Saturday, April 11, 2009

Clementine & Olive Oil Pound Cake

I've become especially intrigued lately with baked good recipes that call for olive oil in lieu of butter, so when I saw a pound cake flavored of sweet clementines, and calling for this special ingredient, I instantly bookmarked it. With Easter arriving just tomorrow, I thought it would be a great time to experiment, which is exactly what I did after getting off of work yesterday. My home was the sweetest it had ever smelled. The combination of the clementine zest and sugar filled the air. A simple, straightforward cake turned out to yield very pleasing results.

This pound cake is best left simple, as to not kill the slightly sweet and citrus bite it lends to it's taster.
Best served alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a sprinkling of powdered sugar with a cup of tea, this little loaf most certainly felt like Spring in a cake tin. If you're looking for a new twist on your average pound cake, I highly recommend this. I took it upon myself to add some lemon to the recipe I found on Cafe Fernando's blog, and felt it really lifted the clementines out, and the taste a bit stronger.


Clementine & Olive Oil Pound Cake



Ingredients

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp clementine zest*

- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup clementine juice*
- lemon juice (from half a lemon)

* Depending on size, 2-3 clementines would be enough for the zest and juice.

Preheat the oven to 375* F. Grease and flour one 12 x 4 inch loaf pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and clementine zest and rub together with a wooden spoon to extract the fragrant oil from the zest.

Add olive oil and mix quickly until completely combined (preferably with a whisk).

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix slowly.

Add half of the clementine juice and continue mixing.

Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the clementine juice, lemon juice and the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined between each addition.

Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, wait 10 minutes for it to cool down and then remove from the pan.

3 comments:

  1. I just found your blog, from a friends blog, and can i just say, I LOVE IT! I cant wait to try one of your scrumptious recipes, and the fact that they happen to be vegan - is even better. I'm thinkin' it would be cool though if you could do a post on natural beauty products! that would be a fun read.

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  2. LOVED THE RECIPE! JUST TRIED IT OUT!!. maybe you could do another pasta dish, because your first one was deliscious!

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  3. Wow you guys, I'm so late but thank you so much! I'm finally settling into a new place, so things will be showing up again! I've found so much inspiration and neat/yummy things I want to share, so be sure to check back in the next couple of weeks! Thanks again!

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