Gifts from the Groves: Our 1st Annual Olive Oil Cupcake Bake-off

Photo By Serge Bertasius Photography, Free Digital Photos

Do you love cupcakes? Do you love olive oil? Well, how about an olive oil cupcake?!? 

We're inviting home bakers to compete in GIFTS FROM THE GROVES, our olive oil cupcake bake off! Chef Wendy Brodie and our Recipe Blog Editor Anni Brabeck Willford will be judging. Guests of the festival will taste how you can create delicious desserts with California Olive Oil!

Read our rules below.

To Enter: email us at quailandolive@gmail.com 

GIFTS FROM THE GROVES

OLIVE OIL CUPCAKE BAKEOFF RULES AND INFORMATION

The 2014 Carmel Valley Olive Growers Fest Bakeoff will be held Saturday, November 8, 2014 at The Quail and Olive, 3 Pilot Road in Carmel Valley, CA. Here are the contest rules and basic information. The theme of the 2014 bakeoff is "Gifts from the Groves".

To enter, please email The Quail & Olive at quailandolive@gmail.com. We are limiting to ten contestants; first come, first served.

Entries should be delivered between 2pm and 3pm on Saturday, November 8.

Judging begins at 4 pm.

Awards ceremony 4:30 pm.

Criteria for judging: General appearance, moisture, texture, flavor and creativity with the bake-off theme.

CONTEST RULES

No professional bakers, please.

Each contestant may enter only one recipe.

All entries must be made with California olive oils.

All cupcakes must be fully baked and complete.

Cupcakes are to be prepared in a sanitary manner.

Please enter one dozen cupcakes.

No commercial or box mixes may be used.

All entries must be placed on a paper plate enclosed in a Ziploc bag or covering.

You may use your own dish, with name on the bottom, and at your own risk.

Any leftover items will be the property of the contest and will be used for the tasting activity.

Each entry should be marked with a name of your cupcakes when you register on the day of the contest (for example, Lemon Olive Oil Cupcake).

Entries must be accompanied by the recipe used to bake it.  Judges will use the recipe as part of their information for judging.

Also with your permission, the recipes will be collected for distribution to the public. If you choose not to give this permission, please indicate on your entry and understand it will not affect whether your entry will win a prize.

Blood Orange EVOO Belgian Waffles

Hi everyone, this is Mary the Publicity Quail!

Recently, me and my boys were up in Big Sur for our annual summer camping trip. After roughing it on the river, we packed up and trekked to Carmel. We always start with breakfast at Little Swiss Cafe, where we find Puss & Boots in the mural and enjoy those crispy sweet Belgian waffles.

Last Sunday back at home in Newport Beach, we were craving those waffles. So I dusted off my waffle maker and decided to do something special with The Quail & Olive Blood Orange Olive Oil.

These waffles were delicious! While mixing the batter, I could immediately smell the bright citrus. While the waffles cooked, the boys called out that it smelled great! The first bite was light, crispy and delicately sweet. I added a drizzle of the blood orange olive oil and this instantly became a recipe I'll be using again.

Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs separated
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup Quail & Olive Blood Orange Olive Oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. In another bowl, lightly beat egg yolks. Add milk, butter, olive oil and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until combined. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions until golden brown. Drizzle with Quail & Olive Blood Orange Olive Oil. Warm maple syrup is also recommended!

Leccino EVOO and Blackberry Red Pepper Balsamic Taco Meat

My daughters LOVE taco night! I have to admit I do too, tacos are so easy and taste so good! The Blackberry Roasted Pepper Balsamic goes wonderfully with this recipe. I love the red pepper undertones as well as the sweet kick you get from the Blackberry. We had absolutely NO leftovers after this meal. If you do not want to serve this with tortillas, make a crunchy green salad and serve the ground meat on top, it is delicious!

Update: Our extra virgin olive oils are seasonal and we rotate our fustis based on availability and quality. We recommend Bobcat Ridge in place of Leccino EVOO.

Leccino EVOO Blackberry Red Pepper Balsamic Taco Meat


1 lb ground meat, or turkey
2 tablespoons Leccino EVOO
2 tablespoons Blackberry Roasted Pepper Balsamic
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons chili powder


Heat saute pan on medium. Add Leccino EVOO to pan along with meat. Add chili powder, salt and pepper, and Blackberry Red Pepper Balsamic. Cook meat until done. I had to add a little more Blackberry Red Pepper to this to make it a bit sweeter, just add a little at a time and taste to see if it is the right sweetness. For a bit spicier version, try adding Jalapeno EVOO over top!