Sandrine and Jacques-Olivier Coste of Sucr’ E Délices, Cassis, France
by Jacques-Olivier Coste
Jacques-Olivier Coste is an award-winning pastry chef and owner of a delightful gourmet pastry shop Sucr’ E Délices in Cassis, France. A passionate, brilliant and artistic innovator, Coste is known for his unique creations with unusual and delicious combinations of natural and local spices, scents, flavors, and textures. On Sundays, he prepares 40 different kinds of sweets most of which are gone by noon! Some of our favorites include his signature strawberry-pepper and basil verrine, lavender pound cake, wild strawberry entremet on a thin layer of olive oil cake, white chocolate/olive oil/raspberry/mint macaroons, anise and peach sablés, and Szechuan pepper-coffee cookies.
Coste’s wife, Sandrine, comes from a lineage of famous pâtissiers and holds a degree as glacier-chocolatier. Together, they make quite a team!
Knowing our passion for olive oil, Coste offers his all-time favorite basic recipe for olive oil cake. We made a génoise (thin layer in cookie sheet) with half of the batter, and cookies in molds with the other half. We served the génoise with a layer of cream and fresh raspberries and the cookies all by themselves!
Biscuits à l’huile d’olive (Olive oil cake) by Jacques-Olivier Coste
Prepare a cookie sheet and cookie mold so the batter won’t stick.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium-size bowl, with an electric mixer, beat:
7 eggs
2 cups of sugar
Add and beat:
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
¼ cup of milk
In a larger, second bowl, beat together:
7 ounces of cold butter
1 ¼ cup of The Olive Oil Source mild extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
Combine all ingredients together in the larger bowl.
Pour into prepared a cookie sheet and/or cookie molds. Bake approximately 10 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Delicious served as is, or with cream and fresh fruit, or any number of creative combinations using chocolate, ice cream, etc.