Deliciously grown-up dessert: Meyer Lemon Sage Olive Oil Cake

Not-too-sweet Meyer Lemon Sage Olive Oil Cake balances sweet and tart beautifully, and the sage gives it a nice grown-up finish. Recipe below.

meyer-lemon-cake

In case you’ve just tuned in, the lovely Christina over at A Thinking Stomach recently sent us a generous box of Meyer lemons grown on her own tree. We’ve been thoroughly enjoying experimenting with them. This cake Marion has now made three times is the best thing we’ve done so far. I’ll let her tell you about it.

A couple of days ago, in one of those far-ranging conversations about things that are delicious and things that are definitely not delicious, my colleague Melody pointed out that so many commercial pastries—and we are talking white-tablecloth-restaurant level, not six in a factory-sealed cardboard box for one US dollar level—are disappointing, just because someone thought it would be a good idea to save five cents by skimping on an essential ingredient. Cannoli rolled in peanuts instead of pistachios. Napoleons made with something that certainly isn’t butter and filled with something not unlike grout. Lemon bars overdosed with sugar to make up for not actually being very lemony.

Well, this is lemony. For some time now I’ve been thinking about a recipe that appears all over the Internet in many forms: Olive oil cake, and this week’s installment of our Meyer lemon festival gave me a reason to try it out. Continue reading “Deliciously grown-up dessert: Meyer Lemon Sage Olive Oil Cake”