One of my very favorite things to eat is the olive oil cake at l’Artusi. It has a tender crumb, isn’t too sweet and always seems new with different accompaniments. Diana loves pretty much anything lemon, but will gladly use citrus of all sorts for snacks or just to brighten her sparkle water. We kicked up this cake with zest from beautiful mandarins when a quest for blood oranges just didn’t pan out due to some serious weather issues at the farmer’s market. Diana learned that it snows in Chicago, even in April, and that sometimes you need to buy a winter coat when visiting. Once we defrosted, our citrus olive oil cake was born.
The olive oil you choose will really shine through so choose one that you really love. Since we met at Eat Retreat, we are paying a bit of homage to our meeting spot with our olive oil choice. Kathryn, Eat Retreat founder and olive oil aficionado, made this ENZO batch with fellow eat retreater, Vincent Ricchuiti. Special olive oil for a special cake! In true ab + DZ fashion, we topped this with a little bit of everything – fresh fruit, compote, powdered sugar and whipped cream — it was all delicious. Feel free to use whatever you’d like!
Leftovers can, and should, be lightly toasted and buttered for breakfast.
- 5 eggs
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 1 ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (we used super amazing ENZO), plus extra for loaf pans
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon citrus zest (we used mandarins, but literally anything works!)
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup “instant” or finely ground polenta
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup milk
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Whisk together eggs and sugar until pale. Whisk in olive oil and citrus zest. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, polenta, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients and milk to the egg mixture, alternating, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Rub 2, 4-inch by 8-inch loaf pans with olive oil. Divide batter evenly. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Wow- this is such a fast & simple cake, but it is surprising & wonderful! I am absolutely not a baker but I was intrigued w the possible flavor combinations to pair w this cake & it didn’t disappoint! In Norway, curiously, I can’t seem to find polenta. I substituted “maísmjöl”, which is like a fine corn flour, and it turned out great! I could pair this cake w a billion sweet & savory things.