Eugenia’s Olive Oil Pound Cake
with minor adaptations from Eugenia Bone’s The Kitchen Ecosystem recipe for Orange Olive Oil Pound Cake
Yield: One nine-inch pound cake
Baking time: approximately one hour, ten minutes
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch table salt or fine sea salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup olive oil (see notes)
1/2 cup whole milk or half-and-half (see notes)
2 tablespoons brandy
2 tablespoons orange liqueur
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (see notes)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Unsalted butter for the baking tin
You will need a medium mixing bowl, a large mixing bowl–at least 4 quart or larger, and a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Generously butter the baking pan, including the sides and corners.
Blend the flour, baking powder, and salt in the smaller bowl. Set aside.
In the larger bowl, blend the eggs, sugar, olive oil, milk or half-and-half, liquors, zests, and orange juice. I find a whisk does the best job.
Add the dry ingredients to the larger bowl and blend, whisking from the bottom. Again, a whisk does the best job. The batter will tend toward wet.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60-70 minutes. Eugenia Bone says the cake will smell done when it’s ready, and she is right. A toothpick tester will come out clean as well. Having baked this numerous times, I find the cake needs the full 70 minutes in my oven, which is accurate.
Remove and cool on a rack. When cool enough to handle, tip cake out of pan. The olive oil means this cake stays moist, well-wrapped, for about 4 days at room temperature. It also freezes well.
A scattering of powdered sugar is always nice.
Notes:
Be sure to use a mild, light tasting olive oil for this cake.
As I keep half-and-half in the house, I used it instead of milk with good results.
I find zesting easier if the fruit is bone dry, and used blood oranges here.
The original recipe calls for a glaze, which I leave off, because I make this as a portable breakfast item for my spouse, and glazes don’t lend themselves to porting.