One-bowl, Orange

Made with both olive oil and ricotta, this one-bowl orange-ricotta pound cake is incredibly moist and so fast to assemble. It is a favorite to have on hand for any sort of holiday for its deliciousness and ability to stay moist for days .

Just before Thanksgiving, I decided to make one of my favorite cakes, Giada De Laurentiis’s orange-ricotta pound cake , substituting oil for the butter. It worked beautifully and best of all, the cake materialized in one bowl very quickly.

This made me wonder which other cakes made with butter could be given the same treatment? I haven’t experimented extensively, but I suspect nearly all. I have long loved the flavor and texture of cakes made with oil , olive or otherwise, but I especially love making cakes with olive oil this time of year. Here’s why:

1. No need to wait for butter to soften . If you have a microwave, softening butter is likely no big deal. If you don’t, it’s a pain in the rear. This time of year, butter doesn’t soften quickly on the countertop, so other tricks must be employed.
2. No need to beat butter. Many cake recipes call for beating butter till it’s light and fluffy. No such instruction is called for with oil-based cakes.
3. Speed . Without having to soften butter or beat it, oil-based cakes come together very quickly.
4. Texture. This is a personal thing: I prefer (often) the texture of oil-based cakes.
5. Longevity . In my experience, cakes made with oil keep longer, which is a boon this time of year, when anything that can be made ahead of time holds strong appeal. Often, too, the flavor of cakes made with oil improves over time.

How to Make One-Bowl Pound Cake

Gather your ingredients:

Add them one by one, as instructed, and whisk to form a batter.

Transfer to a 9×5-inch loaf pan. I love this USA Loaf Pan .

Bake for about an hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers about 200ºF. I love my Javelin for testing cakes—I tend to underbake cakes and am perpetually disappointed when I cut into one only to find uncooked batter.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Description

Adapted from this Giada De Laurentis recipe , this version calls for oil in place of butter, and the whole thing is made in one bowl.

This cake keeps well for days—tuck it in an airtight bag or container. It makes a beautiful gift—wrap it in parchment paper and tie it with baker’s twine.

Loaf Pans: I love this 9×5-inch USA Loaf Pan. Around the holidays, I often use three mini loaf pans, because this is a great cake for gifting.

Also: I can’t say enough about this reasonably priced instant-read thermometer for testing cakes. For this cake, if it registers above 200ºF, it’s done. Most recently, this cake took more like an hour and ten minutes to bake, but without my instant-read thermometer, I likely would have removed it from the oven too soon.

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups ( 364 g ) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup ( 164 g ) oil, anything from extra-virgin olive oil to grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons ( 26 g ) orange-flavored liqueur such as Grand Marnier
• 1 1/2 cups ( 300 g ) granulated sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon ( 6 g ) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or half as much by volume Morton kosher salt or fine sea salt)
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 1/2 (11 g) teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups ( 192 g ) all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease one 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper for easy removal, optional. Alternatively, grease three mini loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and ricotta till blended. Add the oil and liqueur and whisk until blended. Add the sugar, salt, and zest, and whisk again to combine. Add the baking powder and whisk again to incorporate. Add the flour and use a spatula to incorporate until it is no longer visible.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 60 minutes (or longer; about 35 minutes for mini pans). If you have an instant-read thermometer , it should register about 200ºF. Let the loaves cool completely in their pans, then turn out onto a rack. Do not wrap until completely cool.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Quick Bread
• Method: bake
• Cuisine: American

Made with both olive oil and ricotta, this one-bowl orange-ricotta pound cake is incredibly moist and so fast to assemble. It is a favorite to have on hand for any sort of holiday for its deliciousness and ability to stay moist for days .

Just before Thanksgiving, I decided to make one of my favorite cakes, Giada De Laurentiis’s orange-ricotta pound cake , substituting oil for the butter. It worked beautifully and best of all, the cake materialized in one bowl very quickly.

