Thursday, September 3, 2009

Olive Oil Cakes

I would say the biggest hit of wine club were my olive oil cakes, made from this Food Network recipe, although I've seen them pop up in magazines, too. 

This recipe calls for mixing in the blender, which was a very different experience for me. I've used my blender so rarely, I didn't even know which button to press to pulse it! But I figured it out. 

I started out by pouring SO MUCH sugar in the blender. 

Then adding the zest of two lemons. I blended and then added two eggs, one at a time, pulsing all along.

See? Egg.

Then I added milk, which alternated with this mix of flour:

Flour, baking powder and thyme, which gave the cakes a nice, savory kick.

And here's where things started to get wishy-washy. I was in pouring the batter from the blender into my new mini-bundt pan (which I brushed with melted butter) and I thought, "Wait...how high do I fill?" 

In instances like this, I usually figure I'll keep going till the batter seems depleted. But that meant I filled very high. I was making these cakes at quarter till midnight, listening to The 700 Club because I forgot to change the channel, and I was convinced I was making a mistake but I pressed on.

I went by the oven, glanced inside and gasped. DISASTERS IN THE MAKING?! I'm pretty sure bundt cakes aren't supposed to have muffin tops.

So, yeah, my bundt cakes were a bit morphed and didn't look like the picture. That was a bummer. But, people, I made that glaze from scratch, too. It was ridiculously simple: confectioners sugar, melted butter and lemon juice, whisked. 

I served the cakes with tiny scoops of Wine Cellar Sorbet in pinot noir. I also served champagne sorbet on wine club night. Both were delicious and subtle; the pinot actually reminded me of rose-flavored gelato I had in Charlottesville once.

All in all, the cakes were delicious and the glaze, while strong, tasted much better a couple days later once it hardened. These cakes were very easy to make and had a refreshing lemony taste but were slightly savory from the olive oil and thyme. 
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6 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 3, 2009 at 2:53 PM

    Yummy Rose gelato from Splendora...now I might have to go downtown.

    Your cakes look yum I might have to try that sometime...I just like any excuse to use my blender ha

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  2. JoeSeptember 3, 2009 at 3:11 PM

    Those look great! Must. Try.

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  3. AmberSeptember 3, 2009 at 3:27 PM

    when did you add the olive oil?

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  4. UnknownSeptember 3, 2009 at 3:36 PM

    somewhere after the eggs and before the flour I think. lol. I didn't take a picture of those steps cause they demanded both hands.

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  5. AmandaSeptember 3, 2009 at 5:41 PM

    These look great, and I wouldn't have even questioned the fact that the mini bundts were rounded on bottom. Mini bundts play by their own rules!

    I'll be honest though, the idea of olive oil cakes always weirds me out a little.

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  6. AmberSeptember 3, 2009 at 7:59 PM

    Amanda, the smell weirded me out; it smelled very spicy and savory and I thought they'd turn out kind of cornbready. But the lemon and sugar totally makes this a cake and it's sweet and delicious. If I like it, I know you would!

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