Olive Oil & Orange Cake with Pistachios

Soooo, I was working at the CeBIT Computer Expo two weeks ago. For the oblivious ones among you (read: probably everyone), CeBIT is the largest IT fair in the world. Attending a fair that is the “barometer of the state of the art of computer technology” (thank you, Wikipedia) is pretty amazing, huh? Well, I wouldn’t know. I was busy ruining people’s days. All day, every day. 

I was working at one of the entrances making sure that only those who were supposed to enter actually got in. That included telling families with children that they could not attend (you had to be at least 16) despite having valid (and pricey, I may add) tickets and coming all the way from France/Greece/Norway/whatever. People don’t like to hear it and I don’t like telling them. It was a lose-lose situation, really.  I didn’t make the rules. It was not my fault but I was there, so I was hit by their fury. And all I could do was stay calm, smile and apologise.  I mean, it’s not like it wasn’t written directly on the ticket in big bold letters but what can you do…

Anyways. Breaks lasted from five to thirty minutes, depending on how busy it was which even in a best-case scenario is not enough time to really see anything. The furthest I got was to the hall right behind the entrance. And what did it have? Robots? Future Social Media? 3D technologies (It was all there, somewhere)? No. Effing Ethernet hubs, switches and routers. But there were stalls giving away free lattes and popcorn, so I had carbs and caffeine to keep my spirits (and heart rate) up. 

The recipe I share today is not mine but adapted from dear blogger friend Rowena over at Apron and Sneakers who posted it merely a week ago. The moment I saw this cake I had cravings. Cravings for something I have never eaten before. The concoction was just so intriguing and her presentation so appealing that I thought about it all week so when I finally had some time to spare on the weekend, I was a man on a mission when I hit the street market. 

Let’s just say, the cake did not disappoint. It’s amazing! While it’s not her cake per se, she made several changes and additions. All of them are an improvement, in my opinion, and are what really makes this cake so scrumptious and moist. 

Olive Oil & Orange Cake with Pistachios
Adapted from Apron and Sneakers.

Rowena wrote it makes two 22cm round cakes, but just like her I made one big cake. Mine had a Ø of 26cm. While I, too, made a few very minor changes, it is essentially her recipe that you see here.

For the cake:

• 400g (14 oz) pastry flour, sifted  (plus additional for the baking pan)
• 250g (8.8 oz) sugar
• 200ml (6.75 fl. oz) olive oil (plus additional for the baking pan)
• 4 eggs, divided
• Grated zest of one untreated orange
• 250ml (8.45 fl. oz) freshly squeezed orange juice
• 40g (1.4 oz) ground pistachios
• 1ts baking powder
• Seeds of one vanilla pod

For the syrup:

• 250g (8.8 oz) sugar
• 250ml (8.45 fl. oz) freshly squeezed orange juice
• Zest of half an orange (I simply forgot about it, to be honest)
• 1 orange, sliced thinly

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Grease & flour baking pan.
3. Whip egg whites until stiff, refrigerate.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and vanilla seeds until fluffy. 
5. Add sugar, whisking continuously.
6. Add olive oil little by little, keep whisking.  
7. Add sifted flour, baking powder and orange zest.  Mix well.
8. Add orange juice little by little, mixing well.
9. Fold in egg whites.  
10. Pour mass in baking pan. 
11. Sprinkle top with crushed pistachios. 
12. Bake for 40 minutes (30 if you make two smaller cakes.) with oven vent on (mine became suspiciously dark after 20 minutes, so I turned it off again).  Check centre with a toothpick.  If it comes out clean, it's cooked.
13. Let it cool off a little.  Make sure cake is loosened from sides of the pan while still left inside.

While the cake is baking:

1. In a small pot, combine sugar, orange juice and zest (that I forgot, like I said) over low heat until sugar has dissolved
2. Add orange slices.  Move them carefully in the saucepan.
3. Increase heat and boil for 5 - 6 minutes or until syrup thickens.

