Lemon Olive Oil Loaf with Pluot Basil Jam

It’s been a minute since I’ve shared a new recipe on here. I spent the last month taking a little break, pursuing a couple of other projects and taking a much-needed social media breather, but I’m back, baby! And I’m bringing this sweet little lemon olive oil loaf with me. At the restaurant this past month, we’ve been racking our brains to create brunch items that are fairly low-maintenance to make, but delicious and interesting. With sweeter dishes like waffles and French toast on the regular menu, brunch dessert isn’t a huge seller and it’s been kind of a bummer to create something new each week and have it not sell well. But, on the bright side, it’s gotten my little creative recipe development wheels spinning, brainstorming slightly sweet bites that are great in the morning with a cup of a coffee or as an afternoon pick me up—this guy fits the bill.

This lemon olive oil loaf is slightly sweet, very tangy, and super moist. It only needs a bowl and a whisk and uses ingredients you probably already have on hand. You can also sub the lemon zest for pretty much any other flavor you’re in the mood for…orange or lime zest, chamomile tea, chai spices…it’s ultra versatile and ultra delicious. One little note—this cake has a high moisture content (from the olive oil and yogurt) and will take a little longer to bake through. It’s going to be deeply golden on top, but if you feel like your cake is getting a little too dark while the insides still need more time, you can tent it with aluminum foil to help keep some of that browning at bay.

Pluots are the prettiest little purplish fruits, a cross between plums and apricots, and they make for a bright fuchsia jam which I am 100% on board with. If you can’t find pluots, you can totally use plums or peaches or apricots, all would work beautifully with this little loaf.

Lemon Olive Oil Loaf with Pluot Basil Jam

Yield: one 9x5” loaf and about 1 cup of jam

Ingredients

for the jam

1 lb (about 4) pluots, sliced 

4-5 basil leaves

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp water

1/4 tsp salt

for the cake

1 cup (130 g) olive oil

2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar

1/4 cup (85 g) honey

3/4 cup whole milk yogurt

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla 

Zest of one lemon

for the glaze

1/4 cup (30 g) powdered sugar

2 tbsp whole milk yogurt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp honey

Procedure 

to make the pluot basil jam:

1. Place sliced pluots, sugar, water, basil and salt in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until pluots are soft and sauce is thickened to syrup consistency. Remove from heat and let cool completely. 

to make the lemon olive oil cake: 

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside. 

3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, honey and eggs until light, fluffy, paste forms, about 2 minutes. 

4. Add yogurt, heavy cream, vanilla, and lemon zest and whisk to combine. Slowly stream in olive oil, whisking continually. When all of the olive oil has been added, continue whisking for one more minute. 

5. Add dry ingredients to the liquid mixture and whisk until just combined and no flour streaks remain. 

6. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until deeply golden brown and a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly and then remove from pan. 

to make the glaze:

1. Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add yogurt, lemon juice, and honey and whisk until smooth. Add a splash of heavy cream if the glaze is too thick or a tablespoon of powdered sugar if it is too thin. Pour over cooled cake and serve with pluot basil jam. 

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Key Lime Pie

Inspired by the Atlantic Beach Pie, this tart key lime pie features a salty potato chip crust filled with a tangy key lime and sweetened condensed milk custard.

Ah, key lime pie. When I was a kid, there was a period of about two years where we regularly dined at a fish house called Catfish Dewey’s. At least once a month, on a Friday night, we would make the 20 minute trek all the way out to Oakland Park and sit on a bench outside of a rickety wooden trailer for 40 minutes while we waited for a table in a dimly lit dining room with creaky floorboards. We sat at tables covered in plastic checkered table cloths with little packages of salad crackers, aka appetizers, eating our weight in crab legs (which now as an adult I realized are not cheap at all and I see that my parents were saints for letting their children eat so many). And finally, the meal always ended with key lime pie. My dad isn’t much of an “order dessert at a restaurant” kind of guy, but he always made an exception for the key lime pie at Catfish Dewey’s. It was very basic, tart and creamy, topped with whipped cream and exactly how a true Florida key lime pie should be.

key limes vs limes: what is the difference?

Does it matter which one you use? Can you make key lime pie without key limes? Let’s dive in.

Key limes, also known as Mexican limes or West Indian limes, are small, vibrant limes and their juices are slightly tart and very floral. Back in the early 1900s, they were grown all over Florida, especially in the Key’s (hence the name Key Limes) and because of the alkaline soil and hearty rains, these little flavorful limes flourished in Florida. They were bright and juicy and well-rounded. In the 1920s, hurricanes wiped out a lot of the key lime groves around Florida and farmers replaced them with Persian lime trees, which are those big, dark green limes we find in the grocery store. Because Persian limes are now more widely grown, they are much more accessible and a lot of the key limes found in the United States are grown in Mexico and don’t necessarily have that je ne sais quoi that the original Florida key limes possessed.

Lucky for me, living in the Sunshine State, it’s a little easier to get your hands on key limes grown in Florida. They are more expensive than their more accessible Persian counterparts and because of their petit size, they yield less juice, but if you are able to get your hands on some, I recommend using them. Even using real key lime juice for half of the amount of lime juice called for will give your key lime pie that traditional balanced tartness that a true key lime pie is known for. That being said, if you aren’t able to find key limes from Florida and don’t want to spend a billion dollars for that bottle of key lime juice you found on Amazon, big green Persian limes will do the trick and save a couple of dollars.

how to make swiss meringue: 

You can use the leftover egg whites to make an easy peasy Swiss meringue for topping your pie. All you need is egg whites and sugar. Culinary school says that Swiss meringue ratios are usually one part egg whites to two parts sugar, but I sometimes go for a 1:1.5 ratio. I usually start with about 60 grams egg whites (from about 2 eggs) and about 100 grams granulated sugar. Combine whites and sugar in a heat-proof bowl and set over a double-boiler. Cook, whisking frequently until the mixture is hot to the touch and sugar has completely dissolved. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and whip on medium-high speed until cooled, thick, and glossy. Pipe or swirl it on top of your pie and use a blow torch (carefully) to get those pretty toasted edges. 

