Recipes and News from The Golden Harvest
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OLIVE OF YOU !
May your olive trees be rich with promise in the coming year
In the season of the Christmas tree, we still celebrate all the olive tree gives us. We will be back next month with a recipe from one The Golden Harvest team and updates on the film. But for now we lhave just one bit of olivey advice for an already non-traditional holiday season:. Replace one cup of butter with ¾ cup of olive oil in your baking and let the holiday joy begin. As many of the people we met while filming told us, olive oil produces moister cakes and sweet breads and keeps fresher for longer. As a monastery in Greece, we learned it’s a necessity to only bake with olive oil during Lent. And we loved that necessity—including baklava made with olive oil instead of butter, right down to the phyllo dough. Chocolate and extra virgin olive oil are particularly yummy together, even in chocolate chip cookies. Just note you’ll get a thinner, less cakey cookie this way, and that’s always a texture choice issue for some. When it comes to baking, you don’t always have to use extra virgin olive oil, something we rarely say! In case you have any doubts, we offer up these basic cupcakes.
OLIVE OIL CUPCAKES
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla or lemon zest
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt (you can also use coconut milk yogurt, if vegan and then its coconutty cupcakes)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, olive oil, and yogurt.
Slowly combine wet and dry ingredients in a stand mixer. Divide into 12-cup greased cupcake pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. (use the toothpick test). Allow to cool before frosting.
No photos included so you can imagine your own decorating!
And don’t forget the homemade bread to dip in olive oil.