This made me wonder which other cakes made with butter could be given the same treatment? I haven’t experimented extensively, but I suspect nearly all. I have long loved the flavor and texture of cakes made with oil , olive or otherwise, but I especially love making cakes with olive oil this time of year. Here’s why:

1. No need to wait for butter to soften . If you have a microwave, softening butter is likely no big deal. If you don’t, it’s a pain in the rear. This time of year, butter doesn’t soften quickly on the countertop, so other tricks must be employed.
2. No need to beat butter. Many cake recipes call for beating butter till it’s light and fluffy. No such instruction is called for with oil-based cakes.
3. Speed . Without having to soften butter or beat it, oil-based cakes come together very quickly.
4. Texture. This is a personal thing: I prefer (often) the texture of oil-based cakes.
5. Longevity . In my experience, cakes made with oil keep longer, which is a boon this time of year, when anything that can be made ahead of time holds strong appeal. Often, too, the flavor of cakes made with oil improves over time.

How to Make One-Bowl Pound Cake

Gather your ingredients:

Add them one by one, as instructed, and whisk to form a batter.

Transfer to a 9×5-inch loaf pan. I love this USA Loaf Pan .

Bake for about an hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers about 200ºF. I love my Javelin for testing cakes—I tend to underbake cakes and am perpetually disappointed when I cut into one only to find uncooked batter.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Description

Adapted from this Giada De Laurentis recipe , this version calls for oil in place of butter, and the whole thing is made in one bowl.

This cake keeps well for days—tuck it in an airtight bag or container. It makes a beautiful gift—wrap it in parchment paper and tie it with baker’s twine.

Loaf Pans: I love this 9×5-inch USA Loaf Pan. Around the holidays, I often use three mini loaf pans, because this is a great cake for gifting.

Also: I can’t say enough about this reasonably priced instant-read thermometer for testing cakes. For this cake, if it registers above 200ºF, it’s done. Most recently, this cake took more like an hour and ten minutes to bake, but without my instant-read thermometer, I likely would have removed it from the oven too soon.

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups ( 364 g ) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup ( 164 g ) oil, anything from extra-virgin olive oil to grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons ( 26 g ) orange-flavored liqueur such as Grand Marnier
• 1 1/2 cups ( 300 g ) granulated sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon ( 6 g ) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or half as much by volume Morton kosher salt or fine sea salt)
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 1/2 (11 g) teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups ( 192 g ) all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease one 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper for easy removal, optional. Alternatively, grease three mini loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and ricotta till blended. Add the oil and liqueur and whisk until blended. Add the sugar, salt, and zest, and whisk again to combine. Add the baking powder and whisk again to incorporate. Add the flour and use a spatula to incorporate until it is no longer visible.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 60 minutes (or longer; about 35 minutes for mini pans). If you have an instant-read thermometer , it should register about 200ºF. Let the loaves cool completely in their pans, then turn out onto a rack. Do not wrap until completely cool.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Quick Bread
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

Made with both olive oil and ricotta, this one-bowl orange-ricotta pound cake is incredibly moist and so fast to assemble. It is a favorite to have on hand for any sort of holiday for its deliciousness and ability to stay moist for days .

Just before Thanksgiving, I decided to make one of my favorite cakes, Giada De Laurentiis’s orange-ricotta pound cake , substituting oil for the butter. It worked beautifully and best of all, the cake materialized in one bowl very quickly.

This made me wonder which other cakes made with butter could be given the same treatment? I haven’t experimented extensively, but I suspect nearly all. I have long loved the flavor and texture of cakes made with oil , olive or otherwise, but I especially love making cakes with olive oil this time of year. Here’s why:

1. No need to wait for butter to soften . If you have a microwave, softening butter is likely no big deal. If you don’t, it’s a pain in the rear. This time of year, butter doesn’t soften quickly on the countertop, so other tricks must be employed.
2. No need to beat butter. Many cake recipes call for beating butter till it’s light and fluffy. No such instruction is called for with oil-based cakes.
3. Speed . Without having to soften butter or beat it, oil-based cakes come together very quickly.
4. Texture. This is a personal thing: I prefer (often) the texture of oil-based cakes.
5. Longevity . In my experience, cakes made with oil keep longer, which is a boon this time of year, when anything that can be made ahead of time holds strong appeal. Often, too, the flavor of cakes made with oil improves over time.

