Easy Lemoncello Olive Oil Cake
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Moist trigger warning! I know some people hate the word ‘moist’ but it really is the only way to describe this incredibly easy cake. If I had to describe how moist it is, without actually saying moist, I’d say… This is an incredibly tender sponge that stays hydrated as it cooks because of all the wet ingredients and the results are phenomenal. All jokes aside, this really is a sensational cake to eat. Once you make a lemon olive oil cake, you will rethink cakes forever.
You might be wondering… Does olive oil cake taste like olive oil? I can assure you the answer is no, not really. Olive oil cake tastes like a delicious cake; in this case a delicious lemon cake. The oil simply replaces the butter you’d use as fat in a traditional cake and there might be a hint of flavour, but it’s a good flavour and nothing to be scared of I can assure you.
This delicious lemon olive oil cake is great served on its own, but it also makes a great dessert. There’s something so perfect about lemon olive oil cake with berries and mascarpone I urge you to try it.
I adapted this recipe from an American one I found online that had rave reviews. I got my calculator out and did the maths and of course, tweaked it because I can’t help myself and I only had self-raising flour to hand. Luckily it came out perfectly and was one of the most tender cakes I’ve ever had.
HOW TO MAKE A LEMONCELLO OLIVE OIL CAKE
Skill: Easy
Time: 1hr 20 mins + cooling
Serves: 12
INGREDIENTS
320ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 large eggs
300ml whole milk
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
60ml lemon juice
50ml Limoncello (if you don’t drink alcohol, you can add some more lemon juice here instead)
225g cups granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
250g self-raising flour
1 tsp lemon extract (This is totally optional if you want it to be super lemony.)
1 tbsp Icing sugar to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 160C/320F, and lightly grease and line a deep 9-inch cake tin with a circle of parchment paper. This cake is deep, so make sure you use a pan with high sides (or a springform cheesecake tin) otherwise it will overflow! I use a pan like this.
In a large bowl add the olive oil and eggs and then whisk together to create an emulsion - it will look a bit like lemon curd.
Add all of the remaining wet ingredients and whisk well until it’s all incorporated. If you want it super lemony and you’re using lemon extract, now’s the time to add that in too. This is a good one to try from Lakeland.
Whisk in the sugar and then sift in the remaining dry ingredients and gently whisk until mixed together being careful not to over mix.
This batter is quite thin because of all the liquid but that’s ok - trust the process. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and then bake in the centre of the oven for 60-70 minutes. Every oven varies so check it at 60 minutes and put it back if it’s not quite there. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Leave the cake in the tin for an hour as it will continue cooking and then after an hour remove the cake from the tin and leave it to fully cool on a wire rack.
Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with icing sugar. If you’re feeling fancy you can put something like a sprig of rosemary on top of the cake and diet the sugar over that so when it’s removed it leaves a pretty pattern.
NOTES
This will keep in an airtight container for about 5 days.
This recipe was adapted from this one from Averie Cooks.
As I’ve mentioned above, you need to bake this in a deep pan like this or a springform tin like this.
Loved this? Why not check out some more of my easy bakes HERE!