Are you a sweet or savoury breakfast person? Or more likely if you live in Italy, a cereal/fruit/yoghurt person or are you down with a couple of cookies or a brioche and coffee?
In any case, you won't be able to resist a slice of this chocolate, olive oil and rosemary loaf cake - it comes with the crunchiest top and soft, spongey centre that is accentuated by generous chunks of dark chocolate that you will love biting into. All comes together with the delicate scent of olive oil and rosemary that is not overpowering at all, but rather makes it irresistibly moreish!
This is from a recipe by Anna Jones published on the Guardian - Anna Jones is one of my idols of vegetarian cooking, and if you are looking to cook more vegetarian meals, I highly recommend her book. Her recipes are genius, easy to follow, and you will never feel like you are lacking anything.
For years, overnight oats with seeds, nuts, fresh fruit and yoghurt was my go-to breakfast, with the occasional break of vegemite on toast. It's a curious thing how, even what seemed to be 'solid habits' can change over the course of time when living in a different culture.
And that's not too bad when that new culture is Italian and when those new habits mean occasionally you are allowed to have cake for breakfast.
Just look at this nation of sweet tooths, 'golosi'. I'm loving it.
This is a short post because I've got loads of deadlines looming in terms of my writing projects and right now, I feel like I'm shovelling through an avalanche with no rescue team in sight. Check out my Instagram story highlight - I've had a few of my feature articles published for a fashion magazine, which makes it all worth it. 😁
So go on, try out this chocolate rosemary loaf - it's an easy weekend project and your co-habitants will love it (just like 🐸 who woke up from his nap and couldn't wait until I finished shooting and had to get his head in it)!
Ciao!
Diana ⛏✒️📝❤️
CHOCOLATE, OLIVE OIL, ROSEMARY LOAF CAKE
From Anna Jones for The Guardian
INGREDIENTS
300g plain flour (Italian: farina 00)
125 g light brown or golden caster sugar (Italian: zucccero 'Tate&Lyle Soft Light Brown, or Zefiro zucccero di canna fine)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs
250 ml olive oil
150 ml milk
2 sprigs rosemary, needles only, finely chopped
150 g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks (60-70% chocolate)
2 tbsp brown sugar (Italian: zucchero di canna normale)
HOW TO
1. Heat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 1 kg loaf tin.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.
3. In another bowl, beat the eggs lightly and add the oil, milk, rosemary. Mix together to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet - stir to just combine until you don't see any dry lumps. Stir in most of the chocolate.
5. Pour into tin, sprinkle some of the remaining chocolate on top, and then the brown sugar (this will give the loaf a crunchy finish). Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden and a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
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