I have a confession to make. There is a friend I talk to on the phone sometimes; and we have, well, the culinary equivalent of phone sex. Dreamily we talk about something we ate, or a recipe we made recently, or a recipe we made once then lost and still dream about, or a dish we'll make one day... and all the while we are on the phone we look stuff up on the internet, or run to our own cookbook collections, then we send things to each other online...this sometimes goes late into the night!
It happened again last night. My friend asked me if I'd ever made an olive oil cake. An olive oil cake? To be honest, I avoid making even the normal cakes because I don't much like them. The texture is either too rubbery or insubstantial, the frosting cloying, and there is often a chemical aftertaste from the leavening. Even if I did like them, quite frankly, I haven't the gift for making them. (I've always claimed I didn't do fluff.) So an olive oil cake sounded like all the trouble of a normal cake with even more horrible results. I didn't think this conversation was going to go anywhere.
She said that she made one once that was sublime and hasn't found the right recipe since. "Too heavy and gummy," she said. I was beginning to become intrigued. I went online as she described a good olive oil cake compared to a bad one. "It needs to have some tang," she said. "And it should be light, which balances with the robust taste of the olive oil...and it must be extra-virgin olive oil--not of that light stuff!"
Hmmmm, I thought. This sounds so bad, it just might be good!
I found a recipe that seemed to fit that description from Gourmet Magazine. It had no other liquid other than the olive oil and a little lemon juice, a ton of eggs, and most intriguing, no chemical leavening. It's lightness relied solely on whipped egg whites (and a little finesse). I tried it today (being stuck inside again on this snowy day) and was amazed. I ate it warm, right out of the oven with a hot cup of tea. It had an exquisitely light and pleasing crumb without the rubbery foaminess of chemical leavening, the richness of good olive oil brightened with lemon, and just enough sweetness to make it a treat. It couldn't have been more perfect on this cold snow-bound day.
Thanks, Linda--and I thought I couldn't do fluff!
Lemon Olive-Oil Cake
(Gourmet Magazine, April 2009)
(My comments are in italics.)
3/4 cup olive oil (extra-virgin if desired), plus additional for greasing pan
1 large lemon
1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
5 large eggs, separated, reserving 1 white for another use
3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Special equipment: a 9-inch (24-cm) springform pan; parchment paper. (I used small cake rings on a parchment-lined pan, which made such lovely muffin-sized tea cakes.)
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease springform pan with some oil, then line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Oil parchment.
Finely grate enough lemon zest to measure 1 1/2 teaspoons and whisk together with flour. Halve lemon, then squeeze and reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.
Beat together yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add olive oil (3/4 cup) and reserved lemon juice, beating until just combined (mixture may appear separated). Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture (do not beat) until just combined.
Beat egg whites (from 4 eggs) with 1/2 teaspoon salt in another large bowl with cleaned beaters at medium-high speed until foamy, then add 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating, and continue to beat until egg whites just hold soft peaks, about 3 minutes.
Gently fold one third of whites into yolk mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
(I prefer to do all the mixing by hand, using a copper bowl for the egg whites. Good quality eggs means everything here.)
Transfer batter to springform pan and gently rap against work surface once or twice to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle top evenly with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. (Coarse sugar crystals work very well here, giving the cake crunch and sparkle.) Bake until puffed and golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around edge of pan and remove side of pan. Cool cake to room temperature, about 1 1/4 hours. (Forget that! Let it cool for just a few minutes and serve the cake warm!) Remove bottom of pan and peel off parchment, then transfer cake to a serving plate.
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