Chocolate Blood Orange Olive Oil Cakewith Mascarpone Whipped Cream by Elise Smith Recipe & photos by Elise Smith for SILPAT If you're on the fence about using olive oil for baking, Elise's chocolate blood orange olive oil cake with mascarpone whipped cream, a sweet basil drizzle, and dehydrated blood orange slice will lure you to the other side. These cakes are dangerously decadent, each bite melting in your mouth, with you asking the question "there's olive oil in this??"Using a quality EVOO is key and our friends Graza delivered with their Sizzle olive oil. Its flavor and aroma are ideal for baking, especially when paired with chocolate and citrus. Using the Silpat Muffin Mold, these cakes can be made in easy-to-package individual servings. Silpat non-stick food grade silicone eliminates the need of using your precious, high quality extra virgin olive oil for greasing. This recipe can easily be adapted to fit any of your Silpat baking molds, including the Loaf, Briochette, and Round Cake! If you want more where this came from, head over to Elise's website and catch her Workshop series on Magnolia! Ingredients - Chocolate Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake ¾ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup brown sugar 2 tsp orange zest ½ cup unsweatened cocoa powder ⅓ c boiling water 1 tbsp orange juice 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ tsp baking soda 1 tsp kosher salt 3 large eggs 6 oz extra-virgin olive oil Method Preheat oven to 325 F, prepare your baking sheet with your Silpat Muffin Mold and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the brown and granulated sugars and orange zest. Mix thoroughly with fingers until the mixture becomes fragrant. Set this assist and allow the flavors to infuse for at least 5 minutes. To create the chocolate sauce - add the boiling water, cocoa powder, vanilla extra and orange juice to a small bowl. Whisk until fully incorporated and there are no clumps of cocoa powder. Set aside to cool until it is room temperature. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large bowl using a hand-mixer, add citrus sugar, eggs, and olive oil. Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy in appearance. Reduce the speed to low, pour in the chocolate sauce and mix until cohesive. While on low speed, gradually add the dry mixture then increase the speed to medium until fully incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Using an ice cream scoop or ⅓ cup scoop, pour the batter into the Silpat Muffin Mold filling about half-way. Bake for 2-22 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester insert comes out *nearly* clean with some crumb. Set atop a rack to cool for 20 minutes before unmolding the cakes! Ingredients - Mascarpone Whipped Cream ¼ cup mascarpone (room temp) ⅓ cup confectioners' sugar 1 cup heavy whipping cream Method To a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or large bowl with hand mixer) beat together the mascarpone and confectioners' sugar. Gradually increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the whipping cream. Start beating on low and increase the speed to high, beating for 1-2 minutes. The mixture should be cohesive and smooth in texture, similar to the consistency of soft whipped cream. Scoop a generous dollop atop each cake Optional (but like mandatory!!) additions : - Basil Oil drizzle : 1 large bunch of basil (roughly 1 ½ cup) and 1 cup olive oil. In a large bowl, fill with ice and water to create an ice bath. Next, place a sieve (lined with cheesecloth or paper towels) or a chinois over a large bowl and set aside. Bring a small pot of water, filled halfway with water, to a boil. Quickly blanch the basil, approximately 10 seconds, then quickly remove and place immediately into an ice bath. Move the cooled leaves onto a towel and pat dry. To a blender, add the dried blanched basic leaves and olive oil blending until smooth and no leaf pieces are visible. Pour the mixture through the straining process to filter out the remaining leaf pulp. Using a spoon or drizzle bottle, drizzle the basil oil around the base or atop the cake! - Dehydrated Blood Orange : 1 blood orange. Preheat the oven to 185 F or select the "fruit" setting on your dehydrator. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat non-stick baking mat and set aside. Wash and dry the entirety of the orange then carefully slice into ¼ inch thick slices. Place the slices evenly onto your Silpat and dehydrate for 3-4 hours, flipping half way through. The slices will have shriveled, darkened in color, and dry when ready. Use the slices to top your cakes. *in action* View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chef Elise Smith (@winniesbakery)
