Recipe: Olive Oil Ice Cream & Cake with Cointreau Syrup and Candied Orange

Luisa Ormonde, a private chef, caterer and owner of Luisa’s Catering in San Carlos, submitted this recipe for two of our Spanish cultivar olive oils, the Hojiblanca and the Arbequina, which she sought out specifically for this Spanish-themed dessert. Luisa says, “I was looking for a Spanish dessert to make for a dinner party with friends and didn’t want to go the typical/expected flan route. You will be pleasantly surprised how subtle the olive oil flavor is and how wonderful it is in a dessert. Time: 2 hours. Serves 8.  

Olive Oil Ice Cream and Cake with Cointreau Syrup and Candied Orange from Luisa Ormonde.

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of Fleur de Sel
• 10 oz. cake flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup full-fat plain yogurt (recommended: Greek-style yogurt)
• 1/2 cup Sigona’s Fresh Press Hojiblanca olive oil (our October olive oil of the month!)
• Zest of 1 orange

Olive Oil Ice Cream Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Pinch of Fleur de Sel
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup Sigona’s Fresh Press Arbequina olive oil

Syrup Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur
• Fresh orange peel, cut in julienne slices

 For The Cake:

• Beat the eggs in an electric mixer until they have tripled in size (up to 15 minutes) together with the sugar and orange zest. Add the oil and yogurt, then carefully fold in the flour mixed with the baking powder and salt.
• Grease and flour a cake pan or individual molds and fill three-quarters full with the batter. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes for small cakes and 45 minutes for one large cake (I made one cake then cut out rounds with a cutter).
• Meanwhile, start the ice cream.

For The Olive Oil Ice Cream:

• Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
• Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Make sure that you don’t over cook it or else you’ll get scrambled eggs. It’s better to err on the safe side by turning off the heat when the custard just slightly thickens because the heat in the pot will continuously cook the mixture. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.
• Whisk the olive oil into the custard vigorously until it’s well blended, then stir until cool over an ice bath. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 For The Syrup:

• Dissolve the sugar in the water and cook for 5 minutes over a hot flame. Add the liqueur.
• Bring a small pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the orange peel to blanch slightly, about 5 minutes. Drain and add peel to the syrup. Cook syrup for another 5 minutes.

 Assembly: Pour the syrup over the cake, place the ice cream next to it and decorate with the candied orange julienne.