A sponge cake need not necessarily contain dollops of butter to retain that moist and fluffy feel, according to Matty Cremona, author of the recipe book, Cooking with Maltese Olive Oil - Maltese and Mediterranean Dishes.
Her mouth-watering orange and olive oil sponge is, as its name implies, made with olive oil and is not only tastier, but also healthier, replacing unsaturated fats.
A "celebration" of olive oil, the book stems from her husband's initiative to revive the cultivation and pressing of olives and the production of oil - a practice that was lost for centuries.
Why should a typical Mediterranean island be stripped of its olive trees and olives and their oil be imported? Matty could not comprehend why Malta, in the heart of the olive oil-producing region, boasting the ideal climate and soil, had ceased to produce olive oil.
So, she has joined her husband, Sam, in promoting Maltese olive oil through her book, which was launched yesterday at Portomaso's Cleland & Souchet outlet.
More than just a recipe book, Cooking with Maltese Olive Oil incorporates a brief history of the cultivation of olives in Malta and is punctuated with olive-related anecdotes through the ages - the fruit of Matty's research at the National Library over the past year when she decided to embark on the project.
It explores every aspect of the olive and its oil, with a variety of simple and easy-to-follow recipes.
Olive oil may be a standard ingredient, but it is "often used without thinking, in conjunction with other things". The recipes highlight the pleasure of cooking with it and the way it should be used.
Apart from guaranteeing crunchier biscuits, and enhanced flavour and texture, olive oil has other benefits, including the fact that those who rely on it for cooking and eating are rarely overweight. It also helps break down harmful cholesterol levels.
Cooking with Maltese Olive Oil includes chapters on olives themselves; how to grow, harvest, press and cure them; grading and storage of olive oil; its health benefits; and preserving and dressing with it.
From salads to vegetables, soups, her favourite summer minestra and a variety of pasta dishes - Matty has concocted five tomato-based sauces - galletti, her personalised olive bread, breadsticks and krustini, olive leaf tea, Greek biscuits and ottijiet, olive oil is the fundamental ingredient.
Even the pasta itself is made with olive oil.
Recipes include fried and roasted olives and each one carries Matty's touch - a reflection of "the way I cook". Her family of three consumes a minimum of 50 litres of olive oil each year, and butter is a no-no.
It is not surprising that Matty is into cooking: she used to be awarded school prizes in cookery and her school-leaving certificate includes a note that she excelled in home economics. And, barring a few post-wedding teething problems and mishaps, the headmistress was right.
Matty spends more time than your average woman in her large, but "low-tech" kitchen. (She has her eye on a sophisticated, green, farmhouse-style oven to replace her small and "boring" one.)
Known to experiment in the kitchen, she steers clear of frozen foods and is currently trying her hand at home-made kunserva, having recently prepared her own sun-dried tomatoes. Her family eats their own animals on their farm-like Wardija home, where the olive press is in constant motion.
Does she love her food? "I am food," she retorts.
Cooking with Maltese Olive Oil - Maltese and Mediterranean Dishes, complete with in-house photography by Joe Demanuele and Peter Bartolo Parnis, is designed by Lara Parker and edited by Daphne Caruana Galizia. Published by Proximuspr, it costs Lm5.