Lemon and olive oil loaf cake
I’ve always loved the term “gateau de voyage” (travel cake) which I first discovered in Gaston Lenotre’s pastry cookbook “Faites votre Pâtisserie » (home made baking).
“Gateau de voyage” reminds me of Jane Austen’s novels in which the heroine, always single at the beginning, travels through the country to spend several weeks with relatives.
I’m pretty sure, even if Jane Austen never mentions it, that they used to travel with at least one or two cakes.
According to French pastry chefs, a “gateau de voyage” simply applies to a cake which you can easily carry and doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge. A fruit cake would be a very good example.
Alba Pezone, an Italian food writer who lives in Paris used this rather old-fashioned expression in a recipe she wrote for the food magazine “Elle à Table” in September 2006.
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Up to now, I’ve been much too shy to use olive oil in a cake (don’t forget that I come from the east of France) and I was very happy to find a chance to do so.
Lemon loaf cake with olive oil
Compared to Alba’s recipe, I’ve used 150 g of olive oil instead of 180 g and I think it is enough.
40 g butter, melted
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
150 g sugar
4 eggs + 1 egg yolk
240 g self raising flour
50 g honey
150 g olive oil (15cl)
Choose a fruity olive oil for this cake.
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Butter a loaf tin.
In a large bowl, mix the sugar with the eggs and the yolk, until you have a creamy mixture.
Add the flour and mix until you have a smooth texture.
Add the butter, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and mix again.
Pour the mixture into your loaf tin and bake for about 40 minutes.
A skewer inserted in the center should come out clean.
Allow to cool for ten minutes, remove from the tin and allow to cool on a wired rack.
As Alba recommends, you can taste it when it’s still warm. I prefer it at room temperature.
This cake is really delicious. Its texture is moist with a very crunchy crust. The combination of lemon and olive oil flavours really works.