Lemon Olive Oil Cakes

Bright and sunny Lemon Olive Oil Cakes will quickly become one of your all-time favorite desserts!

These individual cakes are easy to make and are packed with lemon zest, lemon juice, and the surprising enhancement of lemon olive oil

Cake is always perfect to serve for any special occasion, or after a special dinner, for family and friends. These cakes have a unique flavor pairing that is rare to find in most desserts. The olive oil adds flavor and moisture without overpowering the citrus flavors.

The addition of lemon olive oil makes this cake moist and fluffy with an added punch of lemon. This dessert is a wonderful addition to any springtime menu and they are gorgeous to look at too!

Top with our Easy Lemon Glaze and you’ve got the perfect dessert!

You’ll fall in love with these easy delicious lemony delights!

Jump to Recipe

What is the best type of Olive Oil for baking?

We recommend using good quality olive oils when baking. Try to select an extra-virgin olive oil or pure cold-pressed oil.

Extra virgin olive oil is made exclusively from pure, cold, first pressed olives. Regular olive oil is a blend of cold-pressed and processed oils.

The end result is that the extra virgin oil has a darker color with more enhanced and robust flavors and aromas. The cold-pressed method is effective, but also time consuming for the olive oil maker, but in the end, the result is worth the wait and effort!

Ingredients for the perfect lemon cake:

Ingredients needed for 6 mini cakes (shown in photos), 12 cupcake cakes or one 9-inch cake. The exact details are in the recipe card at the end of this post.

• 1/2 cup lemon olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for Lemon Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon melted butter
• For a sweeter glaze add a little more powdered sugar
• For a more tart glaze add a little more lemon juice or zest

How to make Lemon Olive Oil cakes

The olive oil we used for making these cakes was crushed with fresh lemons. Pure lemon oil olive is easy to find in local grocery stores alongside other olive oils.

If you decide to use regular extra virgin olive oil you can make some substitutions in the ingredients and still get the same results. Please see the NOTES section below the instructions.

Instructions for cakes:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F
• In a large mixing bowl combine olive oil, eggs, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
• Cream together by mixing on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes with a hand-held mixer or in a stand mixer
• In large bowl combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture and gently fold by hand until combined
• Spray cake tins generously with non-stick baking spray
• This recipe makes 6 individual cakelets or one 9-inch round cake
• Bake at 350˚F for 25 minutes
• Remove from oven and leave to cool for about 20 minutes
• Loosen the edges of the cake and flip the pan to remove them. Leave to completely cool on a baking rack.

Instructions for Lemon Glaze

• In a medium bowl whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and melted butter
• Whisk thoroughly until smooth, by hand
• With a spoon or pastry icing bag drizzle evenly over cooled cakes
• Garnish with lemon zest, blackberries, blueberries or a lemon slice. You can also dust the cake with confection sugar. You’re the boss, so you decide!

NOTES:

If you don’t have lemon-flavored olive oil you can make the following substitutions:

• 1/2 cup plain extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 additional Tablespoons of flour (total 1 cup + 5 Tablespoons)

What does Lemon Olive Oil Cake taste like?

This Lemon Olive Oil Cake is a light, fluffy flavorful mixture and everything you want in a special cake recipe. The addition of lemon olive oil makes this cake moist, tart, and lemony.

The olive oil provides the cake with a light unique flavor. The fruity overtones of olive oil enhance the other flavors in the cake to give you rich unique results.

Olive oil cakes are light and tender without being greasy or soggy. They stay moist and delicious for days after baking and taste as good as the day you made them.