Final touches:

1. With a toothpick, prick little holes evenly into the cake
2. Pour over half of the hot syrup little by little, letting it soak into the cake.
3. Carefully remove from pan.
4. Cover the top of the cake with the orange slices and sprinkle with crushed pistachios.
5. Let the cake cool.
6. To serve, cut the cake and pour over remaining syrup.

Enjoy!

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents)

Alright, so I'm a big old liar.

Last post – which was AGES ago – I promised that I would stick around and keep writing. I did not.

But hey, at least I'm pretty good at lying as I had convinced myself at that moment I could do it. Damn how oblivious I was.

The reason I was on a hiatus? University. Let's just say there had been complications with my Bachelor's Thesis that had me stuck on the computer rewriting and writing it (or falling into comatose four hour sleeps or lying on the floor in fetus position slowly rocking myself back and forth...whatever) until the last third of November and then trying desperately to catch up on all the academic things I have missed (I had to complete my thesis during the first semester of my master's programme... long story), holding presentations, attending a three-day course over the weekend in between yadda yadda yadda.

Anyways.

 Good news is, I'm back! It's the middle of December and no thought was given towards Christmas so far. Not one. Meaning: No Christmas shopping yet, no trips to the Christmas market yet and only vague plans of how Christmas is going to be this year.

Among all those Chrismas-y things I have missed so far naturally is: Christmas Baking!

With only five days left until Christmas Eve, I hereby announce my 5-Day Christmas Countdown/ Last Minute Bake-athon! Starting today, I will post one recipe daily until Friday! Yay! But not just any kind of recipes. In a little attempt to spread some warm and cosy Old Worldly Christmas lovin', I will share the most traditional German Christmas biscuits and other pastries I could think of.

Admittedly, Vanillekipferl, sort of translating to Vanilla Crescents – do not ask me what Kipferl is supposed to mean as it is probably some kind of dialect – are more of German-Austrian-Bohemian origin, but as the boarders are rather blurry both geographically and historically, one cannot really pin it down to one particular country, especially not today's.

In Germany at least they belong to Christmas like Candy Canes do in the States and while there sure is a plethora of recipes for such a traditional kind of biscuit – with the ingredients varying slightly – this one is simply amazing. They really are delightfully light and almost melt-in-your-mouth airy. I think it is the lack of egg that helps with the consistency and also makes it really easy to veganize! Just replace the butter with margarine and there you go!

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents)

As recipes usually ask for vanilla sugar, which is not easily to be found everywhere around the world, I omitted it in my version and rather added the vanilla straight to the dough as opposed to rolling the baked biscuits in a mixture of icing and vanilla sugar.

• 250 g (8.8 oz) Cake or All-Purpose Flour
• 200 g (7 oz) Butter (or margarine for a vegan version)
• 100 g (3.5 oz) Walnuts, finely ground (I quickly did that in a blender)
• 70 g (2.5 oz) Icing/Powdered Sugar
• 1 Pinch of salt
• Seeds of 1 Vanilla Pod (You could go crazy and use two, I dare you!)
• Extra Icing/Powdered Sugar

Note: You can also make these using ground almonds or hazelnuts, but increase the amount of butter to 7.8 oz then

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F)
2. Knead together all ingredients but the extra icing sugar. (I did that with my hands and I would recommend you doing that, too)
3. Let the dough sit for at least half an hour.
4. Form dough into rolls as thick as a finger. Cut into 3cm (a bit more than an inch) long pieces.
5. With your hands, shape pieces into little crescents.
6. Bake on the second rack from the top for 15-20 minutes (they should hardly brown)
7. Immediately yet carefully remove from tray as they both burn and break easily at this state.
8. Let cool completely and roll in generous amounts of icing sugar.

Getting the right shape can be quite a pain in the bum so sometimes I just roll the dough into little balls to bake vanilla buttons. It indeed is even less time consuming that way.

Enjoy!