Yield: serves 8

Author: Anna Ramiz

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Key Lime Pie with Potato Chip Crust

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 15 M

Inspired by the Atlantic Beach Pie, this tart key lime pie features a salty potato chip crust filled with a tangy key lime and sweetened condensed milk custard.

Ingredients

for the potato chip crust

• 4 T unsalted butter
• 8 oz kettle-cooked potato chips
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

for the key lime filling

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup lime/key lime juice
• zest of 1 lime
• pinch of salt

Instructions

for the crust

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until butter begins to foam and turn light amber in color and the milk solids begin to brown. The butter should smell nutty and fragrant. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a small bowl to prevent burning. Cool to room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, place potato chips in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for about 30 seconds until finely ground. Add flour, and pulse once or twice more to combine.
4. With the food processor on, slowly stream in browned butter and mix until the crumb begins to hold together.
5. Pour crust into tart pan and firmly press it along the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (It may be a little crumbly, but should hold together when pressed.)
6. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

for the pie

1. In a large bowl, combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, key lime/lime just, zest, and salt. Whisk until smooth and homogenous. (If you have time, transfer the filling to a airtight container and refrigerate overnight. This allows the air bubbles to settle and makes for a smoother pie.)
2. When you are ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 300° F and pour filling into your prepared crust. Set tart pan on a baking sheet inside the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until filling is set, and has a slight jiggle when gently shaken. Remove from oven and let cool completely before transferring to the refrigerator to chill.
3. Top with whipped cream or toasted Swiss meringue and enjoy!

Notes:

I wanted a sweet and salty combination so I went for a potato chip crust. If you are feeling a little more traditional, you can always substitute the potato chip crust for a graham cracker crust (either homemade or store-bought). Because graham crackers contain gluten and potato chips do not, simply substituting graham crackers for the potato chips in this recipe will not work. You can google a graham cracker crust recipe or fly by the seat of your pants and combine graham cracker crumbs with a little sugar and enough melted butter to make it hold together.

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Coconut Matcha Sheet Cake

Does anyone else love a good sheet cake? I have vivid memories of making thick, rectangular cakes in college, piling on a bunch of fudge frosting for a friend’s birthday or other cake-demanding celebration and eating the leftover cake straight from the pan with a fork afterwards. To me, that’s the best part of cake. I’ve been playing with flavor combinations that might warrant sheet cake attention and knew that I wanted the cake base to be something thick and fluffy. The temperature in Central Florida has also been hanging out in the 90s for the last month (insert gif of a face dripping with sweat), but since travel (even to the island-themed cocktail bar down the street) is currently forbidden, I was looking for away to satisfy my tropical, tiki-vibe desires. I’ve always loved the combination of coconut and matcha. Coconut desserts can be overly sweet at times, but I think it pairs well with the grassy matcha flavor. And it’s a green-swirled cake and today is Earth Day. Voila! A sheet cake is born.

This cake is made using the reverse creaming method. The reverse creaming method is often used in what are called high-ratio cakes, where the ratio of sugar to flour and eggs to fat are high. Essentially, the dry ingredients, including sugar, are creamed with the fat to create a coarse, bread-crumb like texture, then eggs and liquid are added gradually, making the batter more like, well, cake batter. If you don’t have matcha, or don’t like matcha, feel free to use this as simply a coconut cake base (although the matcha is way more fun).

For the topping, I wanted something light and airy, closer to whipped cream than frosting so I whipped cold coconut cream with a little heavy cream and some powdered sugar. To whip coconut cream, it must be completely cold, so make sure to stick the can in the fridge overnight so it’s sufficiently chilled.

Coconut Matcha Sheet Cake

Yield: 1 9x13” cake

Ingredients:

3 cups (360 g) cake flour

1 1/2 cup (350 g) granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks (226 g) unsalted butter, softened

80 g coconut oil

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp coconut extract, optional

1 can (400 g) full-fat coconut milk

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 

1 T matcha powder

for the frosting

1 can (400 g) coconut cream, chilled overnight

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure: 

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and lightly grease a 9x13” baking dish or cake pan. Set aside. 

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. 

3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, vanilla, and coconut extract (if using). Set aside 

4. Add room temperature butter and coconut oil to dry ingredients mix on medium speed until batter is coarse and resembles the texture of bread crumbs. 

5. With the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in wet ingredients, mixing only until everything is homogenous and combined. Remove bowl from the mixer and fold with a rubber spatula to ensure no dry spots remain. 

6. Pour about 1/3 of the batter into a small bowl and add the tablespoon of matcha powder. Stir to combine. Fold shredded coconut into the batter remaining in the large mixing bowl. 

7. Pour coconut batter into the prepared pan. Dollop matcha batter on top and use the back of a knife to marble. 

8. Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely. 

to make the coconut whipped cream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine cold coconut cream and heavy cream. Whip on medium speed until thickened to soft peaks. 

2. Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and continue to whip until the cream reaches medium peaks. Keep in refrigerator until ready to frost the cake. 

3. To frost: Scoop and spread coconut whipped cream over the entire surface of the cake. Dust with matcha powder and top with toasted coconut if desired. 

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