Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate

This lovely olive oil cake is from Kim Boyce's book, Good to the Grain. It's a great book, one of the best I've seen about baking with alternative flours. That said, most of her recipes use all- purpose flour in combination with other flours, not strictly special flours. I rarely bake with AP flour at all, so have adapted the recipe to work with both spelt and gluten free flours. The recipe came out great with the substitutions but feel free to use whatever flour you prefer and/or have on hand.

I had a few problems getting the original recipe to bake properly and also found it was prone to collapsing once baked. I made some changes and in my experience it worked much better with a few adjustments. I've made those changes reflective in the recipe below.

I think this dessert has all the makings of a perfect finish to a special Valentine's Day meal. It's not overly sweet and although it does contain chocolate, it's hardly traditional. Also, it's very easy and fast to put together. It's best served at room temperature and keeps well on the counter for a few days, so it's perfect for making ahead.

Wishing you all much sweetness this Valentine's Day. May we use this 'holiday' as a reminder to appreciate those in our lives that we care most about, not only with hearts and flowers, but with kindness and gratitude each and every day.

Enjoy!

Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate:

Yields 1, 9"x 3" x 5" loaf

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1/4 millet flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 tsp salt

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 cup olive oil ( I used a full bodied extra virgin but nothing too special is necessary)

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 TB fresh rosemary, finely chopped

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2" pieces (I used 70%)

1) Preheat the oven to 340 degrees. Brush a loaf pan with olive oil. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the olive oil into the yolks. Set aside. Beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy. Slowly drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

2) Stir the flour, salt, baking powder, and rosemary together in a small bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg yolk mixture, in 2 additions, until well combined.

3) Place 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the rest of the batter. Stir gently to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining whites. Fold gently, lifting and turning, so as not to deflate the egg whites. When the batter is combined, gently stir in the chopped chocolate.

4) Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake at 340 degrees for about 55-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice only when completely cool.