Olive Oil Orange Cake

Ingredients

1T butter, room temperature

1T all-purpose flour

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1T baking powder

1T orange zest

3T orange juice

¾ cup good quality olive oil

2/3 cup milk

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

4 oranges, peeled, sliced into ½ moons

2T granulated sugar

4T Cointreau or Grand Marnier

1. Preheat oven to 325º F. Using the 1T butter and 1T flour, grease and flour the bottom and sides of a10-inch angel food or Bundt cake pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes, until light in color.

3. With the mixer on low, add the flour, baking powder, orange zest, juice, olive oil and milk; mix just until combined. Do not over mix! Use a spatula to finish combining, if needed. (Mixture will look lumpy similar to muffin batter)

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, and then turn onto cooling rack to cool completely

5. When completely cool, dust with confectioner’s sugar.

6. In a small bowl, toss the orange slices, sugar and liqueur let sit for 10 minutes. Serve with cake.

Tips & Tricks:

• I love this cake because it’s so versatile. It’s just sweet enough to end a meal, but perfect to start your day with or as a pick-me-up with a cup of tea in the afternoon. Top it with macerated fruit. I used blood oranges, but you could use regular oranges, tangerines, or substitute the oranges and use berries (about 2 cups). You can add a dollop of whipped cream, ice cream or yogurt to make it extra special.

• You can substitute the orange zest and juice for lemons, especially Meyer lemons are great in this cake.

• Use an olive oil that has a nice fruity flavor. I prefer Italian or boutique olive oil from Napa or Temecula Calf are lovely, some are infused with citrus and add a nice additional citrus punch.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients

1 baguette
1T butter room temperature
4 cups milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
¾ cups granulated sugar
¼ tsp. salt
16 oz. dark chocolate, (60-70 % cacao) chopped
6 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Cut the bread into ½ inch cubes (8cups) and place on a baking sheet and allow it to sit out on counter and dry out overnight or place the sheet pan in a 325° F oven for 10-15 minutes to dry them out.

2. Take the tablespoon of butter and a paper towel and butter the bottom and sided of an 8x11-baking dish. Set aside.

3. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the milk, heavy cream, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the milk is warmed through about 4- 6 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Let sit until chocolate has melted, about 3-5minutes. Stir until well blended.

5. In a large bowl, add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add a small amount of the warm chocolate mixture to the eggs and stir until the egg mixture is tempered, then add the rest of the chocolate mixture. Stir until combined. Add the bread pieces.

6. Place a plate on top of the bread to keep it submerged

7. Let the pudding mixture sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Pre-heat the oven to 325º F.

8. Put a kettle or saucepan of water on high heat and bring to a boil.

9. Place the baking pan into a roasting pan. Pour the pudding mixture into the buttered baking dish.

10. Place the roasting pan on the middle rack of your 325º F. oven, carefully fill the roasting pan with the boiling water so that is come ½ way up the side of the pudding dish.

11. Bake for 45-50 minutes until edges are set but center is slightly loose.

12. Remove from oven careful remove pudding from water bath and place on cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes.

13. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately

Tips & Tricks

• This recipe is perfect for using old dried out bread. You can use any type you have: French, Italian, challah, and even leftover biscuits. Just cut it into cubes, measure out 8 cups, and allow it to dry out.

• When selecting chocolate look for the percentage of cacao in the chocolate. It should be marked right on the front package. The higher the percentage of cacao in the chocolate, the more intense the chocolate flavor and less sugar.