Butter usually takes centre stage in baking. Think butter tarts, buttercream frosting and shortbread cookies.
But in warm-weather Mediterranean countries where olives grow, and where butter spoils quickly, sweets are more likely to be made with age-old olive oil. In Italy, bakers add olive oil to everything from biscotti to apple cakes. In Spain and Morocco, the zesty character of orange semolina cake is enhanced with fruity-flavoured olive oil. the tender, crumbly Greek cookies kourambiedes, too, are made with olive oil.
Indeed, ancient Greeks and Romans considered butter an “uncouth food fit only for northern barbarians,” writes Aliza Green, author of the baking bible Starting with Ingredients (Running Press), and who is also a big fan of baking with olive oil.
Effy Ligris is another olive oil devotee. In her sunny kitchen in Laval, Ligris makes all manner of cookies, cakes and muffins, even ice cream, with extra-virgin olive oil from her family’s olive grove in Kalamata, Greece.
“People here are stuck in the rut of putting olive oil only on a green salad. other than that, they seem confused about what to do with it,” Ligris said recently over coffee in Mile end. “But in Mediterranean countries, it’s used all the time.”
Ligris says olive oil is especially prevalent during Lent when Greeks trying to avoid meat and dairy products turn to olive oil in their recipes. and then at Easter, olive oil plays a starring role in the traditional cookies melomakarona, which are made with semolina flour, orange zest, sugar, cinnamon and brandy and dipped in honey and walnuts.
Ligris, whose company Kalikori imports olive oil into Canada, says she likes the distinct flavour and golden colour that extra virgin olive oil imparts to baked goods.
“The more intense the olive oil, the more flavour and fruitiness will come through in the dessert. I like that extra dimension it gives.”
For those worried about the cost of extra virgin or its assertive flavour, she recommends mellower, less expensive refined olive oil.
In some recipes, though, butter is irreplaceable, not just for its distinctive taste, but also for its leavening role.
When butter and sugar are creamed, or beaten, together, the batter becomes light and fluffy. As the cookbook author Green explains it, the tiny air bubbles in the solid fat (butter) are trapped and then expand in the heat of the oven, lifting the cookie or cake, helping it to rise. because oil is pure fat without air, it
doesn’t produce steam when baked, so the dough doesn’t get the kind of lift that gives cake and cookies that incomparable crumb that butter does.
But in some sweet baked goods, oil is actually a bonus.
“Oil will tenderize batter and help keep it moist,” says Montreal’s Marcy Goldman, cookbook author, master baker and host of www.Betterbaking.com.
So it is often used in fruity, dense quick breads and muffins that are leavened with baking powder and baking soda. the trick is keeping mixing to a minimum to prevent developing tough strands of gluten. Goldman likes olive oil in multigrain bran muffins and chocolate chunk muffins and in loafs with dates and raisins, for example.
She says olive oil is also handy when you are in a hurry and can’t wait for butter to come to room temperature.
“Let’s not knock butter. it tastes great and it’s healthy,” said Goldman, whose latest book the Baker’s four Seasons (Harper Studio) is being published next month. “But it’s not the only fat in a baker’s repertoire.”
Refined vegetable oils, especially canola, are the most-commonly used oils in baking. They are less expensive than butter or olive oil and neutral in taste.
But, increasingly, bakers are looking to olive oil to add extra colour and flavour to their recipes. the new York celebrity chef Mario Batali put olive oil’s sweet side on the map when he began serving olive oil cakes and gelatos at his restaurants and featuring the recipes in his cookbooks.
New York baker Nick Malgieri likes to use olive oil in pie crust dough to give it tender texture and excellent flavour. Olive oil dough, he says in the Modern Baker (DK Publishing), is more forgiving to the beginner baker. the oil won’t melt and become sticky and unmanageable, as butter will, if it takes longer than it should to roll out, he says.
There are health benefits, too. the monounsaturated fat and polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil play an important role in heart health. and, of course, olive oil doesn’t contain any of butter’s cholesterol.
The trick is to choose lighter-tasting late-harvest extra virgin olive oils or milder flavoured virgin olive oils for baking. the dominant taste of full-bodied extra virgin olive oils may interfere with subtly flavoured of cookies and cakes.
To substitute olive oil for butter in a recipe, the general rule is to use an amount equal to three-quarters the amount of butter called for in the recipe.
