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Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Plums

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Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Plums 7

Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Plums 5

I am a TOTAL sucker for Italian desserts, TOTAL. Well, a sucker for anything Italian really but since I am not a HUGE sugar girl, the desserts the Italians feast on to me are a perfect balance of cake, sugar, fruit, and indulgence…

I stumbled across this olive oil ricotta cake with plums from smitten kitchen during fruit harvest. I was getting totally burnt out of canning “another version of plum or peach butter” and was seriously looking for a small butter knife to put me out of my misery…..honestly it was pretty bad about day 20. I mean after 150 jars of fruit butter you are spent, trust me, SPENT.

I decided to hit the Internet and not the knife drawer to get some creative ideas on desserts for during the winter. I wanted something I could pull out of the freezer and have fresh and delicious sweet fruit from the fall harvest. This criterion doesn’t leave a ton of options so when I found this cake recipe, I was totally STOKED! It was perfect. I love ricotta, olive oil, and cake! Now I had the option to change up the fruit on top or mix some into the batter or whatever, I just knew me and my sweet tooth would be jazzed come December.

This olive oil ricotta cake is the happiest of both sides of the dessert fence. It satisfies the sweet tooth AND I don’t feel as guilty because it isn’t drudged in frosting and 3 layers tall. (Although the whip cream I usually make could become an argument), but nonetheless, it still feels a bit “guiltless” than some of others…

If you are finding yourself canning and looking for a butter knife, make this cake. If you find yourself feeling guilty just remember, who cares it’s LA DOLCE VITA…isn’t that Italian way….now go and enjoy and put down the butter knife.

Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Plums
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • Butter for pan
  • 1 cup fresh, full-fat ricotta
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 9-10 small plums, halved, pitted, and set aside (I used fresh Italian Plums but any type would work)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
  • Confectioner's sugar, for dusting
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350° F, and butter and flour a 9-inch springform.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine and whisk the ricotta, oil, sugar, and zest together.
  3. Add one egg, whisk well; add the next, whisk again.
  4. Sift all of the dry ingredients, except for the confectioner's sugar, directly over the wet ingredients you just whisked together. Mix with a spoon gently until just combined.
  5. Pour the batter into the cake pan, spreading it out evenly as needed. If your plums are very tart, toss them with a tablespoon of sugar or honey, and place them in the top of the cake, cut-side down. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown, the edges are pulling away from the pan, and a toothpick comes out of the cake cleanly. (Depending on your oven, this could take up to 45 minutes.) Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then turn out to finish cooling on a rack. Dust with confectioner's sugar, and serve slightly warm or at room temperature. This cake is awesome with whipped cream!

Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Plums 4

Fried Root Greens with Radishes

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Fried Root Greens with Radishes

How about those radishes? What do you do with these come harvest time? Personally, I totally love them raw….right out of the ground (washed of course) and chomp chomp…..bam that spicy heat just gets me every time…it’s SOOO addicting! This recipe has a whole other style because it cooks the radishes and uses the green tops; the fancy name is fried root greens with radishes.

Now if you are both a gardener and a farmers market attendee, these roots are in full swing and you can quickly be inundated with them so maybe some other ways to prep are in the works and much needed in your repertoire of recipes!

First time I had blistered radishes I fell in total love…..then I had them roasted and fell in love again. I guess it’s sorta like having a romance renewal with your husband……falling in love different ways, all the time…..

Anyway, both blistering and roasting takes that “edge” off of the radish. While I LOVE that flavor and that addictive “hit”, sometimes it just works to have them prepared in a way that complements great seasonal proteins and other root veggies.

This recipe of fried root greens with radishes is ridiculously easy and I serve it often with grilled lamb chops or braised lamb breast but it would totally work with a wonderful grilled flank steak, pork loin chop, or roasted whole chicken…your choice or come up with your own pairing……that’s half the fun anyway, isn’t it?

