Rosemary Cake

Finally, our glorious summer at Bowdoin has come to an end, and we have all returned to our homes. Despite my initial feelings of sadness about leaving behind beautiful Maine and all my dear, sweet friends, I am SO happy to be back home in Colorado. It seems like every time I leave home for a long time I forget how beautiful Colorado is. The mountains, the sky, the rocks, the trees, my parents' awesome garden, and my awesome parents have made my time at home so far just about as cool as my time at Bowds. Not to mention I no longer have to buy my own groceries AND my parents appreciate a nice wine or a good local beer variety pack, so Sunset Blush has been temporarily absent from my life.

One of the best things about McComb family life are our long, relaxed mornings. I always hear about how Europeans make dinner a great affair and spend hours dining and chatting and enjoying life together, and although I think this is the right dinnertime/anymealtime/lifetime philosophy, my family is often anxious to go on an after dinner walk with our pups or have a Star Trek marathon, so breakfast has become our marathon meal of family companionship. Breakfast typically lasts though a few cups of coffee (we drink a ridiculous amount of coffee), outdoor playtime with my kitty Zati (my parents still think he's too little to venture outside on his own), and depending on how ambitious we're feeling that morning, a nice leisurely breakfast. Often times if we're feeling lazy breakfast will just be some yogurt and fruit, but occasionally my mom will whip up some scrambled eggs with green onions and salsa or our trusty caveman pancakes. One of my first mornings home this summer when I was feeling particularly enthusiastic about baking, I whipped up this delicious rosemary cake for breakfast. Although technically a cake, which suggests it is perhaps too sweet to count as a substantial breakfast, this cake is savory enough and loaded with eggs and olive oil to be considered an adequate breakfast.

Rosemary Cake
(adapted from Tamar Adler)

8 eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 2/3 cups olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 325 degrees
Coat a bunt pan with butter then sprinkle with flour, shaking off the excess flour. 
Beat the eggs with an electric hand mixer for 30 seconds, then slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is foamy and pale. 
Continue mixing and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Using a spatula, fold in the rosemary. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Keeping the mixture on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. 

Pour the batter into the bunt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. When the cake is a beautiful shade of golden brown, springs back when touched, or doesn't dirty a skewer inserted into its middle, it is ready to be removed from the oven. Let the cake cook briefly in the pan, then plop it onto a cooling rack. 

I tried this cake with both raspberry and cherry preserves, and while they were both delicious, I must admit that I preferred it best on its own. The texture is deliciously moist and it tasted even better the second day after the flavors had absorbed some. The third day it was a little dry, but still yummy. 

Molto amore ai miei amici. 

-Iris