Marcella Hazan's Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

Here's another winner of a cake made with olive oil.

This simple cake from Marcella Hazan uses Marsala wine (I happened to have exactly 1/3 cup left in the bottle!) which makes it a bit more complex than most tea loaves.

This cake is best made the day before and stays moist all week wrapped tightly.
Perfect w/ tea or coffee (or some vin santo!).

Yum.



Pistachio Olive Oil Cake (adapted from Serious Eats & Marcella Hazan's Essential Classic Italian Cooking):

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup olive oil (I use a mild flavored oil like Colavita)
1/3 cup dry Marsala wine
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shelled, dry-roasted, salted pistachios, finely chopped

Beat sugar and eggs on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add olive oil, Marsala, milk, and orange zest and beat until thoroughly combined, 1 to 2 minutes.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Lower speed to low and add flour mixture. Beat just until combined, about 1 minute, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl as necessary. Add pistachios and beat just until combined, about 30 seconds.



Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake in a 375F oven until cake tester inserted in middle of cake comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool cake in pan about 10 minutes, then turn over on rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.

I liked this cake better the second day, when the flavors had time to mellow.



Enjoy!

Pin It

Share|