Cilantro Cake with Blackberry Ginger Glaze

It's actually quite easy being green, let me show you.

There are many reasons why I bake. I bake to mark special occasions, to celebrate and care for those close to me. I bake to unravel my thoughts when i’m feeling stressed, to open a small pocket of order in an otherwise unruly world. I bake to earn a living and I also bake as a purely creative outlet - sometimes simply because I have an idea and I want to see it exist. I call this silly baking. Today’s recipe is very much a silly bake.

I once worked in a kinda-fine dining restaurant where I was exposed to a lot of techniques not seen in the average home kitchen or bakery. Sous vide machines would fly left and right, dehydrators were humming away upstairs 24/7, and if something sat idle long enough it risked being vacuum sealed in a 2% salt solution to pickle away in the darkness of dry storage. As the person hired to focus on pastries, I rarely paid much attention to the machismo fueled wizardry happening around me.

This was until I saw someone make parsley oil. I watched as the chef quickly blanched fresh parsley in a pot of boiling water then submerge the vibrantly green herbs in ice water to “lock in” this color. After spinning the parsley in a salad spinner to thoroughly dry, the chef placed it in a blender with some neutral oil and blended until the oil was an electric shade of green and completely smooth. I was entranced. I had never seen herbs used that way.

I watched as the chef used this oil to garnish a plate of seared pork loin and I immediately started thinking of how I could incorporate this new magic into a future pastry. At home, I tested out an olive oil cake recipe using the parsley oil and was so delighted by the results. Even though the outside of the cake had slightly browned during baking as to be expected, the inside was a beautiful shade of rich green and every bite had subtle grassy note. I kept returning to the recipe to see how much herbs I could safely pack into the cake.

All of this herby cake experimentation led to developing a few recipes that borrowed the technique I first witnessed at work. For King Arthur, I made a Green Goddess drop biscuit recipe that paid homage to the famous salad dressing in flavor and appearance. And for Pereg, I created a savory quick bread inspired by falafel with a crispy chickpea topping. If I were still a traditional artist, I think I would look back on this time as my “green period” haha.

I still get ideas about what other pastries or breads could be transformed with this technique, Cilantro Cake will for sure not be the last silly bake you get from me. ;)

A few notes…

• Even though some people have an aversion to cilantro in savory dishes, in cake form the cilantro is more subtle and milder than parsley. I do recommend trying parsley if you like that flavor better or even creating a blend of the two! Tarragon or mint are lovely as well.

• I give a range for how much cilantro to use so that you can match your tastes. I wouldn’t go less than the smallest amount or else you won’t really taste much of the herb and I wouldn’t go over the higher amount because the additional water content could throw the recipe off. (cilantro is 92% water!)

• I discovered at one point that the step of blanching the herbs wasn’t really necessary to achieve a delicious and vibrant cake. The oil and buttermilk could both be blended with the parsley as is, saving a little time and making the recipe easier.

• The crystallized ginger adds little zaps of flavor hidden in the cake. I’m a huge ginger fan but you can leave this out. The ginger in the glaze provides a subtle heat that lingers after every bite. Buy fresh plump ginger for this!

Cilantro Cake with Blackberry Ginger Glaze

Makes one 8 inch round cake