Lemony Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

As I write this, we’re zooming down I-95, through Savannah and Jacksonville, headed south a few more hours where I will – at last – take a deep breath and dive into the holiday (whatever shape that takes on the coast of Florida.) The van is packed with our gravel bikes, a few gifts that still need wrapping and a LOT of this Lemony Pistachio Olive Oil Cake.

Before I left, I tied up all the loose ends of my 2021 projects, including baking over 50 cakes for my dear friends at Cedar + Hyde. It’s become a holiday tradition between my dear friend, style maven + the shop owner – Christie Lambert; we both love sharing sweet surprises with those around us and the cakes are a tremendous symbol of that. And while pumping out cakes in that number is certainly a push, as is hand making, wrapping and tying the bows on each little loaf, I’m so flattered these little cakes will leave their crumbs all over the holiday celebrations that will unfold in the days to come.

We always offer two flavors – a Kabocha Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Chunks, and a Lemony Pistachio Olive Oil Cake. The first is sweet, mysterious and cozy. But the second one is the one I pine for this time of year:  bright, uplifting + inspiring. The first, I make with great frequency from Halloween until Christmas, but the second is the one that I pine for as winter arrives. And winter HAS arrived.

I tucked a couple of loaves of the Lemony Pistachio Olive Oil cake into my little basket of treats before we left, and I’m pretty excited to slice off a hunk to enjoy with coffee while we look out over the ocean tomorrow morning, at last. And, because the recipe is SO good, SO special, and easy to manipulate for lots of dietary restrictions, it’s SO worthy of sharing here. Not too sweet, bright, tart, elevated and easy.  It only needs a single bowl to make it, and meets everyone where they’re at.

I’ll make this week’s post short, as I’m sure you’re also eager to dive into the holiday. I’ve dropped some recipe notes below – including my favorite homemade gluten-free flour mix AND a recipe to hand-candy your own citrus rind (optional) to help you make this one work for you, and make it really special for everyone, but I’ll leave the Flavor Notes out until next week — this one is sweet, and rightfully so. In the weeks to come, we’ll focus again on the way that flavors fuel our bodies but for now this is a very virtuous, very delicious little cake worthy of your enjoyment.

I do hope you make this little cake – either for your celebrations this week, or in the lull that occurs immediately after the gift wrap has been ripped away. And, I hope that wherever you are, however, you’re celebrating this season, that it’s merry, bright, not too sweet, and plenty bright.