If your family is anything like mine, it’s rare to have a Saturday night when we’re off the hook—weekends are always busy. But not long ago we found ourselves with an open Saturday night. Husband Foodie and I mentally prepared to collapse around a bunch of take-out boxes over the din of six teen-aged boys rallying around pizza and their favorite video game.
So when our neighboring friends invited us over for an impromptu dinner, we were thrilled to be able to escape for a while. We offered to bring a dessert, though I apologetically explained it would have to be from a bakery since there was no time to make dessert.
Wait just a minute… have I not written numerous Farm Foodie’s touting some fabulous treat that could be whipped up in no time? Isn’t that why I bought that beautiful cherry red stand mixer? In my recipe stack I soon stumbled on the perfect thing: a citrus, almond and olive oil cake that is easy and has always received raves, except I wanted something with a little chocolate and I knew my friends would too.
Citrus and chocolate would be great together, and as I scanned the recipe I was pretty sure it could hold up to the addition of chocolate. There were Cara Cara oranges and Meyer lemons in the fridge and an 80% cacao Madagascar chocolate bar in the cupboard. The cake went together every bit as easily as I had remembered and while it wasn’t fancy, I was happy to be taking something to our dinner in an old cake pan instead of a new bakery box.
