Lemon Olive Oil Dessert Bread

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My very dear friend Jeannette suggested that I check out an “Olive Oil”  store that is not far from my home.  I am not sure why I hadn’t been there before, but today I discovered the bounty of wonderful olive oils and balsamic vinegars that Joe and Sons Olive Oils has to offer.   I spent close to an hour talking with the great granddaughter of the man whom this family store was named. 

Marilyn was so kind to walk me through the store and show (and may I add taste) all the wonderful olive oils and balsamic’s their store offers.  She also told me the history of how her great grandfather Guiseppe (Joe) Favata (known to his friends/family as “Pepito”) opened a small grocery store in Tampa/Ybor City.  She told me how at the grand opening of this, their new store, two ladies who where probably in their 90’s came to seek out the family who were carrying on the family tradition.  Marilyn said these ladies wanted to tell her and her family thank you.  The ladies explained that their families could not have survived and would have starved if not for her great grandfather.  The reason for this was that Pepito would keep a ledger of what people owed him if they could not pay at the time of purchase.  Pepito said that nobody he knew would go hungry as long as he had food in his store.  Amazingly enough, when the original store closed he was owed no money.  Everyone whom he had shared his compassion with had completely paid off their debts to him.  Such a caring and generous man had touched so many in his community to the point that decades later, the families he touched were still thankful and holding him in their memories.

The original “Joe and Sons”

This my friends is the kind of store and type of people I enjoy obtaining my cooking ingredients from.  I know that I will be spending many more hours talking with Marilyn and finding out more history of her family and the early years of Tampa.  I can not thank her enough for sharing her memories with me.  I hope you all who are local will please go visit their family store.  If you are not local, go to their website and find the wonderful balsamic’s and olive oils you can order for yourself.

So, back to my shopping trip.  I purchased two different balsamic vinegars and one flavored olive oil today.  The olive oil is a lemon infused olive oil and below is what it inspired me to make. 

Lemon Olive Oil Dessert Bread

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking power
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup lemon olive oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 large eggs (at room temp)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Frosting:

• 2 teaspoons butter (melted)
• 4 tablespoons cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with non-stick spray

In large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

In separate bowl, beat the olive oil, sugar and lemon extract together on medium speed.  Once combined, add the eggs one at a time until they are well incorporated.  

Now add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk, starting with dry mixture.

Now you can add the grated lemon zest and mix until just combined.

Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Like all other breads, it is ready when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out with only moist crumbs attached. 

Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for about 15 minutes.  Remove from pan and allow to finish cooling on the rack. 

Allow to completely cool and come to room temperature before you add the frosting.

This bread will keep for a few days on the counter, if it were to actually last that long.