How to Make One-Bowl Pound Cake

Gather your ingredients:

Add them one by one, as instructed, and whisk to form a batter.

Transfer to a 9×5-inch loaf pan. I love this USA Loaf Pan .

Bake for about an hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers about 200ºF. I love my Javelin for testing cakes—I tend to underbake cakes and am perpetually disappointed when I cut into one only to find uncooked batter.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Description

Adapted from this Giada De Laurentis recipe , this version calls for oil in place of butter, and the whole thing is made in one bowl.

This cake keeps well for days—tuck it in an airtight bag or container. It makes a beautiful gift—wrap it in parchment paper and tie it with baker’s twine.

Loaf Pans: I love this 9×5-inch USA Loaf Pan. Around the holidays, I often use three mini loaf pans, because this is a great cake for gifting.

Also: I can’t say enough about this reasonably priced instant-read thermometer for testing cakes. For this cake, if it registers above 200ºF, it’s done. Most recently, this cake took more like an hour and ten minutes to bake, but without my instant-read thermometer, I likely would have removed it from the oven too soon.

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups ( 364 g ) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup ( 164 g ) oil, anything from extra-virgin olive oil to grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons ( 26 g ) orange-flavored liqueur such as Grand Marnier
• 1 1/2 cups ( 300 g ) granulated sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon ( 6 g ) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or half as much by volume Morton kosher salt or fine sea salt)
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 1/2 (11 g) teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups ( 192 g ) all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease one 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper for easy removal, optional. Alternatively, grease three mini loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and ricotta till blended. Add the oil and liqueur and whisk until blended. Add the sugar, salt, and zest, and whisk again to combine. Add the baking powder and whisk again to incorporate. Add the flour and use a spatula to incorporate until it is no longer visible.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 60 minutes (or longer; about 35 minutes for mini pans). If you have an instant-read thermometer , it should register about 200ºF. Let the loaves cool completely in their pans, then turn out onto a rack. Do not wrap until completely cool.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Quick Bread
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

Made with both olive oil and ricotta, this one-bowl orange-ricotta pound cake is incredibly moist and so fast to assemble. It is a favorite to have on hand for any sort of holiday for its deliciousness and ability to stay moist for days .

Just before Thanksgiving, I decided to make one of my favorite cakes, Giada De Laurentiis’s orange-ricotta pound cake , substituting oil for the butter. It worked beautifully and best of all, the cake materialized in one bowl very quickly.

This made me wonder which other cakes made with butter could be given the same treatment? I haven’t experimented extensively, but I suspect nearly all. I have long loved the flavor and texture of cakes made with oil , olive or otherwise, but I especially love making cakes with olive oil this time of year. Here’s why:

1. No need to wait for butter to soften . If you have a microwave, softening butter is likely no big deal. If you don’t, it’s a pain in the rear. This time of year, butter doesn’t soften quickly on the countertop, so other tricks must be employed.
2. No need to beat butter. Many cake recipes call for beating butter till it’s light and fluffy. No such instruction is called for with oil-based cakes.
3. Speed . Without having to soften butter or beat it, oil-based cakes come together very quickly.
4. Texture. This is a personal thing: I prefer (often) the texture of oil-based cakes.
5. Longevity . In my experience, cakes made with oil keep longer, which is a boon this time of year, when anything that can be made ahead of time holds strong appeal. Often, too, the flavor of cakes made with oil improves over time.

How to Make One-Bowl Pound Cake

Gather your ingredients:

Add them one by one, as instructed, and whisk to form a batter.

Transfer to a 9×5-inch loaf pan. I love this USA Loaf Pan .

Bake for about an hour or until an instant-read thermometer registers about 200ºF. I love my Javelin for testing cakes—I tend to underbake cakes and am perpetually disappointed when I cut into one only to find uncooked batter.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Description

Adapted from this Giada De Laurentis recipe , this version calls for oil in place of butter, and the whole thing is made in one bowl.

This cake keeps well for days—tuck it in an airtight bag or container. It makes a beautiful gift—wrap it in parchment paper and tie it with baker’s twine.

