Kim Boyce's Olive Oil Cake

In anticipation of this year's Piglet, we'll be sharing articles, recipes, and tips from past winners over the next three weeks. First up: Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain. Learn more about this year's tournament here, or head to Provisions to add some of the titles to your bookshelf!

Today: An olive oil cake with a secret ingredient.  

If you have yet to try your hand at baking an olive oil cake, you might be a bit hesitant, thinking it might be too oily, or questioning the wisdom of pouring pricy olive oil into a cake batter. But this cake is amazing. It has a fine crumb from the spelt flour, and the unlikely combination of rosemary and chocolate bring out the spice and fruitiness of the olive oil. And since you're substituting oil for butter, it's neither greasy nor particularly more expensive. You don't need to use a specialty olive oil for this cake, but if you have one that has a lot of flavor, the cake will be that much better.  

Olive Oil Cake 

Makes one 9 1/2-inch round cake

3/4 cup spelt flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs
1 cup olive oil
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (about 70 % cacao), cut into roughly 1/2-inch pieces

See the full recipe (and save it and print it) here.

Photo by Quentin Bacon