Baking with Olive Oil
Picking olives in Andalucia.
Chengdu, China May 15, 2014 In the 90s, I was one of several dozen food writers whom the International Olive Oil Council, based in Madrid, treated once or twice a year to marvelous tours of the olive producing regions of the Mediterranean – from North Africa up the Atlantic coast of Portugal and into Spain and Italy and France, Greece, and the Middle East. We visited groves and mills, stayed in some amazing pousadas in Portugal and masserie in Italy, and dined in a Greek convent, Michelin-starred temples of gastronomy, famous wineries, and in barns and mills throughout the region. We attended conferences, some of them co-sponsored by Oldways and tasted traditional regional fare wherever we were. The idea was that, as food writers, we would spread the word about olive oil. Prior to these elaborate press junkets, where we learned about every phase of olive oil production, from seed to table, olive oil was, to most of the world, just another necessary ingredient that added regional authenticity to Mediterranean recipes. (Photo of me at left by Paula Wolfert.)
Of course Italians and Spaniards and people from North Africa, Greece, southern France, Portugal, and the Middle East, as well as their descendants, many of whom had opened restaurants throughout the world, well knew that necessity. I remember Greek friends in Charleston, South Carolina, who would go to visit family in the “Old Country” and return with cases of oil, primarily from family groves. But many of us outside the major metropolitan areas simply didn’t have access to the fresh, minimally processed oils that now abound throughout the world. I’m pretty sure that these tours – as costly as they were to produce – paid off. Here in China, even the supermarkets that normally do not stock other imported foods are filled with shelf after shelf of extra virgin olive oils. 
Last year I was visiting my in-laws who live on a farm in the middle of nowhere in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. In the nearest town (2012 population was 1235), the local grocery store (I hestitate to call it a “supermarket.” See photo at left.) stocked some 2 dozen extra virgin oils! There were church women out front selling cakes, as you can see in my poor cell phone image. You can bet several of them are “chiffon cakes.” It’s a good thing I didn’t buy one: when I got home, there were already three cakes being offered for lunch (see photo): a nine-layer caramel cake, a seven-layer lemon cake, and an orange chiffon cake. 
If you Google “chiffon cakes,” you’ll find all sorts of information, including history, about them. Said to be the 1927 invention of a California insurance salesman named Henry Baker, the exceptionally light cakes were considered revolutionary because his formula called for beating the egg whites separately and using vegetable oil instead of butter. He even sold his recipe to General Mills, who aggressively promoted the light-textured cake. Magazines and newspapers wrote about it endlessly for twenty years until it became an American classic, particularly in the South, where lighter flour made the cakes even airier than the California original. Angel food cakes, using only the whites of eggs, are another American invention of the early twentieth century. (Take that, pâtissiers!) It seems that there may be some truth to the Baker story; the recipe is indeed a brilliant combination of angel food and sponge cake techniques, with oil replacing butter. What’s particularly wonderful about chiffon cakes is that they can take just about any sort of flavoring, from liqueurs and chocolate to citrus, as in this one at my mother-in-law’s house.
Of course people in the Mediterranean had been using olive oil in their cakes for no telling how long. The internet is also filled with the history of carrot cakes as well – another American favorite that uses oil in lieu of butter. But it, too, did not appear in its present form until fairly recently. I love the not-quite-as-sweet (and not-quite-as-light) orange- and lemon-flavored cakes of the Mediterranean. Many of them are made with olive oil. I have had them in Provence, throughout Italy, and in North Africa. A classic one is made with ground almonds; one of my favorites is made with cornmeal. (The recipe is basically the same as a typical southern skillet cornbread baked at a lower temperature, with sugar and citrus added.)
Desserts made with olive oil are all the rage now. Gelato is common, as are brownies and chocolate mousse. All sorts of claims are made about the better health benefits of olive oil sweets, but, honestly, I find most health claims sort of silly if refined flours and sugars are going in the cakes and cookies. I stick to my mantra: moderation in everything and, if you’re really concerned about your heart, your cholesterol, and your insulin, perhaps you should choose your grandparents! However, it is true that the vitamin E in olive oil acts as an emulsifier, helping produce a finer, smoother, tenderer crumb. More stable than butter, olive oil cakes stay fresher longer and taste lighter. Though I love butter, I also find that I can taste the other flavors more in sweets made with oil.
