Blood Orange Olive Oil Pound Cake

This blood orange olive oil pound cake manages to be light and spongy, bursting with citrus flavor, and is incredibly moist. In fact, this cake is a fool-proof super moist cake, and that’s because of one ingredient: olive oil. The secret is out: oil makes for moist cakes— not butter. The blood orange zest and juice pairs exceptionally well with the olive oil, offering a fresh, delicious flavor combination.

Pound cakes are pretty versatile— they can be made in loaf pans or bundt pans. I love bundt pans because they make simple cakes look effortlessly beautiful! Bundt cakes can be a little tricky though, because they can be a pain to unmould. I’ve found two tips to help release the cake from a bundt pan: (1) Spray the bundt pan generously with baking spray with flour. (2) Let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Then, run a small spatula or butter knife around the edge, and unmould. Don’t let the cake just sit in the pan until it cools completely. Plus, I recently discovered that Filippo Berio makes an olive oil just for baking— extra light tasting olive oil. The olive oil taste is incredibly mild, which is perfect for the subtle orange flavor.

Making this cake is truly a piece of cake! I like for all of my ingredients to be room temperature, including the eggs and milk. First, add the eggs to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, whisk on medium high. Then,, sprinkle in the granulated sugar and orange zest. Keep whisking on medium high until the mixture transforms from liquidy to thick and pale colored. I then whisked in the olive oil, and added the dry ingredients—cake flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt—alternating with the milk. That’s it! Pour into the bundt and bake about 50 minutes. Making the icing was even easier—I mixed powdered sugar with freshly squeezed blood orange juice and then drizzled it on once the cake had cooled.

This recipe makes a beautiful, delicious, incredibly moist. The hands on prep time is about 20 minutes. You can make this cake start to finish, including cooling time and icing it, in less than two hours. Now, that’s my kind of cake!

Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

Cake:

5 large eggs
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g)
Zest from 2 blood oranges
2/3 cup Filippo Berio olive oil
2 teaspoons extract (orange or vanilla)
1 teaspoon salt
1 and 3/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cups almond flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
juice from 1-2 blood oranges

Preheat the oven to 325 F and prepare the bundt cake pan by coating with baking spray with flour. Combine the cake flour, almond flour and baking powder in a bowl. Use a hand whisk or fork to combine and break up any clumps.

Add the eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whisk on medium high until combined, about one minute. Drizzle in the granulated sugar and orange zest. Continue whisking on medium high until thick and pale, about three minutes.

Add the olive oil, extract, and salt and whisk until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture and milk, alternating, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined. Pour into the bundt pan and bake for 50 minutes.

The cake is ready when a toothpick or skewer inserted into the deepest part of the pan comes out completely clean. Remove the bundt from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Run a small spatula or butter knife around the edges of the bundt pan—both outer and inner. Invert the bundt cake onto the cooling rack and let cool completely.

Once the cake has cooled, prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar with enough freshly squeezed juice so that it’s thick, but will still drizzle down the cake. If the glaze is too runny, add a little powdered sugar. If the glaze is too thick to drizzle, add a little more orange juice. Spoon the glaze over the cake. You can serve immediately. Or, keep wrapped up until you’re ready to serve.

This cake is a winner all on its own and doesn’t need any extras to dress it up! Enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Hope to see you in May in Santa Fe and Brooklyn!

I’m excited to announce that I will be speaking at BlogHer in Brooklyn on May 8th! There’s an amazing lineup of women, and it will be a full day of inspiration, learning, and of course food!

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ALSO, we are getting closer and closer to the annual IACP conference in Santa Fe! This year’s conference runs from May 16th - May 19th. I attended last year and in a few short hours, I met some amazing cookbook authors, bloggers, and other culinary professionals. I made some amazing industry connections in such a short period! I hope to see some of you there!

Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Olive oil is the new butter. There, I said it. In baking, and especially the “chocolate chip cookie” world, we always seem to be looking for the new, better thing. We’re browning butter, roasting sugar, aging dough— any and every tip or trick to get a better tasting cookie. And it’s not just about taste—it’s also about texture.

Which brings us back to olive oil. Here’s the thing about really good olive oil—its got this subtle, floral flavor. It’s the exact type of flavor that you want to impart to a cookie to elevate it. I love the Filippo Berio Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil—it’s delicate and delicious (did I mention it’s organic?!) The oil also affects a cookie’s texture. Whether you’re #TeamChewy or #TeamCrispy, you can use olive oil because it gives you the best of both worlds! Crispier edges with a chewy center.

And what about butter? Well, let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water. Butter still has a place in these cookies. The chewy center part? Yeah, that’s from the butter. Plus, we’re all used to the taste of butter. The butter and olive oil live in harmony in this cookie.

And the best part of this cookie? It’s easy. Like, really easy. If you can make a cookie, you can make this cookie! ;) .

Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

Makes 18 cookies

Ingredients

1/3 cup Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temp.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (chips or cut into 1/2 inch chunks)
flaky sea salt, to garnish

Method

Combine olive oil, butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium to combine. Once homogenous, reduce the speed to low and add the egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to mixer and mix on low until barely combined. Add chocolate chips or chunks and mix for a couple seconds. Remove the bowl and finish combining with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula.

