Time to get bakin'!

Alrighty!!
Enough of this idle chit-chat, let's get down to business!

A while ago I found this really interesting recipe. Bare with me now, as there is one particular ingredient that is a bit.. umm... unconventional for a cake, let's just say!

It's a Rosemary Olive Oil Cake, with chocolate chips.... and as odd as those ingredients sound, the guinee pigs.. erm I mean the "family", really liked it!
It's not too sweet and I must admit, the chocolate brought together everything really well, and really complimented the other flavours. If you're wanting to try something different, then this recipe is for you.

Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

Dry ingredients:
3/4 cup / 3 oz / 80g spelt flour (I only used the normal type, adding this amount to the amount below)
1 1/2 cups / 7.5 oz / 210 g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup / 4 oz / 115g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup / 240 ml olive oil
3/4 cup / 180 ml whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped (I used the dried kind, from my spice rack)
5 ounces / 140 g bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (I used regular dark chocolate, chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons sugar, for top crunch

Preheat the oven to 350F / 175C. Rub a 9 1/2-inch (24 cm) fluted tart pan (aka pie dish) with olive oil. Alternately, you can use a loaf pan., like I did.
You can line it with parchment paper. I just used some olive oil.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, (the recipes says to pour any bits of grain or other ingredients left in the sifter back into the bowl). Set this first mix aside.

In another large bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly. Add the olive oil, milk and rosemary and whisk again. Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry, gently mixing just until combined. Stir in 2/3 of the chocolate. Pour the batter into the pan, spreading it evenly and smoothing the top. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate and run a fork along the length of the chocolate so that the batter envelops it just a bit. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is domed, golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. My cake, in the alternate pan, took closer to 55 minutes.

Enjoy!

Welcome!

I figured there's not much point in baking yummy goods and  cooking great meals if you can't share the efforts of your hard work with anyone.. and this doesn't just mean with the friends and family that are (un)fortunate enough to taste the product of my cooking skill!
This of course means you readers out there who maybe, like me, are passionate about what you eat and enjoy dabbling in the kitchen, while others of you might be seeking new fun things to try out or simply have no clue what you're doing and just use your kitchen cabinets for storage space!

What ever the reason, I'm pretty sure that there's nothing more exciting about trying a dish cooked with your own hands.
I won't promise nouvelle cuisine or high end catering products. I'm pretty much bringing to this blog, what I bring to my table... plain simple recipes that any working girl like me can easily reproduce, in a time-effective manner.
Being Italian, you're going to find lots of typical Italian dishes, cooked the real Italian way, with authentic Italian ingredients and Italian know-hows, tips and tricks. I do, however, adore American baking, (as my first love is and reamins cupcakes) and desserts from various types of cuisine. It's interesting to compare different cooking techniques and ingredients.

I won't tell you that my recipes are fool proof, nor that they're all mine.
Many come from my mother's kitchen, many come from cookbooks or the internet, while others come from friends, but every time you take a recipe and "make" it, in some way it becomes your own. Adding something extra here, or replacing some ingredient there makes a recipe become yours in some way, and sharing that with someone is like spreading love around. There's nothing better than a loving relationship... and having a loving relationship with food is what this blog is all about!