Recipe by Cat Rochefort (http://catskitchenfrance.com/ / @cats_toulouse_kitchen) a Leiths School of Food and Wine Diploma Student.
This recipe goes along with the herbs in our Jekka's Autumn & Perennial Collection Herb Boxes.
Rosemary is a herb so often used in savoury dishes often of the wintery variety. It’s the perfect partner to roast meats and works especially well with lamb. However, when used in this fragrant teatime cake recipe we see it’s pine and floral notes shine through to perfectly compliment the orange. This olive oil cake has a moist and tender crumb that makes it incredibly moreish. It’s a doddle to make but looks mighty impressive when you bring it to the table alongside a nice pot of tea.
Ingredients:
- Wet ingredients:
- 200 g caster sugar
- 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 80 g natural yoghurt
- 2 tbsp orange zest (3 oranges approx.)
- 30 ml orange juice
- Dry ingredients:
- 190 g plain flour, sieved
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp of chopped Rosemary
- For the syrup:
- 80 ml orange juice
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- For the decoration:
- 4 segments of orange
- 150 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp of yoghurt
- 1 tsp honey
- 4 small sprigs of rosemary dusted with sugar (optional)
Steps:
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C and lightly grease your cake tin of choice. I used a small loaf tin.
- Finely chop the rosemary. Combine all the dry ingredients, including the rosemary, in a bowl.
- Combine all the wet ingredients in another bowl and beat together.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and then pour in the wet ingredients gradually whilst whisking to form a wet batter.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 40 – 50 minutes until the cake is well risen and a skewer comes out clean.
- Meanwhile make the syrup by combining the orange juice in a pan with granulated sugar and two small sprigs of rosemary. First melt the sugar and then turn up the heat and boil for a few minutes until the syrup has thickened slightly.
- Prepare your decoration by segmenting an orange and setting aside four slices.
- Remove the cake from the oven and before you remove from the tin. Use a skewer to make holes all over the cake. Then pour the syrup over the cake to let it seep into the holes.
- While the cake is cooling prepare the icing. Whip the cream and then combine with the honey and yoghurt, whipping again with a whisk until the mixture is stiff.
- Using a piping bag, or a knife, place blobs of icing along the top of the cake and top with an orange segment.
- You can also dip some rosemary sprigs in egg whites and then into sugar for an extra special finish.
If you love the sounds of this recipe and herb-based cooking check out our Master Classes and other Herb-based recipes.
