California Olive Oil Cake

Moist citrus and olive oil cake from the mission groves of California, with rosemary sugar

Origin: California, United States

From the journey of Olive.

California's relationship with the olive begins in 1769, when Franciscan missionaries led by Fra Junípero Serra planted the first olive trees at Mission San Diego de Alcalá from cuttings brought from Baja California, themselves descended from trees carried to Mexico by Spanish missionaries in the sixteenth century. By the time the California mission chain extended from San Diego to Sonoma, twenty-one missions over eight hundred kilometres, olive groves were a feature of every establishment, providing oil for lighting, sacrament, and food. The Mission olive, as the variety became known, is still grown in California today: a round, fleshy olive yielding a rich, buttery oil with low acidity and a mild, almost sweet flavour, quite different from the peppery intensity of Tuscan or the grassiness of Greek oils. The olive oil cake, torta de aceite in its Spanish origin, arrived with the missionaries but found its most enduring expression in the twentieth-century California kitchen, where the state's Mediterranean climate and the olive oil industry that grew in the Sacramento Valley and around Napa produced an oil culture to rival anything in southern Europe. The modern California olive oil cake incorporates the citrus fruits that thrive in the same climates as olives, orange, lemon, Meyer lemon, along with herbs from the same gardens: rosemary, thyme, lavender. It is a looser, more fragrant cake than a butter cake, with a characteristic tender, slightly dense crumb that stays moist for days. Rosemary sugar, a Californian innovation, finishes it with an aromatic, crunchy crust that recalls the herb gardens of the missions.

Ingredients

Wet

200 ml California or good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, mild and fruity (not peppery)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
200 g caster sugar
150 ml whole milk
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 orange, zest only
1 lemon, zest only

Dry

250 g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine sea salt

Topping

3 tbsp caster sugar, for the rosemary topping
1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, very finely chopped
icing sugar, to dust (optional)

To Serve

crème fraîche or mascarpone, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 175°C / 155°C fan / gas 4. Grease a 23cm round springform tin with a little olive oil and line the base with parchment.
Make the rosemary sugar: combine the 3 tablespoons of caster sugar with the finely chopped rosemary in a small bowl, rubbing the rosemary into the sugar with your fingers until fragrant and well combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and caster sugar for 2–3 minutes until pale and slightly thickened. Pour in the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly, then add the milk, orange juice, orange zest, and lemon zest. Whisk until smooth.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt over the wet mixture. Fold gently with a rubber spatula until just combined; a few streaks of flour are fine; do not overmix.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Scatter the rosemary sugar evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake for 40–45 minutes until the top is golden, the centre no longer wobbles, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before releasing the springform and transferring to a rack.

Notes

The character of the olive oil matters significantly. A good Californian Mission variety olive oil, mild, buttery, low acidity, is ideal. Ligurian or Provençal oils (Taggiasca, Picholine) are also well suited. Strongly peppery oils from Tuscany (Frantoio, Moraiolo) or robust Greek oils can overpower the citrus. A Meyer lemon, if available, gives a floral sweetness that is particularly well suited to this cake. The cake keeps well for 3–4 days at room temperature and improves in texture over time as the oil continues to work through the crumb.

The Gastrographer

Name: California Olive Oil Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 200 ml California or good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, mild and fruity (not peppery); 3 large eggs, at room temperature; 200 g caster sugar; 150 ml whole milk; 2 tbsp fresh orange juice; 1 orange, zest only; 1 lemon, zest only; 250 g plain flour; 1½ tsp baking powder; ½ tsp fine sea salt; 3 tbsp caster sugar, for the rosemary topping; 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, very finely chopped; icing sugar, to dust (optional); crème fraîche or mascarpone, to serve

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

To explore — select an ingredient below · click any location dot on the map for recipes and stories · browse the information panel on the right · trace the full journey on the timeline.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control