Basil Olive Oil Cake

this is not a flag cake

It’s a holiday week, and I’m writing this from a quiet lake in Northern Ontario. I don’t want to read emails either, so I’ll keep this one short. (Sweet, too).

Last year, I made Yossy Arefi’s Berries & Cream Cake for our 4th of July celebrations. The year before, it was Ina Garten’s Flag Cake. Both are wonderful, if you’re looking for something festive and on-brand.

Yossy Arefi’s Berries & Cream Cake

While I love food media (and it’s my job to contribute to it), sometimes the holiday-themed recipes can be a bit much. Not every menu needs a themed dessert. So this year I decided to make a cake that just tastes like summer.

Remember that basil oil from last letter’s Peach & Cucumber Salad? Well, I made a cake with it.

This cake would feel just as at home on a Sicilian terrace as it would at a backyard cookout here in Ontario, or after watching fireworks on the beach back home in Charleston. That’s one of the things I love most about cooking—it can transport you anywhere. It’s a reminder that summer is a season, not a theme.

At first, turning that basil oil into a cake sounded like one of those ideas that would either be brilliant or very weird. It turns out that basil’s gentle, sweet floral notes, when folded into an olive oil cake, become something subtle and delightfully unexpected.

Olive oil cake is my answer to almost any occasion. It’s the kind of cake you cut a sliver from after breakfast, again with afternoon coffee, and somehow one more time before bed. Wonderfully moist, never too sweet, and somehow even better the next day. Use a great extra-virgin olive oil (we love Corto and Olinda), because its flavor really is the star.

This cake started as a recipe I developed for my friends at Schermer Pecans, and I’ve been tinkering with it ever since. Every season inspires a new variation. This one may be my favorite yet.

My Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary & Pecans, photo by Cameron Wilder

Here’s to experimenting, cooking what’s in season, and sharing it with people you love. I hope you have a safe and happy holiday weekend. Thank you, as always, for reading!

xx Jenni

the recipe: Basil Olive Oil Cake with Orange & Pistachio

Serves 8-10

Basil lends a delicate floral note rather than an obvious herb flavor here. If you don’t want to make the basil oil, great extra-virgin olive oil will still yield delicious cake. A warm honey-basil syrup brushed over the cake keeps it moist and ties everything together.

The recipe calls for finely chopping half of a navel orange—rind and all. Just remove the seeds and chop it very small. As the cake bakes, the rind softens and perfumes every bite.