Loaf Pans: I love this 9×5-inch USA Loaf Pan. Around the holidays, I often use three mini loaf pans, because this is a great cake for gifting.

Also: I can’t say enough about this reasonably priced instant-read thermometer for testing cakes. For this cake, if it registers above 200ºF, it’s done. Most recently, this cake took more like an hour and ten minutes to bake, but without my instant-read thermometer, I likely would have removed it from the oven too soon.

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups ( 364 g ) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup ( 164 g ) oil, anything from extra-virgin olive oil to grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons ( 26 g ) orange-flavored liqueur such as Grand Marnier
• 1 1/2 cups ( 300 g ) granulated sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon ( 6 g ) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or half as much by volume Morton kosher salt or fine sea salt)
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 1/2 (11 g) teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups ( 192 g ) all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease one 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper for easy removal, optional. Alternatively, grease three mini loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and ricotta till blended. Add the oil and liqueur and whisk until blended. Add the sugar, salt, and zest, and whisk again to combine. Add the baking powder and whisk again to incorporate. Add the flour and use a spatula to incorporate until it is no longer visible.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 60 minutes (or longer; about 35 minutes for mini pans). If you have an instant-read thermometer , it should register about 200ºF. Let the loaves cool completely in their pans, then turn out onto a rack. Do not wrap until completely cool.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Quick Bread
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

Description

Adapted from this Giada De Laurentis recipe , this version calls for oil in place of butter, and the whole thing is made in one bowl.

This cake keeps well for days—tuck it in an airtight bag or container. It makes a beautiful gift—wrap it in parchment paper and tie it with baker’s twine.

Loaf Pans: I love this 9×5-inch USA Loaf Pan. Around the holidays, I often use three mini loaf pans, because this is a great cake for gifting.

Also: I can’t say enough about this reasonably priced instant-read thermometer for testing cakes. For this cake, if it registers above 200ºF, it’s done. Most recently, this cake took more like an hour and ten minutes to bake, but without my instant-read thermometer, I likely would have removed it from the oven too soon.

• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups ( 364 g ) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup ( 164 g ) oil, anything from extra-virgin olive oil to grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons ( 26 g ) orange-flavored liqueur such as Grand Marnier
• 1 1/2 cups ( 300 g ) granulated sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon ( 6 g ) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or half as much by volume Morton kosher salt or fine sea salt)
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 1/2 (11 g) teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups ( 192 g ) all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease one 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper for easy removal, optional. Alternatively, grease three mini loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and ricotta till blended. Add the oil and liqueur and whisk until blended. Add the sugar, salt, and zest, and whisk again to combine. Add the baking powder and whisk again to incorporate. Add the flour and use a spatula to incorporate until it is no longer visible.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 50 to 60 minutes (or longer; about 35 minutes for mini pans). If you have an instant-read thermometer , it should register about 200ºF. Let the loaves cool completely in their pans, then turn out onto a rack. Do not wrap until completely cool.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Quick Bread
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2018/12/19/one-bowl-orange-ricotta-pound-cake/

Down to the wire, Friends. Fortunately, there’s still time to give the gift of something homemade.

Cookies, truffles, fudge—you can never have too many sweet treats around this time of year. BUT! I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t rejoice over receiving a homemade savory gift. This weekend, I’m making a trip to Asian Supermarket in Albany to stock up on cumin, coriander, and sesame seeds, which I’ll toast upon returning home, season with a little salt, sugar and crushed red pepper flakes, then divvy into jars to give as gifts. Dukkah! It was my favorite discovery of 2017, and I continue to find new ways to use it — avocado toast namely (so good!) — and I love nothing more than introducing others to this addictive, smoky, spice blend.

Friends, do you make savory gifts? I’d love to know your go-to homemade savory gift.

PS: 25 Homemade Gifts To Make Today (This list includes sweet treats such as Chocolate-Studded Panettone , Vanilla-Almond Biscotti , Brown Butter Blondies with Sea Salt and more.)

