In the weeks leading up to Christmas, every food blogger/writer/celebrity/enthusiast (and their mothers) were putting out their "Top 10 Cookbooks of the Year." Over and over these lists mentioned NYTimes columnist Melissa Clark's new book Cook This Now:120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make. If you're not familiar with Clark, she writes "In the Kitchen With a Good Appetite" (and has another book by the same name), which is, in my opinion, the highlight of the NY Times's Wednesday Dining Section. After the holidays I finally requested the book from my favorite place, the Cambridge Public Library. Since picking it up I have to say I'm totally in love with it, if only for the following recipe, an Orange-Almond-Olive Oil Cake that is just out of this world. I also want to make about 90% of the other recipes, too, but in the last 2 weeks I've made this cake 3 times. Yes, it's that good. (And no, I haven't eaten them all myself--I gave 2 away.) But seriously, this cake: so good! It has this incredibly light texture, while still being very moist. Clark calls it "intensely almond-y" but I really pick out the orange flavor--guess they're both there in perfect harmony. The cake also contains buckwheat flour, which I had never used before, despite owning a bag (that, admittedly, I pilfered from my mother's cupboard). The nuttiness of the buckwheat flour offers another interesting layer of flavor, so I'd recommend getting a bag, even if it's just for this cake. You'll probably want to make it so many times that it'll be gone in no time! However, if you're so desperate the try this before making a trip to the grocery store, I'm sure that replacing it with all-purpose would also produce a very good cake.
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Simple, rustic, but oh-so-tasty!
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