Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Ganache

I really am in love with this unusual cake. It’s light and rich, wintry and elegant, perfect for afternoon tea. Or breakfast. Or very late at night, with a small glass of port and DVR-d Downton Abbey. Years ago in Mexico, I discovered that baking cakes with olive oil is wonderful. It is a somewhat unexpected ingredient and adds a fragrant, fruity richness. Pouring a velvet layer of deep, thick chocolate ganache over an herb-flecked cake seems both decadent and sophisticated. It is just sweet enough for a January dessert.

Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, very finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the chocolate ganache:

•  8 oz semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Method:

For the cake:

Prepare an 8-inch cake pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 325. In the bowl of a stand mixer thoroughly beat the eggs, add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Slowly pour in the olive oil. Fold in rosemary with a spatula. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into the pan and bake, 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the chocolate ganache:

In a double boiler, slowly melt the chocolate over medium heat. In a small saucepan warm the cream over medium low. Stir the cream into the melted chocolate until the mixture is thick, and shiny. When the cake is completely cooled, pour the ganache over the cake and smooth with a spatula.

Tagged as: cake, chocolate, dessert, ganache, rosemary

About the Author: Jillian Bedell

Jillian grew up in Connecticut, went to university in Boston, college in New Haven, did some post-grad soul searching in New York, exiled herself to Mexico, married her longtime sweetheart, and lived in a house on the ocean. She suspected Maine might be the perfect place to raise a family, so she came back home to New England two years ago. Now a mom to Violet Maeve and living in Rockland, where she hopes to settle for a good, long while, Jillian reads, writes, walks, and practices Nia, when not watching Malcolm photograph sandwiches.