We asked a group of talented bloggers to create fabulous baking recipes which we'll highlight throughout December.
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This month, look for more to come from our Seasons Best program:
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| Why We (and Others) Bake with Olive Oil |
We'll be in the kitchen 'Baking a Better Holiday.' And extra virgin olive oil will play a leading role in our recipes. From artisan bread to chocolate almond  torte, olive oil adds a wonderful, nuanced flavor to baked goods. Plus, experts everywhere have found it's better for your heart than butter, which is higher in saturated fat. So what's not to love?
We aren't the only ones who turn to extra virgin olive oil in our baking. Open a good restaurant menu, read a cookbook or food magazine, or scan a food blog. Increasingly, you'll find delicious tortes, pound cakes, cupcakes and other baked goods made using extra virgin olive oil.
The upshot? A new baking repertoire has taken hold in this county featuring good extra virgin olive oil - like the oil made in California.
Here' why:
FLAVOR: "It just so happens I love the flavor of olive oil," says Jeff Hertzberg, a best-selling author and doctor who has just released a new book, Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day (St. Martin's Press, 2011), says. "I use it in baking mainly for the flavor contribution, and the fact that it's a healthy fat."
"Olive oil adds a depth to the flavor," says vegan pastry chef Fran Costigan,  who once relied mainly on canola and other "neutral" oils in her desserts. "I seem to be getting a richer product when I use olive oil rather than the neutral oils."
TEXTURE: "Extra virgin olive oil produces light and moist baked goods with rich olive oil background notes while letting the accompanying flavors shine through," says Sarah House, recipe specialist for Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, the Oregon provider of high-quality flours and other natural foods.
Moreover, the use of extra virgin flavor can improve cakes, pie and tart crusts, as well as pizza and bread dough, bakers and pastry chefs tell us. "It tenderizes the dough," Hertzberg, the author and doctor, says. House notes that olive oil helps baked good retain their freshness "much longer than when using butter or margarine."
HEALTH: Health factors initially inspired the rise in olive oil baking several years ago. "An abundance of polyphenols, monounsaturated fat, and Vitamin E makes olive oil a champion for heart health," Matthew Kadey, a registered dietitian, recipe developer, and magazine writer whose work has appeared in EatingWell and Men's Health, says.
We've found you can eliminate butter in many baking recipes and replace it  with olive oil. Use olive oil so it equals three-quarters of the amount of butter.
If a baking recipe calls for a stick of butter (8 tablespoons), for example, use 6 tablespoons of olive oil. (Click here to see a conversion table.)
And by all means experiment. If a recipe, like a carrot cake, calls for canola or some other vegetable oil, we've found you can substitute olive oil on a one-for-one basis. You'll get the added bonus of better flavor.
BAKE AWAY! During 'Baking a Better Holiday' all month long we'll feature baking recipes, tips and more across our entire online community - Facebook, Twitter, Blog, and our website's recipe section.
We've teamed up with Bob's Red Mill as well as chefs and quality food bloggers to showcase their recipes using extra virgin olive oil in baking. We encourage you to visit their communities for additional holiday favorites.
And don't forget to enter our Facebook contest now through Dec. 8 and post your favorite combo of COR and Bob's Red Mill products for fabulous prizes!
Happy Holidays! And Happy Baking!
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Zucchini Flatbread with Roasted Tomatoes and Pine Nuts
Recipe credit: Flatbread and olive oil dough recipes adapted with authors's permission from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (St. Martin's Press, 2007) and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (St. Martin's Press, 2009), by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François
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| Primer: Pairing Olive Oils With Baked Goods |
Like wine, different extra virgin olive oils deliver different flavor profiles. And to help you with your holiday baking, here are suggestions for how to use  our extra virgin olive oils as an ingredient in baked goods and flavors.
These rules aren't set in stone. They come from author and olive oil guru Fran Gage and other experts. In the end, experiment - and let your palate be the final judge.
Delicate oils, which are fruity and have a slight peppery note, including: our Everyday Fresh, Arbequina, and Artois Ranch Mild and Buttery
Robust oils, which deliver the most peppery tingle and bold flavor profile, including our: Miller's Blend, Arbosana, and Oroville Ranch Bold and Peppery
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Happy and Healthy Holidays from California Olive Ranch!
Email your comments to enews@cal-olive.com.
We want to hear from you!
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