Blue Cayenne

Olive oil in a cake? Yuck.

Don’t get me wrong. I love olive oil. I regularly drive to Los Alamitos’ Antica Olive Oil store to buy the best olive oils I can find. There, I enthusiastically swirl, sniff, sip and swallow  the various offerings freshly poured from the fusti, searching for the olive oil with the most grassy flavor and the most peppery bite–all the better if it is chock-full of polyphenol antioxidants.

I’m hooked.

But putting three-fourths of a cup of the pungent stuff in a cake? I dunno. Seems wrong to me.

On the other hand, the olive oil cake in this month’s Cook’s Illustrated Magazine had me intrigued. True, I’ve been seeing olive oil cakes in a number of publications in recent years, but up until now I’ve simply registered the idea as an engaging one and quietly slid the copied recipe to the bottom of what is my burgeoning stack of “to try” recipes. But, if Cook’s Illustrated touts a recipe, my cooking instincts told me, it must be good.

Too, I let my heart get away from me at last week’s farmers’ market. I bought six baskets of exquisite organic strawberries. However you cut it them, that is a whole lot of strawberries for one lady and a small sweet dog to consume. So, I was looking for something interesting to serve as a strawberry shortcake. Olive oil cake? Why not?

It turns out that the distinct taste of a fruity olive oil complements the slightly sweet flavor of the cake.

Here is the link to the Cook’s Illustrated article about olive oil cakes: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/462-olive-oil-cake

Yields 8 Servings

Olive Oil Cake

20 minPrep Time

40 minCook Time

1 hrTotal Time

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 C. (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 C. (8 3/4 ounces) plus 2 T. sugar
• 2/4 t. grated lemon zest
• 3/4 C. extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 C. milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt until ingredients are well-distributed. Set aside.
4. Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whisk eggs until they are foamy, about one minute with mixer set on medium speed. Add 1 1/4 C. sugar and the lemon zest to the egg mixture. Continue to whisk the mixture until it is pale yellow (about three minutesI). With mixer set on medium speed, slowly drizzle the oil into the egg mixture until the oil is completely combined with the eggs (about one minute).
5. Turn mixer speed down to low speed, and mix in one half of the flour mixture. Mix for about one minute until the flour is completely incorporated. You will need to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl as you mix in the flour. Add the milk and mix for about thirty seconds. Mix in the remaining flour just until it is incorporated (about one minute).
6. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl and scoop the batter into prepared springform pan.
7. Sprinkle two T. sugar over the surface of the batter.
8. Bake cake at 350 degrees F. for approximately 40-45 minutes on the middle rack in your oven. You want the top of the cake to be a pretty golden brown when the cake is finished.
9. When a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with only a few crumbs, remove cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. The top of the cake is going to crack, so don't worry when that happens. Then, release the sides of the springform pan and leave cake on your counter to cool completely (1 1/2 hours).

Nutrition

Calories

269 cal

Fat

4 g

Carbs

49 g

Protein

8 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

54

https://bluecayenne.com/olive-oil-cake

Did you know that if all the strawberries produced in California in one year were laid berry to berry, they would go around the world 15 times?  I didn’t think so.

Did you know that ninety-four percent of households in the United States consume strawberries?  (Personally, I want to know what in the world is wrong with that other six percent of Americans?!)

Did you know that strawberries are a member of the rose family or that there is a strawberry museum in Belgium or that an average strawberry has 200 seeds or that the average American consumes 4.85 pounds of fresh and frozen strawberries each year or….?  (OK. OK. I’ll stop.)

Obviously, our subject today is strawberries. We are, after all, on the cusp of the strawberry season!  How absolutely wonderful is that?

We all know that ripe strawberries are delicious, but some may not realize quite how healthy a food choice they are as well. For example, a cup of strawberries has only 55 calories.  One serving of eight strawberries contains more vitamin C than a whole orange (163% of our daily requirement). They’re packed with fiber and they are fat free and cholesterol free.

Looking back through history, strawberries have long captured the imagination and have, for the most part, been held in high regard. The Romans consumed strawberries to cure fevers, fainting and inflammation. They also used strawberries as a tooth whitener. The French long thought that strawberries were an aphrodisiac. The dour English, however, had different ideas about strawberries–at least when it came to trash talking about Anne Boleyn. Sixteenth Century court gossip had it that Boleyn hid a strawberry-shaped birthmark under that famous golden B necklace–a sure sign that she was a witch. As you may remember, things didn’t end well for Anne.  

Today, the reputation of strawberries has enjoyed a resurgence with scientific studies proving that strawberry consumption positively influences many areas of our health. We can thank strawberries for stronger hearts, lower cholesterol levels, healthy teeth, lower blood glucose levels and lower blood pressure. 

