Rosemary Sherry Savory Cake

I love this cake. Not only does it taste good, and not only is it light, but it's the only cake I know of that you can serve as dessert, and as part of your entree, depending on what you pair with it. Custard or vanilla ice cream? Dessert deliciousness. Pork roast and gravy? It's part of your entree. And the weird thing is, that it works beautifully both ways without any sort of alternation in the recipe.

The other reason I love this cake is because it looks a little funny. It's a souffle cake, which means that it's meant to sort of collapse in on itself in a spongy, moist, semi-dense kind of way. This means that it's appearance is a little unpredictable. Sometimes it comes out looking really adorable, like something a hobbit would make. Other times it's just kind of homely, but no matter what it looks like, it always tastes good.

This recipe is from The Greyston Bakery Cookbook by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, editor of Kitchn.com. It's a great recipe and a really good book - I'm looking forward to trying out more of their recipes, especially the Burnt Almond Torte and the Lotus in Mud Cake, a chocolate confection inspired by the Buddhist idea of beauty and compassion being rooted in darkness and pain.

But, in the meantime, here's the recipe for Olive Oil and Sherry Souffle Cake (their official title for it). It's so damn good!

Ingredients:

- 5 eggs, separated

- 3/4 cups granulated sugar

- 1 tbs. freshly grated lemon zest (I omitted this because I was out of lemons)

- 1 tbs. chopped fresh rosemary (Do Not omit this - it's crucial to the flavor)

- 1/2 cup dry sherry (I used cream sherry and it tasted lovely)

- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 3 tbs. powdered sugar

Process:

1. Position the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 325. Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt cake pan (I used this) or a 10 x 4.5 in. tube cake pan. Set aside.

2. With an electric mixer on med-high, mix the egg yolks with the sugar until the yolks are thick and pale yellow. Use the whisk attachment.

3. Slow the mixer to med-low and add the zest and rosemary. Mix until incorporated, about 30 sec.

4. Drizzle in the sherry. Once incorporated, drizzle in the olive oil.

5. Gradually add the flour. Mix until well combined.

6. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and set aside. Carefully wash and dry your mixer bowl and whisk attachment. Then beat the egg whites and salt until the whites hold stiff peaks.

7. Gently stir in 1/3 of the whites into the batter with a whisk. This will lighten the batter. Then fold in the rest of the whites in two batches, blending completely.

8. Pout the batter into the prepared pan and put in the oven. Bake for 40 min., until the cake is a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted near the middle comes out clean.

9. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool completely. The cake will do what souffles do and collapse into itself, pulling away slightly from the edges of the mold. When the cake it cool, turn it out onto a plate.

10. If you're serving it as dessert, dust it with powdered sugar and serve it in all it's rumpled glory. If your serving it with your main course, garnish it with sprigs of rosemary, and serve slices with your meal as you would yorkshire pudding. Just thinking about it with goose and gravy makes my mouth water....