At this point, you can bake immediately, OR let the dough “mature” in the refrigerator overnight.

if baking immediately: preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking pans with parchment paper. Form 18 balls of dough, about 40 grams each. Place 9 balls of dough on each sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes. Remove and let cool on a cooling rack. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired.

If “maturing” or “aging” the dough: Place dough in refrigerator overnight, or up to three days. Then, proceed by following the “baking immediately” instructions above.

Adapted from cookie maven Displaced Housewife.

I made Lemon Curd with Buzzfeed's Goodful.

This video makes me SMILE! Click the link above, and I bet you will too :)

Health-ier Mini Muffins

I’m always a little wary to post rich, buttery baked goods and desserts in January. People seem to be shouting from the rooftops— or at least social media, “New Year, New Me!” I love to bake, but I don’t want to mess up anyone’s 2019 diet plan!

But it’s January, and it’s COLD and snowy and perfect baking weather! I may live in New York that gets its fair share of wintry weather, but the city isn’t prepared for “feels like 2 degree" weather. So of course, I spent the past weekend snuggled up inside—baking.

I adapted a recipe that a neighbor shared, and I came up with these health-ier mini muffins. They are healthy-ish because they are full of good stuff— carrots, apples, and sunflower seeds, and they use all wheat flour and coconut oil, making each muffin hearty and nourishing despite their “mini” size. They have less sugar than other muffin recipes, but the plumped raisins add bits of sweetness (naturally-occurring sugar!) throughout.

Feel free to swap out half (or all) of the sunflower seeds for chopped walnuts or sliced almonds. I also topped the muffins with sunflower seeds to give them flair while adding crunchy texture.

Healthier Mini Muffins Recipe

Makes 2 dozen mini muffins

1/4 cup raisins (1.5 ounces)
1 cup wheat flour (130 g)
1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark, 100 g)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1  teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated carrots (3.5 ounces, about 1 large carrot)
1/2 large green apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/4 cup sweetened, shredded coconut (0.75 ounces)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, plus more for sprinkling on top. 
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable OR coconut oil (if using coconut oil and it’s solid, gently heat until it becomes liquid
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a mini muffin tray with 24 muffin cups. 

Plump the raisins: place the raisins in a small bowl. Cover them with hot water.  Let them soak while preparing the remainder of the muffin batter.

Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.

Stir in the grated carrots, apples, coconut, and seeds. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, orange juice and vanilla extract.  Add to flour mixture and stir until combined. Add the drained raisins and stir them in.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan.  The batter should come to the top of the pan.  Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 12 -14 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Then, remove the muffins and allow them to cool on a cooling rack.

Enjoy them as is, or slather with butter, jam or cream.  These can be stored for up to three days in an air tight container. 

Chocolate Dipped Orange Madeleines for People Magazine

I was pumped when I got an email from People Magazine asking me to contribute a recipe for their holiday cookie spread. They wanted a festive cookie, so I decided to spruce up my traditional madeleine recipe. The results were delicious and truly beautiful. I’m used to doing my own styling and shooting—this opened my eyes to how amazing a simple recipe can be presented when there’s a team of super talented professionals behind it!

I decided to make my own recipe today. I altered it slightly because I can’t help myself. I had a bowl of chopped, toasted hazelnuts just sitting on my table that were leftover from some rugelach I made. When I dunked the madeleines in the melted milk chocolate, my hand just went and dipped them in the chopped hazelnuts!

These tasty little treats can be whipped up pretty quickly. Most madeleine recipes require that the batter rests, but not this one. Just mix the orange zest, sugar and eggs until frothy. Then, fold in the dry ingredients, and stir in the butter. They bake in a 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, and once they’re cool, you can dunk them in melted milk chocolate.

These madeleines are a treat all on their own. No hazelnuts needed. The chocolate isn’t even needed. If you make them, make a few with chocolate and some without and see which you like best!

Chocolate Dipped Orange Madeleines Recipe

Featured in Dec. 10, 2018 issue of People

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 and 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces), plus softened butter for greasing the pan
1 and 1/3 cups (5 ounces) cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons orange zest (from two oranges)
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Grease 2 (12-mold) madeleine pans or mini muffin pans with softened butter; dust with flour. Chill in refrigerator until butter hardens, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F. Microwave 3/4 cup butter in a small microwavable bowl on HIGH until melted, 30 to 45 seconds; set aside.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat eggs, sugar, honey, and zest with a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until pale and frothy, 2 to 3 minutes. Fold flour mixture into egg mixture using a spatula until just combined. Add melted butter; stir until just combined.

4. Spoon batter evenly into madeleine molds, filling each three-fourths full. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

5. Microwave chocolate in a small microwaveable bowl on MEDIUM (50%) until melted, 11/2 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Dip halves of cooled cookies into chocolate. Transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper; let chocolate set, about 30 minutes.