Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Much as I love my butter cakes, this Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake is a cake I could eat every day…if I could eat cake every day, that is. It’s rich, not too sweet, tangy and has just a little crunch of cornmeal.

There are a million olive oil cake recipes on the internet (and that might not be an exaggeration. There could actually be a million) and I’m sure some are better than others. This is a good one, if I do say so myself.

My recipe came about because I had a bunch of Meyer Lemons in the fridge that were going to go bad if I didn’t do something with them. It was my turn to host book group and I needed to bake something to serve. I hadn’t posted an olive oil cake recipe yet, so decided it was time to use the Meyer Lemons and create a new olive oil cake recipe.

Olive oil cake is, essentially, a chiffon cake. Chiffon cakes are oil based cakes, no butter in the batter. Because oil stays liquid at room temperature oil based cakes are soft and moist and have a very, very tender crumb. The problem with chiffon style cakes is that if there’s too much oil in the batter the cake can have an oily, pasty texture that’s not at all pleasant. It’s imperative to have a balanced recipe.

I started my recipe knowing I would use both the zest and the juice from the Meyer Lemons. Most of the flavor comes from the oils in the zest and most of the tang comes from the acidic juice. In order to keep the tangy flavor front and center I decided not to use acid-neutralizing baking soda. Instead I used baking powder to leaven the cake. To keep the style of the cake a little on the rustic side, I planned to add just a little cornmeal to the batter for a little crunch and color.

The first attempt at the recipe was not bad, but the texture was more like corn bread than cake. I’d added a little too much corn meal and not enough oil. Also, I’d separated the eggs and whipped the whites which made the crumb too open. This should be a slightly dense cake, like a pound cake. While it was an acceptable cake, it was not good enough. Back to the drawing board. (Of course, that meant I had to buy even more Meyer Lemons, oh well.)

For the second cake I changed the mixing method. I “ribboned” the eggs with the sugar, then added the oil, dry ingredients and lemon juice. “Ribboning” means you whisk the whole eggs with the sugar until they aerate and lighten in color. When you lift the whisk and drizzle the eggs into the bowl they’ll leave a “ribbon” on the surface. Hence the term, “ribbon” the eggs. You can see that in the photo below (despite the terrible lighting-I was baking at night).

The second cake was much better. With just a 1/2 cup of cornmeal I got the crunch and the nice yellow color that I wanted but the texture was still tender and cakey. Adding an extra 1/4 cup of olive oil made the cake very moist with a barely discernible olive oil flavor in the background.

Bake the cake in a 12 cup Bundt or tube pan. The batter may not bake up properly in a round or loaf shaped pan. It is a very wet batter and might not have enough structure without the opening in the middle of the pan.

Not only does Olive Oil Cake keep well at room temperature, it actually gets better the first day or two after it’s baked. This cake is so moist it doesn’t need anything but sprinkle of sugar for a pretty finish. Of course you could plate it with some fresh berries for a fancier presentation.

Print Recipe

4.56 from 38 reviews

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

By: Eileen Gray

Not only does Olive Oil Cake keep well at room temperature, it actually gets better the first day or two after it's baked. This cake is so moist it doesn't need anything but sprinkle of sugar for a pretty finish. Of course you could plate it with some fresh berries for a fancier presentation.

Prep Time30 mins

Bake Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 30 mins

16 slices

US CustomaryMetric

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 15 ounces all purpose flour (3 cups)
• 3 ounces corn meal (½ cup)
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 18 ounces granulated sugar (2 ¼ cups)
• 1 pound lemons (about 5 (see note))
• 6 large eggs
• 10 ounces extra virgin olive oil (1 ¼ cups)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Coat a 12 cup Bundt or tube pan with pan spray, or butter and flour.
• Combine the flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together to distribute the baking powder, set aside.
  15 ounces all purpose flour, 3 ounces corn meal, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon table salt
• Put the granulated sugar into a mixer bowl. Grate the lemon zest right onto the sugar and mix the zest through the sugar. Juice the lemons into a measuring cup, you should get about ¾ cup of juice. Set the lemon juice aside.
  18 ounces granulated sugar, 1 pound lemons
• Add the eggs to the sugar. Beat the eggs and sugar together on medium speed until the eggs aerate, thicken and lighten in color.
  6 large eggs
• With the mixer running on low, drizzle in the olive oil in a slow steady stream. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the lemon juice, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
  10 ounces extra virgin olive oil
• Take the batter off the mixer and mix by hand to ensure there are no lumps of batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted in the cake comes away clean, about 50-60 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert the pan onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
• Serve sprinkled with a little powdered sugar

Equipment

My Book

KA Stand Mixer

KA Hand Mixer

Bundt Pan

Cooling Rack

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Notes

You can use any citrus fruit in place of lemons. Oranges, grapefruit, meyer lemon, lime or blood orange will work. The number of fruits will vary based on how big the fruit is and how much juice it yields. Always use 3/4 cup of juice whichever fruit you use.

The cake keeps well at room temperature for several days.

Nutrition

Calories: 427kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 208mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 111IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 2mg

Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!

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