When I was in New York for the first time last year, I was perusing Chelsea Market and found this great shop with rows of dispensers filled with oils and vinegars. You picked the size bottle and filled it right there. There were so many amazing sounding options I wouldn’t have known where to start even if I could have gotten them all home in my suitcase.
So imagine my excitement when recently this type of shop opened up in Boise. Called Olivin it’s quickly become one of my new happy places as well as a great go-to for foodie friend gifts.
All kinds of recipe ideas were running through my head as I browsed the many flavors available – from spicy to woodsy, herbaceous to fruity. I really love the bright flavors of citrus so the blood orange olive oil caught my eye. The mission? Making my first olive oil cake.
The cake was super moist and had a consistency that I would have sworn had cornmeal or semolina in it if I didn’t know otherwise. I topped it with summer fresh strawberries and blueberries, tossed with a tad of sugar and a splash of orange liqueur to give a little extra citrus kick.
I can sense this is only the beginning as there are still so many flavors to explore it’s hard to choose. The good news is that I don’t have to anymore. My next bottle fill is just a short bike ride away!
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup blood orange olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Juice and zest of 1 orange (a blood orange if you can find it – if not a navel orange will do)
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 9" cake pan with non-stick spray.
- Mix together the sugar and eggs using a mixer on medium speed until blended and light.
- Add the olive oil and vanilla and mix until light and smooth.
- Mix in the orange juice, zest and yogurt. Mix well.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate.
- Add this mixture a little at a time to the wet ingredients and mix on low just until its mixed in.
- Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake, 25 to 30 minutes, testing at the 25 minute mark. Let the cake cool 15 minutes in pan. Run a knife around the edges to make sure the cake is loosened and invert onto a cooling rack.
- Top with fresh fruit if you'd like.