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 Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (70 grams) whole almonds (or 70 grams almond flour/meal)
• 3 tablespoons (25 grams) all-purpose flour
• 6 ounces (170 grams) bittersweet 70% chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup (110 grams) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 Medium bright-skinned orange, preferably organic and unsprayed
• ¾ cup (150 grams) sugar, divided
• 4 large eggs, evenly separated at about room temperature
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• A small amount of flakey sea salt such as fleur de sel
• Olive Oil, for flavoring and small amounts of drizzling

SERVES: 12

Directions: 

1. First, preheat oven to approximately 375°F. Grease only the bottom of an 8x3 inch spring form or pan with a removable bottom.
2. If you will be using whole almonds, we suggest that you pulse them in a food processor with the all-purpose flour until the almonds are finely ground. If that’s not the case, simply whisk the almond flour and all-purpose flour together and set them aside.
3. Next, put the chocolate, Olive Oil, and salt in a big stainless steel bowl in a wide skillet of almost simmering water. Stir continuously until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Now, remove the bowl from the skillet and gently stir until the chocolate is thoroughly melted and smooth. With a fine microplane zester, grate a small amount over half of the orange skin directly into the bowl. (Reserve the orange for topping the cake). Follow that by whisking the egg yolks and 1/2 cup (100 grams) of the sugar. Then set aside.
4. In a pure clean dry bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar at an average speed until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Slowly sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat at high speed (or medium-high speed in a heavy-duty mixer) until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Use a big rubber spatula to fold one quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Scrape the remaining egg whites into the bowl and pour the almond mixture on top. Fold—just until the egg whites and almonds are evenly incorporated into the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and level the top. Try to bake until the toothpick inserted in the middle of the torte comes out with moist crumbs, (on average about 25 to 30 minutes). Set the pan on a rack to help cool it down.
5. To easily serve, slide a slim knife around the inside of the pan to give the cake some slack. Remove the pan sides and transfer the cake to a platter. Sprinkle the top of the torte with a tiny amount of flakey salt—pinching the salt to crush the largest pieces if necessary—and top with some fine threads of orange zest created with a 5-hole zester and the skin remaining on the orange. For an extra flare to the torte, serve each slice with a little drizzle of Olive Oil.

 Ingredients

• 2/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• 4-6 slices of Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Crust

Try and double up the recipe if upper crust is desired. Now, place Olive Oil in the freezer until it thickens to the consistency of honey (approx. 2-3 hours). Next, mix dry ingredients. In food processor, add dry ingredients, Olive Oil, ice water and Balsamic Vinegar.

Pound and pulse until ball of dough is created. Wrap ball in plastic wrap and let it relax and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 450. Roll ball out until 1/8 inch thick and put into a pie plate.

Brown pie crust in oven for 12 minutes. Remove crust from oven. Let cool and line crust with cheese. 

Filling 

• 5-6 cups sliced apples
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 2 1/2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Combine dry ingredients and sieve over apples. Stir apples mildy until they are well-layered. Next, place apple mixture in layers in the pie shell. Dot them with Olive Oil. Cover pie with upper crust. Prick the upper crust to give the air an opportunity to vent as the pie bakes. 

Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 450 then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 45-60 minutes, until completed. Lightly sprinkle the crust with a mixture of 1 Tbsp cinnamon and 1 Tbsp white sugar to taste just as it's coming out of the oven.

First and foremost, when dealing with Olive Oil and weight control, it is essential to remember that, for all the health benefits Olive Oil contains, it must be consumed in small amounts as it is high in calories (about 120 calories per tablespoon).

More Is Not Always Better When It Comes To Olive Oil

It might seem counter-intuitive to learn that including fat in your diet can actually help you lose weight. According to a September 2003 research report in the British Journal of Medicine, altering Olive Oil for other saturated fats in your diet can help you lose weight.

Moreover, the study included eight overweight men between the ages of 24-49 years and displayed a thorough and clear correlation between the use of Olive Oil in a healthy diet and a reduction in body weight and fat mass.

The remarkable aspect of this study is that the only variable was the substitution of Olive Oil for saturated fats.

The eight men were broken into two groups and for four weeks ate comparable foods with the exception that the first group ate more saturated than unsaturated fats. The first group followed a saturated fat-rich diet based on 24% calories from saturated fat, 13% from monounsaturated fat, and 3% from polyunsaturated fat. 

The second group’s diet was revised to include 22% monounsaturated fats, 7% polyunsaturated fats and 11% saturated fats. The second group consumed the same number of calories as the first group, and there was no increase in physical activity in either group.

At nearly the end of four weeks, the men from the second group were lighter and had a lower body-fat index than the men who ate the saturated fats.

There has also been published research reported by the American Diabetes Association in Diabetes Care which specifies that Olive Oil may be beneficial to reducing belly fat and insulin sensitivity.

In conclusion, when researchers fed type 2 diabetic patients different diets - a high carbohydrate diet, or a diet rich in either saturated fat or Olive Oil (Mediterranean diet) - the high carb diet increased abdominal fat compared to the fat-rich diets.

Of the three diets, the diet rich in Olive Oil did best, preventing not only belly fat accumulation, but insulin resistance and a drop in adiponectin.