A light and fluffy lemon olive oil cake dressed festively with candied cranberries & orange slices.
Growing up I was always under the impression that you could never bake with olive oil. Once when I was younger, I was making brownies and the recipe called for oil. Instead of using regular oil; I mistakenly used olive oil, and remember my mother telling me you do not bake with olive oil ever. Fast forward to years later; my friend brought a lemon olive oil cake to a get together, and I immediately fell in love with that cake. It was light, fluffy, and not too sweet. The perfect kind of dessert for me.
I believe the reason why people stray away from baking with olive oil is because of how strong the flavor is. Olive oil can leave that olive taste especially in baked goods so my suggestion is to make desserts that pair well with that flavor. For me, lemon and olive oil is an excellent combination, and that’s why this lemon olive oil cake is so delicious! You also want to use a really good olive oil.
In this recipe I used extra virgin olive oil from Spain! Extra virgin olive oil is made with 100% olive juice, and the oils are obtained when the olives have reached optimum ripeness. Extra-Virgin Olive Oils are the highest quality oils, and are free from defects, so they have excellent flavor and aroma characteristics, providing a feast for the senses.
If you want to learn more about olive oils especially from Spain and Europe, visit www.oliveoilworldtour.com.
To dress up this lemon olive oil cake; I candied some orange slices and cranberries. You can candy whatever fruits you like; I like the tartness from the cranberries and the orange slices brighten up the cake as well. I’m not huge on sweets so I stray away from anything that will give the cake too much sweetness, but that is entirely up to you. To candy the fruit, make a simple syrup by combining equal parts sugar and water. Once the sugar has dissolved place the slices in the syrup one by one making sure they are completely coated with the syrup. Then place them to dry on some wax paper. Do the exact same for the cranberries. This step is completely optional. You can make and serve this cake without the candied fruit, and it’s just as delicious!
More CAKE recipes!
Check out the recipe below.
Lemon Olive Oil Cake
Course: Recipes, Sweet Treats, Sweets6
servings15
minutes45
minutes300
kcalA light and fluffy lemon olive oil cake dressed festively with candied cranberries & orange slices.
Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (roughly one lemon)
1 cup cake flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup powdered icing sugar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F and grease an 8 inch cake pan with butter or cooking spray.
- Using a mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high until the mixture is fluffy and has doubled in volume; about 5-7 minutes.
- While the eggs and sugar are mixing, in a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in olive oil and lemon juice into the egg mixture. Using the same spatula, fold in flour mixture into the wet mixture until the flour disappears. Take care o not overmix. You wan the cake to be light and fluffy.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and gently tap on a solid surface to remove any bubbles.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is a light brown and a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Gently run a butter knife along the edges of the cake to release it from the pan and continue cooling on a wired rack. Dust with powdered icing sugar prior to serving.
- You can also decorate the cake with the candied orange slices and cranberries if desired.
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