Always buy olive oils labelled as Extra Virgin. Further, you should try to buy single-source oils (estate bottled, like wine), which should indicate that the olives were crushed shortly after picking. Foremost, however, is the date the oil was processed and how it has been stored since the oil was pressed. I only buy oils that have harvest dates on them and that are sold in dark containers. If you see an oil sitting in the sun in the window of a “gourmet” shop, avoid both the oil and the shop. If you live in a large western city, you should be able to find a reliable seller of fine foods who is knowledgeable about oil. The better shops will let you taste their oils.
There are more varieties of olives than there are of wine grapes, but, unlike many wines, no olive oil improves with time. Heat and light are also its enemies. Though few oils are varietals, like many wines (that is, made from a single variety of olive), there are many regional styles of oils. For baking, you may want to look for some of the sweeter oils that include some of the more delicately flavored varieties such as Cellina de Nardò from Puglia, Taggiasca from Liguria, or Casaliva from Lake Garda. Fruitier varieties include the Sicilian Biancolilla, the Spanish Arbequina, and the Tunisian Chetoui. Everyone’s taste is different; I urge you to cultivate your own olive oil palate. As with wine, the only way to do so is by tasting, and by remembering the ones you like.
I developed the following recipe for the IOOC when they were assembling a cookbook of traditional American recipes that either already used olive oil as an ingredient or that were adapted to include it, like mine. The photo by Kelly Bugden, above, is from my book, Hoppin’ John’s Charleston, Beaufort & Savannah.
Sweet Potato Cake
This wonderful cake is made with olive oil instead of butter. It is light and moist and keeps well. Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you begin. If your mixer has only one bowl, beat the egg whites first, then turn them out into another bowl — preferably copper — while you continue with the dish. Use a 10-inch tube pan for this cake, but don’t grease it: you want the batter to cling to the sides and rise high. Non-stick pans with removable inserts work particularly well with this recipe.
I have found that sweet potatoes, because they keep so well, vary widely in how moist they are. If the top of your cake is browning and a wooden skewer poked deep into the cake does not come out clean, float a piece of aluminum foil on top of the cake and let it cook until it does.
1 cup fruity, extra virgin olive oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
½ cup hot water
2¼ cups soft southern flour or cake flour
1 large sweet potato, peeled and grated (2 1/2 to 3 cups)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the oil with the sugar until it is well mixed. Use the paddle attachment if your mixer has one. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. Slowly pour in the hot water and continue to beat until the mixture is light.
Sift ¼ cup of the flour over the sweet potato in a large bowl and toss so that it is lightly coated. This will keep the potato from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
Sift the remaining flour with the baking powder, soda, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix well, then mix in the vanilla and the sweet potatoes.
Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks, then fold them gently but thoroughly into the batter. Pour the batter into a 10-inch tube pan and bake for 1 hour, or until the cake is lightly browned and a long wooden skewer poked into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, invert the pan, and allow to cool completely.
Serves 12
Greek Cookies (from Hoppin’ John’s Charleston, Beaufort & Savannah)
The recipe for these irresistible cookies made with olive oil was adapted from Popular Greek Recipes, published by the Greek Ladies Philoptochos Society in Charleston in 1957. They have a delicate crumb and are not too sweet. Serve them with a glass of port. The dough can be refrigerated for several weeks in an air-tight plastic bag and baked at a later date.
1 orange
1 cup fruity, extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 1/2 to 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 cups water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350° and grease 2 baking sheets.
Grate the zest of the orange and set aside. Juice the orange, adding the juice to the zest.
Beat the oil and 1 cup of the sugar together well, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating constantly. Dissolve the baking soda in the orange juice and add to the creamed mixture. Add the baking powder, then enough of the flour to make a soft, manageable dough.
Take small pieces of dough, about the size of a walnut, and shape each into a ball. Place the balls on a cookie sheet, and flatten each one into a 2- to 3-inch cookie, 1/4- to 3/8-inch thick. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they just begin to blush with color.
While the cookies are baking, combine 1 cup of sugar with the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low to keep the syrup warm. Mix the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Place in a sugar shaker if you have one.
When the cookies are done, remove them from the baking sheet to cool. Place wire racks over a baking sheet and, as the cookies cool, use tongs to dip each cookie quickly into the syrup. Place on the racks and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Makes about 50 soft, delicate cookies