Stephanie has mentioned the book Good To The Grain in this space before. I am a huge fan as well. My copy has flour dusted onto most pages and eggs smeared so that some stick together. It’s well-worn and I do love it so. I don’t stock most of Kim’s recommended flours on your regular old day but I do always have spelt flour. I love the taste and in most recipes I swap in at least 1/2 cup spelt for some of the all-purpose.
This Olive Oil Cake, on page 172 in the book, has become a staple in my kitchen. I swear to you that both kids and adults love it equally (there have been fights!) and that makes it a real winner. I’ve served it with fresh strawberries/raspberries and/or vanilla ice cream. Last 4th of July I served it with whipped cream. Lately I just put it out plain and watch it get devoured in a matter of moments. We rarely have a piece left and I love that part too (leftovers tend to become my breakfast the next day and starting with sugar/chocolate is not the best for this gal).
I make a few small adjustments to the original recipe—I don’t include the rosemary, I use more spelt than all-purpose, I use a touch less sugar and I increase the chocolate. It’s a fun recipe to play with. It also calls for very few ingredients so you’ll likely have most of what you need in your kitchen already. Oh and Kim calls for bittersweet chocolate chopped. While I love this idea, and have done it before, I find dark chocolate chips are easier. Either way I’d say go with a minimum of 60% cacao mass. The darker the chocolate the better because is mixes so well with the spelt and olive oil. Yumm!
Chocolate Chip Olive Oil Cake
adapted slightly from Good To The Grain by Kim Boyce
1-1/4 C spelt flour
1 C all-purpose flour
2/3 C natural sugar
1-1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
3 eggs
3/4 C whole milk
1 C olive oil
7 ounces dark chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Rub a 9-inch fluted tart pan or round cake pan with olive oil. Sift dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. In separate bowl whisk eggs together thoroughly. Add in milk and olive oil and whisk again. Add wet ingredients to dry and gently mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and turn the entire batter out into the baking pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm if you can!
