I wanted to make you guys a Mario Batali recipe, and I wanted to have posted it right after the blog I did on Otto. I tried making the Sweet Corn Fregola after I found the recipe on someone’s website taken from one of Batali’s cook books. That, my dears, turned out to be an absolute disaster (pronounced dramatically as “disaaaahstah”) . What I made was a sticky old mess. There were little bits of corn and fregola all over the kitchen floor, and not a delicious pasta salad in sight. Then, I thought I’d give the Pasta alla Norma a try. Upon reading though the recipe, however, it occurred to me that the outcome would not look like the dish I had enjoyed at the restaurant. So finally, I thought I’d stick to what I know best: baked goods. Ideally, this should have been made in a bundt pan, but I didn’t have one. That didn’t seem to have much effect on the finished product though, I’m happy to say.
Being that this is an olive oil cake– my favorite type of cake to bake– it came out deliciously moist. If you have still not done so, you must experiment with olive oil cakes. They are almost fool proof. Your cakes are unlikely to ever get overcooked and the texture is positively amazing. This particular cake is incredibly fragrant as it has the same type of “warm” spices that you would find in a carrot cake. The crunchy lemon glaze not only adds a great crunchy texture but a nice tangy zing.
Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Crunch Glaze
Adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts From The Babbo Kitchen, by Gina DePalma
For the Cake:
- 1 cup walnut pieces
- 2½ cups grated zucchini, about 2 small zucchini
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Lemon Crunch Glaze:
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 °F, and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a 10-cup Bundt pan using nonstick cooking spray or butter, then dust it with flour to coat it completely, and tapping out the excess flour Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast them until they are golden brown and aromatic, about 12-14 minutes. Cool the walnuts completely and then finely chop them in the food processor and set aside. Sift the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment on medium speed to beat the eggs, sugar and olive oil together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then beat in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each addition. Beat in the dry ingredients all at once on low speed until they are thoroughly combined, then switch the mixer to medium speed and mix for 30 seconds. Beat in the zucchini and the walnuts on low speed until they are completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, leveling it with a spatula. Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. The cake is done when it a tester inserted in the center comes out clean and it has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.
While the cake is baking, prepare the Lemon Crunch Glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and granulated sugar, then whisk in the confectioners’ sugar until the glaze is completely smooth.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, immediately brush all of the glaze onto the entire surface of the warm cake; the glaze with adhere to the cake and set as the cake cools. Allow the cake to cool completely and the glaze to dry completely. Transfer the cake to a stand or serving plate, and if desired, the cake may be lightly dusted with confectioners sugar before serving. Any leftover cake may be wrapped and served the following day.
Make one 10-inch cake, approximately 12 servings.
I made the ricotta pound cake from that book – twice – and it didn’t turn out so well – heavy and cratered in the center.But you have convinced me to try this recipe. It looks great.
The texture of the cake does look really good and moist! Hmm…I shall bookmark this one for sure! Take care, sweetie!!
I haven’t experimented with olive oil cakes at all…I think it’s time to finally try it
I love this recipe.
Darling, how did I miss this post? I was drooling from the words lemon crunch glaze! Actually, I tried making an ollive oil cake a little while back but must have missed a step or something, it turned out really dry. I think I’m going to have to try this one, even if it does have green stuff in it
I have one Batali book and made his chocolate biscotti which were good but I had to adjust the ingredient quantities as his way made me end up with a sitcky, gooey mess. Anyway, adore zucchini cake and LOVE the glaze on top! I’m doing that next time!
xoxo
Lovely texture of the cake. Looks tempting to try soon. Thanks for sharing.
Darlin’ HH – Forgive me for missing your posts as of late but I am moving and things are spinning right now! This is wonderful and as soon as I am able to catch a breath, I will be back for this one.
Muah..muah…
Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
In honor of my cyber admiration and friendship of YOU, miss HH, I am making this recipe tomorrow with zucchini from my garden. My first ones ever. I do have a bundt pan. My husband does not like lemon anything. I may have to do a sour cherry glaze (from my sour cherry tree) or an orange glaze…. ginger would be good, too. He doesn’t like that, either.
I hope I do YOU justice. Did you ever make the ricotta pound cake that Carolyn Jung asked you about it comments?
And…I misunderstood originally. I thought this was from the Otto cookbook… glad it is from the Batalli pastry chef, as he doesn’t write his own cookbooks. Others just follow him around and do their best watching him cook. No easy task for them, and no easy task for us trying to work with that kind of a recipe. But, I do love his premise!
Valerie
Me likey! Got to try this when zucchini’s get in season here! Truly yum!
I guess I had better buy the book…. you are always so ahead of the game, HH! Zucchini cake already – mine is just growing in the garden – but now I actually DON’T mind (you know it was all about the flowers, for me) as I can make a cake like this! Incredible – and Thank you. I will keep you posted as I will definitely POST it.
XOXOXO
Valerie