Traditionally, Greek olive oil cake uses orange juice and zest. It was the recipe passed to Chef Mina Stone from her mom, and her mom before her. Traditional Greek cake, made with olive oil, a variation of which appears in the regional cuisine from all corners of Greece.
Uh-oh. But on the day she wanted to make her cake, she realized she had run out of oranges.
“The most important thing I’ve learned from the women in my family is to cook with love, abandon, and an absence of fear.”
Stone, who opened an eponymous Greek-inspired restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art’s Queens branch, and whose cookbooks have topped best-sellers lists, fearlessly decided to use lemons instead.
That one fearless move, inspired by her Greek grandmother, resulted in one of Bon Apetit Magazine’s most popular and viral recipes.
This recipe comes (fittingly) from her cookbook, Lemon, Love & Olive Oil, which revisits dishes throughout Stone’s life, especially ones she learned from her grandmother.
When the popular food magazine published the recipe, not was an immediate hit. Videos of home cooks making the cake began circulating on TikTok and Instagram newsfeeds, then came the variations and substitutions. Gluten-free variations appeared, as did variations with different ingredients and toppings. One reader added a lemon curd topping, while another topped the cake with pomegranate seeds.
The day Mina ran out of oranges and replaced them with lemons, in an old family recipe, resulted in food history.
This is one of the most popular, most viral and most shared cake recipe that Bon Apetit Magazine has ever published. Click here to give this recipe a try.
