I discovered this cranberry walnut pound cake recipe a few months ago. It seemed like a perfect treat to enjoy over the holidays.
The creator of this dish, Lisa Sheldon, has written a cookbook devoted entirely to baking with extra virgin olive oil. It’s entitled, appropriately enough, Olive Oil Baking (Turner Publishing, 2007). I wrote about her delicious pumpkin bread recipe last June.
Like us, Sheldon is a big advocate of using olive oil instead of butter and the like in baking. “My experience over the past few years has been that baked goods traditionally made with shortening, margarine, and butter can almost always be made with olive oil instead, without sacrificing richness or flavor,” she writes in her book.
Sheldon has a masters degree in clinical nutrition. Her book features “heart-healthy recipes that increase good cholesterol and reduce saturated fat.”
We told Sheldon the other day we planned to feature her cranberry walnut pound cake this month. She immediately e-mailed back: “I just filed my newspaper column about (cooking with) cranberries.”
Cranberries also happen to be one of her favorite fruits. “I simply love the tartness and refreshing taste,” she wrote.
Sheldon said the cranberries in this recipe “add a touch of tartness to this wonderfully rich and aromatic cake.” She added the red specks of fruit add a “festive touch at the holidays.”
Sheldon also notes that cranberries freeze well. So it’s a good idea to buy an extra bag now while the fruit’s in season and throw it in the freezer for future use.
I can vouch for her suggestion. This cake – our version appears in the photograph above – turned out beautifully using cranberries we’d frozen after last year’s holidays.
Bon appétit,
Claude S. Weiller
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
California Olive Ranch
