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| Heaven comes with views of rolling vineyards and a welcome glass of Prosecco |
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| Tuscan antipasti - followed by home-made gnocchi with truffled duck |
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| Breakfast of champions. Only thing missing from the photo? The homemade mozzarella they served us as well |
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| 3 litres of some kick-ass olive oil |
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| Olive oil, yogurt, lime and eggs |
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| Simple, super tasty, and (shock!) - HEALTHY! |
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| This cake is sticking the bird up to butter |
I truly believe everyone has a spot (or maybe even two) where they feel completely and utterly at peace...their own personal little 'heaven on earth.' Mine, very scientifically, can be found at Latitude: 42.9982, Longitude: 11.00000 (very useful information when you've no clue where you are going in your rented Citroen).
Also, known as the Conti di San Bonifacio Wine Resort, in a leap of utter spontaneity I booked a flight (air miles) to Pisa and 2 nights at the resort at 10:30 p.m a few Monday nights ago. Flight departure? 9:05 am the next day. That gave me approximately 7 hours to pack/ prep/ sleep. That pre-holiday grooming we all get up to? Yeah, that didn't happen until I got to Italy.
Landing in Pisa, AK and I picked up our car and drove south along the coast, heading in the direction of Rome to a wee place called Ribolla (side note: at one of our many points of being lost we were able to recall where we were located by remembering that our 'town' rhymed with Ebola - nice, right)?
While on a superficial level there didn't appear to be anything particularly extraordinary about the southern tuscany region of Maremma (rolling hills, vineyards, etc.), all I knew was how it made me feel - absolutely wonderful. Tranquil surroundings, stunning scenery, perfect weather, and an amazing place to stay, swim, drink and eat.
During the day, when we weren't by the sea, napping in the sun, or swimming in the pool overlooking the vineyards, we did some winery exploration. In addition to the bottles of wine I smuggled back in my suitcase, AK and I also managed to find the most delicious olive oil (made and sold at one of the vineyards). Only available in 3 or 10 litres, I knew this bad boy needed to come home with me - I was seriously tempted to ask the woman working there to turn her back so I could neck the sample bottle she'd taken out for us to try. So full of flavour and with both a spicy and fruity edge, I was already brainstorming how I might be able to incorporate the olive oil into some baking.
What resulted from a bit of a think and a chat with Mama Cupcakes was the Lime, Olive Oil, Yogurt cake in the above photos. Is it the most amazing cake I've ever made? nah, but it's not really meant to be. Like my visit, the cake is simple and straightforward, the flavours are interesting and compliment each other extrememly well....and like I've mentioned, in terms of desserts / cakes etc...except for my addition of a wee bit of toasted coconut on top, it's pretty dang healthy too. Which perhaps allows me to justify eating nearly half of it in nearly 24 hours? Hmmm...
1. Mix together: 1/3 cup good olive oil, 3/4 cup greek yogurt (I used 2% fat), juice and peel of two limes, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs
2. Sift 1 and 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and add to 'wet' ingredients
3. Bake at 180 C for about 35 minutes or until lightly browned on top (I used a spring form pan, greased with a little olive oil) but imagine a loaf / muffin tin could work as well...just check on the timing
4. Once out of the oven I mixed a little confectionary sugar with a bit more lime juice and brushed the glaze on top
5. (Optional) I toasted some coconut and covered the top of the cake - a nice little addition
