Greek Yogurt and Cara Cara Oil Breakfast Cake

“I revel in the density of this cake, it keeps it moist for over a week, but if you’re looking for a lighter version, swap one cup of corn flour for all purpose flour. “ — Viola Buitoni, food educator & author of Italy by Ingredient

 

Viola Buitoni is a Rome-born California-based Italian food expert. She hosts cooking classes in San Francisco at 18 Reasons, The Civic Kitchen, and online at 177 Milk Street. And, she is the author of the much lauded, Italy by Ingredient.

It is truly an honor to share the recipes Viola has developed with our particular olios in mind. They are the kind of foundational recipes that become part of your repertoire. The kind you come back to again and again, until you’ve made it so often, you no longer reference the page, because the recipe lives in your fingertips. This cake can be adapts to whatever fruit is in season. In the summer we tuck slices of peach into the batter and when it turns into autumn, thin slices of apple.

Ingredients

For a standard pound cake loaf pan

  • 3 eggs

  • 1 cup whole milk Greek yogurt

  • ⅔ cup Cara Cara Mia

  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

  • 1 Cara Cara orange

  • 2 cups fine corn flour

  • 1 cup almond flour

  • 2 TBSPS baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt 

  • ¾ cups unbleached sugar + 2 tablespoons to sprinkle on top

Steps

Line the long side loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper hanging over the sides. Then, lay a piece of parchment paper across and coming up the sides of the loaf pan.

Turn the oven on to 375˚F.

Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl. Stir in the yogurt, Cara Cara Mia, and the almond extract. 

Sift the 2 flours and the baking powder into a different bowl. Add the sugar and salt, grate in about 1.5 teaspoon of orange zest, and stir well to distribute the ingredients evenly..

Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir to combine homogeneously. The batter will be pretty dense.

Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan.

Halve the orange, then cut each half into ⅛” thin half-moons. Slide them vertically into the batter in a row, leaving their very top exposed. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the tip of a knife inserted all the way in the center comes out clean and hot.

If you can resist, let the cake cool before eating.