So while there is an abundance of these, try out some different recipes and give this one a shot and if you have a little dash of some WONDERFUL aged balsamic vinaigrette, even more of a reason to experiment!

Fried Root Greens with Radishes
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of radishes, tops removed, washed, and radishes quartered
  • 4 scallions, sliced in half and some of green tops removed
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt and Pepper
  • Good aged Balsamic Vinaigrette
Instructions
  1. In a saute pan over medium heat, heat 2 T of olive oil and put in scallions and cook until browned a little on all sides, remove and keep warm. Add radishes and a little more olive oil. Cook until "blistered" and a bit soft. Remove and keep warm. Add a little sea salt to both
  2. In a dutch oven, fill bottom about 1 - 1½ inches and heat to about 375 or slightly bubbly. Quickly add the whole green tops of the radishes and cook for 1-2 minutes. Scoop out and put on a plate lined with a paper towel, allow to drain, and sprinkle with sea salt.
  3. To assemble:
  4. On a plate, place some of the green tops and place a few radishes and green onion halves. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette and cracked black pepper. Serve right away.

 

Layered Salad with Bibb Lettuce, Beets, Eggs, Avocado, and Feta Cheese

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Layered Salad of Bibb Lettuce, Eggs, Beets, Avocado, and Pepitas 1

Layered Salad of Bibb Lettuce, Eggs, Beets, Avocado, and Pepitas

Layered Salad of Bibb Lettuce, Eggs, Beets, Avocado, and Pepitas 2

Grilled Chicken Paninis with Roasted Red Peppers and Tallegio Cheese

I think layered salads in a jar are the prettiest dish to take on a picnic and one of my favorite’s is made with bibb lettuce, roasted beets, eggs, avocado, feta cheese, and pepitas.

On our anniversary this year, we decided the one thing we wanted to do was to pack the most delicious and beautiful picnic lunch we could create and the layered bibb salad was the focal point on the menu. After all, how often do you get to eat your salad out of a glass jar? That’s half the fun along with how everyone looks at you with envy and awe. If I didn’t want them to think I spend hours I might blow my cover and let them know that it really takes less time to make than a regular salad but, we will leave it at the envy and awe….that’s just how I decided to roll.

While we did have a few other goodies in the picnic basket and I could add them to this blog post, I decided just to focus on the salad in the jar. It is totally fun to pick whatever lettuce suits your taste buds and layer away with fresh or roasted veggies, proteins, eggs, dried fruit, nuts, and so on…. the more colorful, the more fun to eat and the more fun to eat, the more often you might venture into jarred salad creations!

Since I had made some yummo panini to go with our layered salad I figured something a little simpler would work best so I chose bibb lettuce, roasted beets, eggs, avocado, feta cheese, and pepitas. I did make a simple balsamic vinaigrette to accompany but if you wanted, you could grab a jar of your favorite dressing off the shelf of the grocery store and go that route; it’s great either way.

When the food was prepped, we packed it up in the car and  headed off to a special place called Tent Rocks. Tent Rocks is located in northern New Mexico and about 45 minutes from our house (I am a bit embarrassed to admit I had never wandered there in the 44 years I have lived here but we wont harp on that one). The point is that it was SIMPLY AMAZING and after an incredible hike through these lava rock formations, we sat down for our pretty (and delicious) picnic; both of these things I thoroughly believe made it taste that much better.

As we made our way through the array of panini, chips, and layered salad, we were lucky to have a visitor join us for some treats…..it was awesome to have our little buddy stuff his cheeks with our salty chips and scurry away to bury them for later and return for another load. This alone made our day and united us with a little more than our picnic lunch under the pinon tree.