15 Ideas for Savory Homemade Gifts:

1. $0.54 Loaf of Peasant Bread : No baked good is friendlier on the wallet than a loaf of bread. Yes, making bread takes time, but most of the time is hands off. Last year, I priced out the cost of 1 loaf of peasant bread and estimated it to be, at the most, 54 cents. Fifty. Four. Cents. And yet to the receiver, a loaf of homemade bread may as well be gold.

2. Three seed crackers : These are surprisingly simple to make, and one recipe yields many, many crackers—perfect for divvying up into jars and passing along to friends and family.

Don’t they look pretty on a cheese board?

3. Sweet and Salty Candied Pepitas : These three-ingredient candied pepitas, also pictured on the cheese board above, are addictive and very simple and fast to make. They are so nice to have on hand to sprinkle into salads or to nibble on before or after dinner with cheese.

4. Salsa di Parmigiano : An old Michael Chiarello recipe, this salsa comes together very quickly in the food processor and is incredibly delicious. It’s good on bread but also delicious tossed with pasta or spooned over roasted vegetables.

5. Harissa : Do you have a friend who loves Moroccan food? A jar of harissa, a brilliantly hued, fiery condiment, carrying the flavors of smoky, toasted cumin and coriander, would make a perfect gift. Send your loved one on a Moroccan-cooking-at-home journey.

6. While the spirit moves you, you may as well whip up a batch of preserved lemons . They won’t be ready in time for Christmas, but you’ll jumpstart the process for that friend who has never found time to make his/her own. You can include instructions for finishing the process.

7. And you may also consider making a batch of skhug , which in essence is a green harissa. Skhug is easier to make than harissa, because there are no peppers to roast or onions to sauté — everything goes into the food processor uncooked. I love spooning it over roasted cauliflower with lemony yogurt sauce.

8. Dukkah (My favorite!), an Egyptian spice blend, can be made in countless ways, but typically it contains toasted seeds such as cumin, coriander, and sesame as well as a mix of nuts. I first tasted an untraditional preparation made without nuts , which I loved, but I recently made a batch with toasted almonds , which I also loved. Here’s how you use it: serve it as an appetizer with olive oil and bread; garnish any number of soups with it (—it complements the family of squash soups particularly well); sprinkle if over avocado toast (the best!). If you make the peasant bread, you can also coat the inside of your buttered Pyrex bowls with dukkah , plop your dough over top, and bake the loaves as usual, which will leave you with two beautiful dukkah-coated loaves of bread.

9. A big jar of muesli or coconut oil granola . These two cereals are staples in our house. A jar of either would make a great gift. Coconut Oil Granola

10. Limoncello : So festive this time of year. This is the recipe of Antonietta Fazzone, the Italian mother of a friend of my husband, who also taught us how to make wine, prosciutto, and soppressata, to name a few. She’s the best. I like to drink limoncello with a little cream on top.

12. Homemade Salad Dressing . Who wouldn’t love, this time of year especially, to receive a jar of homemade salad dressing? Make a batch of this Large Batch Shallot Vinaigrette , divide it among a few small jam jars, tie a ribbon around it, and wish your friends, “Happy Salading!”

13. A big batch of Soup . As with the dressing above, who, especially this time of year, doesn’t need a quart of soup stashed in the fridge or freezer, ready to be heated up for an easy dinner or lunch? This lentil soup is still one of my absolute favorites. The recipe multiplies very well. The soup is always well received. It’s vegan, one pot, and completely delicious. More soups here.

You have a stash of these quart containers on hand, right? They make gifting soup so easy.

14. Homemade Quince Paste (Membrillo) . If you can get your hands on some quince, this is a really fun one, though it does take some time (though much of the time is hands off). Gift your homemade quince paste with a wedge of Zamorano, Idiazabal, Roncal or Manchego (readily available nearly everywhere).

15. Rhubarb Schnapps : Should you be so lucky to find some rhubarb this time of year, you could give the gift of future cheer. This schnapps recipe calls for soaking cut rhubarb in vodka in sugar for 3 to 4 weeks. No rhubarb? You could gift the bottles + vodka + sugar with the recipe—something to look forward to next spring?