not over mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for around an hour - checking to see if the cake is done around 45 minutes. The top will be a lovely golden-y color and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.
- Move the cake to the cake rack and let it cool for at least 30 min. After that, remove the spring-form side and bottom and let it sit for another 1-2 hours until totally cool.
Cooling down – this cake is delish, just on it’s own right this second. Try to resist.
Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting:
Ingredients:
- 8 oz High Quality Dark Baking Chocolate, chopped. I recommend a 70% blend, so you still get that hint of sweet.
- 1 1/4 cups Alternative Milk – I like to use almond milk or coconut milk with Greg’s dairy allergy, but heavy cream would not be misplaced here…
- A pinch of Sea Salt
Chocolate – chopped fine + Chocolate Bits & Hot Milk + Warm Ganache
Method:
Put the chopped dark chocolate and a solid pinch of sea salt in a heat-proof glass bowl.
Heat the milk on the stovetop over medium-high heat until it comes to a simmer. Take it off the heat immediately before it boils (and forms that weird skin on top).
Pour the milk over the chocolate – making sure to cover every last bit. Then, just let it sit. Resist poking, prodding or stirring for a full 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, give it a whisk and it will turn into chocolate gold before your eyes. EASY!
Then, just let it sit. It will thicken up gradually into a full frosting consistency.
TIP: chop your chocolate extra fine and this whole process will be faster – which means you can lick the spoon just that much quicker!
P.S. This recipe makes more than you need, which means you can leave it on the counter and pop some in your morning coffee for an Ah-Maze-Ing Mocha.
The grand finale w/ Chocolate Ganache drizzle
Putting it Together:
If you let your ganache sit for long enough, it will have a full frosting consistancy – frost the cake and serve. If you’re like me and you don’t have the patience to wait that long, drizzle the barley warm ganache over the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.
So, tell me – what is YOUR birthday cake of choice?
Lydia, Birthday Cake Acrobat
