Fun New Ways To Bake With Your Extra Virgin Olive Oil This Fall
Looking for some fun new seasonal baking recipes to try out this November? Why not experiment with extra virgin olive oil? The health benefits of extra virgin olive oil are huge and it is an ingredient which can be used in all sorts of seasonal recipes. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:
Just imagine the irresistible smells generated from having this beauty from Loveandoliveoil.com drifting through your kitchen this fall. Whether you call it bread or cake, this chocolate and pumpkin swirl bread is a revelation, with mesmerizing swirls of deeply spiced pumpkin and rich dark cocoa in a moist and tender loaf.
Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Bread with Olive Oil
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ cups (188g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (250g) pumpkin puree
- 1 cup (205g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup whole milk, divided
- 2 tablespoons Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 3 tablespoons (21g) cocoa powder, sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan; press and 8-inch wide strip of parchment paper into bottom of pan so it lines the bottom and long edges, leaving two overhangs on either side.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, egg yolk, 3 tablespoons of milk, extra virgin olive oil and vanilla until evenly incorporated.
- Add pumpkin mixture and melted butter to dry ingredients, and mix until just incorporated and no dry ingredients remain.
- Separate batter into two bowls. Add cocoa powder and remaining 1 tablespoon milk to one bowl and stir until just combined.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or spoon to scoop batter into prepared pan, alternating dollops of the pumpkin and the chocolate batter in a checkerboard pattern, layering alternate scoops on top of one another about 3 or 4 levels deep.
- Use a large skewer and swirl the batter, with the skewer touching the bottom of the pan and moving in loose swirling motion to swirl the batter throughout the entire thickness of the loaf.
- Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the deepest part of the bread comes out with moist crumbs attached (but no gooey batter). If using a 9-by-5-inch pan, the cook time will be slightly less.
- Place pan on a wire rack to allow bread to cool completely, 1 to 2 hours. Use the parchment overhang as handles to gently lift the loaf out of the pan. If it is still warm, let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and serving. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Apricot, Cinnamon and Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 200g dried apricot, roughly chopped
- 225g spelt flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon, plus a little extra for sprinkling
- 200g light brown muscovado sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 100ml Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil
- 100ml full-fat natural yogurt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- For the icing: 140g full-fat cream cheese
- 85g butter, softened
- 250g golden icing sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Put the apricots in a bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside for 30 mins. Meanwhile, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4, grease a deep 20cm round loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and ½ tsp salt. In a jug, mix the eggs, extra virgin olive oil, yogurt and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix briefly with an electric hand whisk to remove any lumps.
- Drain the apricots and stir into the cake mix, then pour into your cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hr or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, mix all the ingredients together, using an electric hand whisk, until smooth. Spread generously over the top of the cake and dust with cinnamon before serving
