On Christmas Day the McCluskey family holds an Italian Feast. This extravaganza is never lacking in food or alcohol. The amount of food we have could probably feed a small army! Consisting of appetizers, a buffet of Italian food, and of course plenty of dessert.
Sam and Ash diggin in!
Most of this feast is prepared by my aunt Kathy’s boyfriend, whom we like to call Chef Jeff. This year my cousin Dan made an appearance as Sou Chef, and lets just say he rocked it!
Dan, Jeff and Dad
These kitchen savvy men slaved over a hot stove preparing stuffed shells, sausage, meatballs, the famous sauce, along with many MANY other delicious plates. Dessert was left to the ladies, my cousin Pam always makes an amazing ice cream cake, my aunt Tracy brings here cookie plate (which is my favorite), there is the tradition of the green Jell-O mold made by aunt Elaine, and my mother makes buttermilk pie. Of course I made something too!! This year I decided to make Olive Oil Cake served with Orange Mascarpone. 
This dessert is served at Maialino, a restaurant where I currently work. I chose to change up the topping a little. Instead of using vanilla Mascarpone I made whipped Orange Mascarpone. This cake was so easy to make and was a hit! One great thing about it, aside from tasting amazing is that it’s made without butter!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.
Olive Oil Cake: Making the cake is super easy. Just put all the wet ingredients in one bowl and all the dry in another. Whisk together and bake at 325 degrees until golden brown. Feel free to use a skewer to test!
2c all-purpose flour
1 3/4c sugar
1 1/2t kosher salt
1/2t baking soda
1/2t baking powder
1 1/3c extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4c whole milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2T grated orange zest
1/4c grand marnier
Orange Mascarpone: I didn’t really measure it when I did it. Just make sure it’s equal parts heavy cream and Mascarpone. Then add powdered sugar, zest and vanilla to your liking. All you do is whip it until it has light fluffy peaks.
200g heavy cream
200g Mascarpone cheese
1t vanilla extract
100g powdered sugar
orange zest (to taste)