For example, a cup of butter would be replaced with 3/4 cup of olive oil. A half-cup measure of butter would be replaced with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil. (For a full conversion table see cookbook author Carol Firenze’s website www.thepassionateolive.com/tips/baking-olive-oil.html).
ssemenak@thegazette.canwest.com
Tender and Sweet Cookies and Cakes
Here are a few of our favourite sweets made with olive oil:
Olive Oil Chocolate Sun Cake
Here’s the recipe for one of Effy Ligris’s favourite cakes. of course, she loves the bold, distinctive flavour of her own full-bodied Kalikori oil in it.
Serves 10 to 12
1/2 cup (125 mL) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing the pan
1 cup (250 mL) all purpose unbleached flour
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 cup (125 mL) plain full fat yogourt
1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 C). Grease a 9-inch (2.5 L) springform with a little olive oil.
Using a rasp or the fine side of a grater, finely grate zest of the two oranges. cut oranges in half and squeeze them. Reserve 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the juice.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
In another bowl, on high speed, beat eggs, sugar and half the orange zest for a few minutes, until the batter is thick and yellow.
Reduce speed and add yogourt, vanilla, olive oil, orange juice and remaining orange zest. Mix until well incorporated. Reserve 1/2 cup of this batter and set aside.
Fold dry ingredients into remaining batter, mixing by hand. Pour batter into springform pan. Add cocoa powder to the 1/2 cup (125 mL) of reserved batter and stir well. Pour this onto the centre of the cake. Moving the side of a fork through the batter, create a sunburst pattern.
Bake on centre rack of oven for about 45 minutes, or until done. Remove cake from oven, lift from pan and serve.
Olive Oil Pie and Tart Dough
New York baker Nick Malgieri uses this dough for savoury pies, but also for dessert tarts. it takes five minutes to make and is quite forgiving.
This recipe, from the Modern Baker, makes enough for a single crust.
11/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking powder
1/4 cup (50 mL) olive oil
2 tablespoons (25 mL) water
Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse several times.
Add the olive oil, egg, egg yolk and water. Pulse repeatedly until the dough forms a shaggy ball. Don’t overmix or the oil might separate from the dough and make it impossible to handle later on.
Invert the food processor bowl over a floured work surface to turn out the dough. Carefully remove the blade and transfer any dough on it to the work surface. Press the dough into a 1/2-inch thick disk without folding it over on itself.
With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to fit a 10 or 11-inch (25 or 28 cm) pan. with olive oil dough, you can press harder, and you will need to, because this dough is much more elastic than a butter-based dough.
Bake according to recipe instructions. (Or wrap in plastic and refrigerate until needed. this dough can chill for several days.)
Olive Oil Cookies
This recipe, with its Italian flavours, comes courtesy of Mark Bittman, the new York Times columnist and food blogger. He likes the cakey interior and nicely crisped surface the olive oil brings to these cookies. He recommends extra-virgin olive oil for a more pronounced taste and colour.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
21/2 cups (625 mL) flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking powder
1/8 teaspoon (0.5 mL) black pepper
1 teaspoon (5 mL) minced fresh rosemary
3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) olive oil, plus a little for the cookie sheet
3/4 cup (175 mL) dry red wine
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 C). Combine the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs with the olive oil and wine. use a rubber spatula to stir the liquid mix into the dry one, just until well combined.
Drop rounded teaspoons of the batter onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool a couple of minutes, then remove the cookies to a rack to cool further.
Marcy’s Bundt Cake
Montreal baker Marcy Goldman was inspired by the hit movie my Big fat Greek Wedding to create this tender pound cake, fit for a crowd, with the help of a Greek grandmother at a local bake sale.
Serves 12 to 16
1 cup (250 mL) light olive oil
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, melted or light olive oil
2 cups (500 mL) sugar
2 cups (500 mL) plain yogourt
2 teaspoons (10 mL) lemon zest, finely grated
2 tablespoons (30 mL) fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) baking soda
4 teaspoons (20 mL) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt
4 cups (1 L) all-purpose flour
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Generously grease a 9- or 10-inch tube pan (23 or 25 cm – not with a removable bottom) or bundt pan.
In a mixer bowl, with the paddle attachment, on slow speed, cream the oil, butter and sugar together until well blended, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, yogourt, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and blend well, about 2 minutes. Fold in baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour and blend well, making sure no uncombined ingredients cling to the bottom of mixing bowl.
Spoon into prepared pan. Set pan on baking sheet.
Bake until cake is set and tests done when pricked with a skewer, about 60 to 80 minutes. the cake will have fine cracks on the surface. (If the cake is browning on top but still seems wet inside, reduce temperature to 325 degrees F (160 C) and let bake at lower heat until done.
Remove from oven and cool in pan 15 minutes before unmoulding onto a wire cake rack to cool completely.
Dust with sifted confectioner’s sugar and serve, perhaps with berries or lemon sorbet on the side.