Italian inspired and wonderful any time of year, this cake…well…takes the cake! I made it for a dinner I had last night with my aunts, uncle, and little cousin. I was first introduced to this cake by my friend Chelsea. She spent a few summers working different farms in Italy and first ate it there. When she got back, she found the recipe in Nancy Silverton’s Pastries from La Brea Bakery.

Recipes are like 100 year old sourdough starter–they come with stories and memories, have been slightly changed by time and handling, but have always been intricately and intimately part of people’s lives by the time they reach you. Once you have that recipe, it becomes a part of your life too, putting your story on it’s map–part of a history and continuing into the future.

With this olive oil cake, I imagine tasting Tuscan hillsides, hard work, sleepy kitchens, and sprightly conversation. I can see it eaten in big wedges from a large farmhouse table, people hungry at the noontime meal, as well as dainty ladies stopping for a mid-afternoon tea, picking up each small piece without the use of her pinkie. The taste of this cake is cross cultural, bi-lingual, and ageless. You make it in one bowl, with one spoon, and eat it in big slices. It is so good you might just finish the whole thing in a day. Don’t say I didn’t warn you .

Olive Oil Cake with Orange Zest, by Nancy Silverton
2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons orange zest (about 2-3 oranges)

Sift together all the dry ingredients in a bowl. I usually just throw them all together then fluff/whisk them all together with a whisk. Make a well in the middle, add eggs, milk, and olive oil. Stir with wooden spoon to combine, add the zest and stir until mixed in. Pour into a round baking pan that has been buttered and floured. Bake for about 50 mins or until toothpick comes out clean at 350 degrees F.