Without a doubt, Cabo has been emerging as a culinary capital in the world, and the recent pop-up created by Chef Dominique Crenn solidifies its status! For six nights, Crenn served her remarkable culinary delights to over 120 foodies that got the chance to visit Casa Crenn hosted in Montage Los Cabos.

Crenn’s Amazing Culinary Career

Dominique Crenn is currently the only US-based female chef to hold three Michelin stars. Her world-renowned restaurant, Atelier Crenn, has been serving high-quality culinary delights to San Francisco since 2011. Crenn is renowned for her innovative and unique dishes and is an avid advocate for sustainable food practices. To kick off the 10-year anniversary of Atelier Crenn, this inspiring chef partnered up with Montage Los Cabos to create a six-day exclusive experience in Cabo that was Casa Crenn, and it was an absolute hit.

A Successful Pop-Up in Cabo

The idea of the collaboration started during Crenn’s visit to her friend in Cabo, Xavier Salomon, the executive chef of Montage Los Cabos, in 2019. The event was conceptualized as a celebration of Atelier Crenn’s 10-year anniversary as well as an homage to Juan Contreras, Crenn’s long-time pastry chef. Dominique Crenn and her culinary team moved into Casa Twin Dolphin, a luxury vacation home of Montage Los Cabos. This is the setting in which they prepared and served 10 courses of Atelier Crenn favorites for six days. Crenn used only fresh, Mexican-sourced ingredients and worked in collaboration with chef Xavier’s team.

Carefully Sourcing Ingredients

While chef Crenn executes every plate that leaves her kitchen with unparalleled precision, her signature approach to cuisine is the fact that she doesn’t serve any meat. Since 2018, Atelier Crenn serves exclusively pescatarian food and its sister restaurant Petit Crenn also has a meat-free menu. Crenn sources all her ingredients carefully and works directly with fishermen to receive the freshest ingredients. She uses local purveyors rather than sourcing ingredients from big businesses.

If you’re longing for summer to be back already and wish to stir up something fresh and light that won’t take up hours of your time, don’t fret – it is possible! All it takes is a couple of ingredients and an hour to have things mixed and baked, so you can have a moist, deliciously sweet and zesty lemon poppy seed cake. How to make it? Read on!

What You Will Need

For the Cake:

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 and ¼ cups all-purpose or white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the Glaze:

• 1 blood orange
• 1 regular-sized lemon
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ¾ cup powdered sugar (you may need more if the batter needs it)

How to Make the Lemon Cake

For the Cake:

1. Line a 9×5 (or slightly bigger) inch bread pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Take a large bowl and mix the lemon zest and juice with the honey, eggs, vanilla, yogurt, and olive oil until you have a smooth and creamy base. Then, add the almond and regular flour along with the baking powder and salt. Put the poppy seeds in the end.
3. Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes.

For the Glaze:

1. Using a peeler, remove the remaining zest from the blood orange and the lemon. 
2. In a smaller bowl, mix the lemon juice and honey together. When the cake is baked, drizzle half of that glaze over the cake while it is still warm. Then, add the remaining ingredients of the glaze in the bowl and mix them well. 
3. Pour the glaze evenly over the cake and let it sit for 10 minutes before you slice the first piece. You can add other decorations as you see fit. Enjoy!