feast.

Thank you, man-friend no. 2

As I mentioned, I made three cakes the other night, so here is the second thank you cake. I am currently taking a course in STATA data analysis and statistics. (Stay with me; don’t fall asleep.) I am a little over my head. Namely, I am to do a multivariate analysis of survey data, with the goal of submitting an article to academic, health policy journals — by the end of June. This is part of work, with good guidance from my superiors, and along with a solid team of coworkers, but let’s back up a little bit. I have never taken statistics. For that matter, I haven’t taken math in about ten years. You see, theoretically, I know calculus; I took the Calculus Advanced Placement test my junior year of high school, miraculously passed, placed out of college math requirements, and therefore have not taken anything since. I think I just might have even forgotten how to do long division …

So, to prep myself for this STATA course, I asked one of my friends who was a math and economics major in college if I could borrow one of his college textbooks for a bit of a refresher. Incidentally, he had misplaced/left at home/lost his books from college, though had somehow maintained an AP Statistics book with boy doodles and no cover. I needed an introductory book, and while far too simple, it was helpful nevertheless. I returned the book after the first session of my STATA course, along with an olive oil cake. He had a slice immediately, then another, and admitted to probably eating one for breakfast the next day.

Olive oil cakes have been fairly popular in New York restaurants — mainly Italian. I first encountered a delectable version at L’Artusi, a fantastic little Italian joint in the West Village, where my friend Aaron was working at the time. Olive oil cake is a nice alternative to your usual butter cake — dense, moist, and a rather sophisticated plain cake. As such, it best served simply, to let the fruity olive flavor shine through. Indeed, upon his first bite, my man-friend no. 2 remarked, “I forgot how olivey, olive oil cake is.” Now, let me clarify: the cake should not be oily, nor should it taste oily. However, you should taste the flavor of the olive oil (as one would butter), so take care to use a good one.

Olive oil cake
Adapted from Sunday Suppers

I gifted (and ate) this plain, though serving with a large dollop of whipped cream or a simple fruit sauce or compote, as done at L’Artusi and as directed by the Sunday Suppers folks, is nothing but encouraged. Also, the original recipe was intended for a 12-inch round pan, so it’s crazy big. I used one 8-inch round pan and one 8-inch loaf pan; it fit the two perfectly.

• 3 eggs
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Large pinch of salt
• Zest of half a lemon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 8-inch loaf pans or 2 8-inch round pans.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar. Add the olive oil, milk, and citrus zest.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the egg mixture, to the dry ingredients stirring just until blended. Do not over mix. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan. When cool, run a knife along the edges to loosen, and invert onto a serving dish.