Olive oil may be a staple in Italian cooking, but baking with olive oil has become popular in recent years.
Sicilian grandmothers are likely shaking their heads. After all, Mediterranean people have long used olive oil as a fat for sweet and savory recipes. It's been used to prepare food since at least the 4th century B.C.
Baking with olive oil adds moisture and can heighten the flavor of baked goods. It's also better for your heart, says the American Heart Association, which recommends choosing healthier fats like olive oil over saturated fats like butter to lower your cardiovascular risk.
Blogger Stephanie Mormina is a baking-with-olive-oil believer. I recently stumbled on her lovely Sicilian citrus olive oil cake recipe, and I just had to learn more.
Stephanie's father hails from the town of Cattolica Eraclea in the Province of Agrigento. Being half Sicilian has influenced her love for citrus fruits, which she says pair nicely with olive oil when baking.
We chatted about her lovely cake recipe, its inspiration, and how baking with olive oil affects texture and taste.
What inspired your Sicilian citrus olive oil cake?
It's actually a combination of different recipes I found online. I was attracted to it because you can add whatever citrus you want. I like to add a combination of orange and lemon. And then, in my zest, I'll sometimes put in a little bit of lime because lime has a different flavor. It takes you in a different direction. And it looks pretty in the glaze when you have a little fleck of green along with the orange and the yellow. The great thing about any olive oil cake is that not only does olive oil go extremely well with citrus, but it's also a cake that remains moist for a very long time.
Why is olive oil used in some Sicilian baking?
They had many olive groves there and just used what they had. They weren't using much animal fat, at least in my dad's family, because they ate vegetables most of the time. They were eating more peasant food. So it was lots of vegetables, olive oil, whatever was available.
How does olive oil affect texture and moisture?
It is a little more dense, but in a pleasant way. It is more moist and less crumbly than a butter cake or a cake. And it holds the moisture for days. It'll be fresh for much longer than a traditional cake.
How does olive oil affect the taste compared to vegetable or canola oil?
Canola keeps things neutral. But in a cake with citrus, you don't mind a little bit of flavor, but you still need to be careful what olive oil you choose.
I like to choose one with a milder flavor. I don't choose the ones that are very full-bodied, thick, and peppery. I stay away from those, even for texture, because if your olive oil is too thick and heavy, it will bring down the cake. Olive oil cakes are already a little flatter, in my experience.
I use Tunisian olive oil. It's not Italian olive oil, but it is the best because it has the olive oil flavor without being overpowering or too heavy.
What do you hope at-home bakers will take away from your recipe?
I want them to appreciate the flavor of the olive oil in conjunction with the other ingredients, especially citrus. I have to say that the flavor combination is just perfect. Again, one of the benefits of having that moisture is that it has a prolonged shelf life.
I know that it's not really used in traditional baking. It's more of a European thing, and I hope people start using it more in baking.
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