Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Ingredients

• 🌾All-Purpose Flour, sifted210 g
• 🧪Baking Powder2 tsp
• 🍯Granulated White Sugar, plus extra for the top225 g
• 🥚Large Eggs, room temperature3
• 🍋Lemon, zested and juiced2
• 🫒Extra Virgin Olive Oil120 ml
• 🥛Whole Milk, room temperature120 ml
• 🫙Vanilla Extract2 tsp
• 🧂Sea Salt (fine)to taste

Contains Dairy, Eggs, Gluten. AI-generated, checked against common allergens; always check labels.

Method

1. 1

   Heat the oven

   Set the oven to a steady heat so it is fully ready by the time the batter is mixed; the cavity should feel hot and even, not just warm around the edges. If you rush this, the cake can rise unevenly and bake with a pale, wet centre.

   10 min
2. 2

   Prepare the tin

   Line the base and sides of the cake tin so the cake releases cleanly after baking and the crust stays intact. Press the liner flat into the corners; if it wrinkles badly, the cake can snag as it comes out.

   5 min
3. 3

   Use a fine grater to remove only the yellow zest.

4. 4

   Roll and juice the lemons so you have a bright, fragrant liquid without any bitter white pith. The zest should smell sharply floral, not woody, and the juice should be clean and lively; if you hit the pith, stop and grate a shallower patch.

   5 min
5. 5

   Whisk the dry mix

   Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl until the mixture looks evenly aerated and there are no pale streaks of baking powder left. A few extra whisk passes now prevent bitter pockets later, so keep going until the texture looks uniformly fine and fluffy.

   3 min
6. 6

   Beat eggs and sugar

   Whisk the eggs with the sugar in a second bowl until the mixture turns paler, thicker, and slightly foamy around the edges. This usually takes about 2 minutes by hand, and the mixture should fall from the whisk in ribbons; if it still looks gritty and dark yellow, keep whisking a little longer.

   3 min
7. 7

   Stream in the oil

   Whisk in the olive oil in a thin stream so it emulsifies instead of splitting, and keep going until the batter looks glossy and smooth rather than streaky. If you pour too fast and it looks broken, whisk briskly for a few seconds to bring it back together.

   2 min
8. 8

   Add milk, vanilla, and lemon

   Whisk in the milk, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice until the batter smells bright and the citrus is evenly dispersed. It may look slightly looser now, which is exactly what you want; if it curdles a touch at the edges, keep whisking and it will smooth out.

   2 min
9. 9

   Fold the batter

   Add the dry mixture to the wet bowl and fold with a rubber spatula, sweeping down the side and across the bottom until the flour just disappears and the batter is thick but smooth. Stop as soon as you no longer see dry pockets; overmixing can make the crumb tight and bready instead of tender.

   3 min
10. 10

    Fill and sugar the tin

    Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface so it sits level from edge to edge. Scatter the extra sugar over the top in an even layer; it should look like a fine, pale sparkle before baking, because that is what forms the crisp crust.

    2 min
11. 11

    Bake the cake

    Slide the tin into the hot oven and bake until the top is deeply golden, the centre springs back when lightly pressed, and a skewer comes out with only a few moist crumbs. If the sugar darkens too quickly, loosely tent the cake with foil for the last part of the bake so the crust stays crisp without burning.

    32 min
12. 12

    Cool the cake

    Set the tin on a cooling rack and leave the cake alone until the sides pull in slightly and the surface feels just warm rather than hot. If you try to lift it out too early, the crust can tear, so wait until it is settled and no longer steamy.

    15 min
13. 13

    Slice and serve

    Run a thin knife around the edge, lift the cake out, and cut it into wedges with a clean downward motion so the crust cracks neatly instead of crumbling. Serve it as is, when the top is crackly and the crumb smells intensely lemony; if the knife drags, wipe the blade between cuts for cleaner slices.

    2 min

Nutrition per serving