Squirrel at Tent Rocks

Tent Rocks

Layered Salad of Bibb Lettuce, Eggs, Beets, Avocado, and Pepitas 4

Layered Salad with Bibb Lettuce, Beets, Eggs, Avocado, and Feta Cheese
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 Head of Bibb Lettuce or 1 Bag of Bibb Lettuce, torn into pieces
  • 4 Fresh Golden Beets
  • 2-3 Hardboiled Eggs, sliced in a cutter
  • 1 Large Avocado, diced
  • Fresh Feta Cheese
  • Roasted, Unsalted Pepita Seeds
  • 2 large glass Weck jars
  • Balsamic Dressing, preferably homemade
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ shallot, diced
  • ¼ cup balsamic
  • 2-3 T dijon mustard
  • ⅛ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. To Make Beets:
  2. Heat oven to 400. Wrap loose beets tightly in foil and place in oven. Cook for 1 hour or until easily pierced with a fork. Take out, cool, peel, and diced or chunk into desired size. (This can be done day before)
  3. To Make Dressing:
  4. In a blender or food processor, put in garlic, shallot, balsamic, dijon, and a little salt and pepper. Pulse until blended. Put blender or processor on low and add oil slowly to emulsify. Season more to taste
  5. To assemble salad:
  6. In the bottom of the Weck jars, add a little salad, then begin layering with beets, egg, and avocado, repeat until almost at top and finish with feta cheese and pepitas.
  7. Pack or eat immediately with desired amount of dressing!

 

Almond Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

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Almond Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Glaze 2

Almond Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Glaze 1

Olive oil cake is probably my most favorite of all, it’s moist and dense and the texture is divine….now add some almond and a brown butter glaze and that is as close to dessert heaven as it gets in my book!

When I first saw olive oil cake on the menu in Italy, I thought it would be an overwhelming amount of oil coupled with a strong taste that I wasn’t sure of but ……could I have been more wrong? Why and how could I doubt the masters of my favorite cuisine? For a moment I did, at least until I trusted the waiter and placed my order with a vin santo to wash it down.

It arrived and as classically true to Italian sweets, it was a simple cake and presented on a ceramic dish with a sprig of rosemary along the side. I thought to myself, this is fairly non-descript but I sliced through it with my fork and in went the first bite (I honestly wasn’t expecting much) and then came the myriad of flavors, olive oil, orange, and almond. The simplicity of the preparation allowed all those familiar pairings to come together perfectly. I followed it up with a sip of the divine vin santo and just allowed my senses to dance. It was a beautiful surprise and one that lingered with me throughout my vacation.

Because of that first encounter, I often make olive oil cake and recently came across this recipe of almond olive oil cake with brown butter glaze and KNEW I needed to experiment. The end product delivered and met my expectation of divinity….and best of all my mouth got to dance again just like that first evening we met back in Italy.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Almond Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Glaze
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • Almond Olive Oil Cake:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup almond meal
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 3 large eggs room temperature
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ tsp almond extract
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • ½ cup milk or orange juice
  • zest of one orange
  • Brown Butter Glaze:
  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 T milk
  • few drops of lemon juice
  • ½ cup honey glazed almond sliced or blanched sliced almonds
Instructions
  1. Prepare Cake:
  2. Preheat oven to 350
  3. Grease and flour a 8 inch cake pan or springform pan
  4. In a bowl, mix together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt
  5. In a mixer, put in eggs and sugar and mix well. Pour in the olive oil and mix until combined and add milk (or orange juice), zest, and both extracts.
  6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, until combined.
  7. Pour cake batter into cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean)
  8. Allow cake to cool on rack for 10 minutes before taking out of pan and then allow to cool completely
  9. Brown Butter Glaze:
  10. Heat butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook butter, until it is golden brown in color. Remove from heat immediately (it will continue to darken), set aside and cool to room temperature
  11. In a separate bowl, mix together powdered sugar and milk. Add cooled butter and lemon and stir. Stir in almonds.
  12. Place rack over lined baking sheet and pour and spread glaze evenly on top allowing it to drizzle over the side. Let glaze set before serving

Almond Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Glaze