Recipes and News from The Golden Harvest
Today’s Inspiration:
Chocolate & Olive Oil
Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
“Eat olive oil and meet me in the evening ”
Happy Valentine’s Day! While filming in Greece, we learned that olive oil can be an aphrodisiac. One more than one person told us older generations used to whisper to their lovers, “Eat olive oil and meet me in the evening.” Our second favorite aphrodisiac is chocolate. Put it with olive oil together and you get…we leave it to your imagination and this luxurious Chocolate Olive Oil Cake. It’s actually the first cake The Golden Harvest’s director, Alia Yunis, learned to make as a kid. No fuss, no mess and It has the added bonus of making vegans happy. There are many versions of it. The one Alia learned is ridiculously simple—1/3 C. cocoa, 6 T. olive oil, 1 ½ C. flour, 1 C. sugar, salt, 1 C. water, 1 T. white distilled or cider vinegar, 1 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp salt, mix it all together in a 9-inch round pan and bake for 45 minutes or until it bounces back to the touch and a toothpick poked in the center comes out mostly clean. But will also share this slightly more sophisticated one from Joanne at Olive and Mango, a site we love, because it’s even more chocolaty –and It also comes with icing as an option. Check out the olive oil icing recipe here:
Ingredients
· 1½ cups of all purpose flour (works with almond and coconut flours, too, if you want be gluten-free)
· ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (We like Dutch double process, but bottom line, the better the quality, the better the cake)
· 1½ tsps baking soda
· ½ tsp salt
· ¾ cup granulated sugar
· ¾ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar (use
· ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
· 1½ water (some people use brewed coffee)
· 1 tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar
Directions
Preheat oven to 180 ° C ( 350 ° F) and grease a 8 or 9-inch round cake pan then line the bottom with parchment paper, grease paper and lightly dust with a little cocoa powder. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, salt and just the granulated sugar. Then add the brown sugar and olive oil and whisk well to combine. Add the coffee and vinegar and whisk until smoothe.Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is springy and a tester comes out mostly clean. A few sticky crumbs is ok. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes then loosen edges with a knife and flip it out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
Because of the olive oil, this cake stays moist for several days. Best to keep in the fridge after second day.
The love potato from Lebanon. We found it at the supermarket like this.
GOLDEN HARVEST UPDATES
We are looking forward The Golden Harvest screening at University of Toronto next week, hosted by anthropologist Anne Meneley, who has written so eloquently on olive oil for so many years. She was the person who first made us think about the connected symbolism of extra virgin olive oil and the Virgin Mary.
Alia Yunis loved speaking to the very switched on Beacon Academy students in Chicago after of a screening there with teacher Lina Krause hosting. And thank you Dana Al Qadi from Chicago Palestine Film Festival on this. Alia is next looking forward to speaking at the Mindanao Creative and Cultural Workers Group in the Philippines on February 23.
OlivE in Winter NEWS
As the Netherlands—and much of the world--went into a deep freeze, there were moments of joy to see, like people taking to iced waters to skate. But also the dedication of gardeners protecting olive trees from frost. Here are some useful tips from to protect your trees from harsh weather from Greenfingers—-if you’ve tried to plant it beyond the Mediterranean.
Covered olive trees in the Netherlands.