So, where to start?  You could  eat them right out of the basket as you drive home from the market as I often do. Or, you could make a strawberry pie. Or, you could make this  wonderful strawberry sorbet. It is absolutely delicious and its intense red color will capture the admiring gaze of everyone at your table.

Here is a link to the original recipe which appeared under Amanda Hesser’s byline in the New York Times Food Section: NY Times Strawberry Sorbet Recipe .

Yields 1 1/2 quarts

Strawberry Sorbet

15 minTotal Time

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

• 1 whole lemon (seeded and roughly chopped)
• 2 C. sugar
• 2 pounds ripe strawberries (hulled)
• Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

Instructions

1. Process chopped lemon and sugar in your food processor until it is well-combined and the lemon chunks are very small. Set aside.
2. Puree the strawberries in your food processor bowl. Add lemon and sugar mixture and lemon juice to taste.
3. Pour the strawberry/lemon mixture into an ice cream maker and process until frozen.
4. Serve and enjoy. Freeze any leftovers.

Notes

The original recipe calls for two cups of sugar. Several of the people who commented on the recipe online recommended cutting the sugar to one and a half cups or less to your taste. I like to live dangerously and used the whole two cups of sugar but you may want to reduce the sugar to satisfy your taste and your concience.

Nutrition

Calories

28 cal

Carbs

6 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

51

https://bluecayenne.com/strawberry-sorbet

Do the words five ingredients and gourmet dessert go together? Throw in the word fast and you have this gorgeous strawberry tart.

Your guests will rave (in a good way).

You may be unfamiliar with mascarpone cheese, the main ingredient in this tart. Mascarpone is a mild-flavored soft double or triple cream cheese that originated in the Lombardy region of Italy. It is similar to cream cheese or a thick French creme fraiche. You may need to sit down before reading the next line, though. Mascarpone has a fat content that ranges from sixty to seventy-five percent. There are six grams of fat in a single tablespoon of the cheese. Fortunately a small slice of this tart is very satisfying!

Typically, mascarpone is a dessert ingredient. It is a chief ingredient in Italy’s decadent tiramisu dessert, for example, but it also is used in savory dishes like pastas. You can buy mascarpone in the dairy section of markets like Trader Joe’s.

There are links at the bottom of this post to the original recipe from the How Sweet Eats blog, to a tutorial for carving the roses (it’s a cinch!), and to a do-it-yourself recipe for making mascarpone at home if you want to give that a try.

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart

1 hrPrep Time

1 hrTotal Time

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C. cookie or graham cracker crumbs
• 5 T. unsalted butter (melted)
• 12 ounces mascarpone cheese (at room temperature)
• 1/4 C. powdered sugar
• 2 pints fresh strawberries
• Optional ingredients/garnishes
• juice of 1/2 lemon (or vanilla extract)
• fresh mint for garnish
• honey for drizzling

Instructions

1. Pulverize cookie crumbs in a food processor. (I used graham cracker crumbs.)
2. Melt butter and add it to the cookie crumbs. (Add more butter if necessary to get the crust to hold together. I did.) Press the crumb/butter mixture firmly into a 4 x 14 inch tart pan (or an 8 inch round pan) with your fingers. (Your pan should have a removable bottom. The crust is tender, so a pan with a removable bottom will make it easier to remove the tart from the pan at the time of serving.)
3. Mix mascarpone and powdered sugar in a bowl. Add the optional lemon juice or vanilla extract. (I used fresh lemon juice.) You will want to mix the cheese filling until it loosens up a bit. Gently spread the mixture with a spatula onto your tart shell. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. (The butter in the crumb crust will harden and firm up the crumbly crust. It is still a tender crust, though. Be careful handling it. If it does break, just sprinkle the crumbs over the tart slice and enjoy. It will still look beautiful.)
4. Meanwhile, prepare your strawberry roses. When you are ready to serve the tart, place the strawberry roses decoratively on top of the tart. The original recipe covered the tart with roses. It was beautiful. I used a single line of roses because I thought it was attractive to expose some of the filling.
5. A link to a tutorial that shows you how to carve the roses appears at the end of this post. It was easy!

Notes

When I first made this, I was worried that the small amount of powdered sugar the recipe called for would be enough to adequately sweeten the tart. Once I tasted the finished product, though, the subtle sweetness was just perfect for me. Depending upon your sweet tooth, you may want to adjust the amount of sugar in the mascarpone filling.

Nutrition

Calories

387 cal

Fat

39 g

Carbs

1 g

Protein

6 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

7.8.1.2

47

https://bluecayenne.com/strawberry-mascarpone-tart

Here is a link to a tutorial on carving the strawberry roses: Carving Strawberry Roses

Here is the link to the original recipe on the How Sweet Eats blog: Five Ingredient Strawberry Tart

Here is a link to a recipe to make your own mascarpone that appears on the Epicurious site: Do-it-yourself mascarpone from Epicurious