Lemon Olive Oil Cake – Sur La Table Recipe
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Lemon Olive Oil Cake is a light and tender cake recipe, bursting with fresh lemon flavor and a sweet simple lemon glaze. Our easy lemon cake recipe with olive oil is perfect for a delicious dessert or sweet snack with afternoon tea.
Tried by hundreds, this Sur La Table cake recipe is a favorite of anyone who bakes it.
One whiff of lemon, and I feel renewed! One taste of Lemon Cake with olive oil takes me back to summer and sunshine but can brighten any day of the year.
What is a Lemon Sur La Table Olive Oil Cake
One afternoon my daughter and I went into Sur La Table. This is a kitchen gadget store that I visit once in a while just because.
On this particular day, they were having a sale on Marca Verde olive oil and handing out samples of a baked lemon olive oil cake. What? Olive oil in a cake?
I had never heard of it, but one measly little bite of that tangy treat later, and I was in love. I grabbed a copy of the recipe and left. Thank you, Sur La Table (hearts inserted here).
Lemons are one of those gifts that we have in the wintertime that remind us that not everything is blah and colorless!
I couldn’t stop thinking about this cake. It was so fresh and delicious. I went back a couple of days later and bought the olive oil.
I waited for two whole days. No obsessive-compulsive behavior here. I put this wonderful cake together and knew I had to share it.
Why You’ll Love this Olive Oil Cake with Lemon
- Simple ingredients. You probably have everything you need already in your kitchen, especially if you love good olive oil as much as I do.
- Full-size cake. Fill a 9 x 13 pan, or bundt pan, or make a lemon loaf cake and serve everyone you love with this zesty lemon olive oil cake recipe!
- Perfect any time of year! This simple cake doesn’t need a special occasion. Whether you are relishing in the heat of summer poolside or huddling around the fire in February, you will enjoy this cake.
- The texture is divine. This soft and tender lemon oil cake is always perfectly moist and has a beautiful glaze that adds a light crunch.
Equipment Needed to Make Lemon Cake with Olive Oil
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- Bundt cake pan. This cake uses everyday ingredients and no fancy gadgets. You can also make this in a 9″x13″ cake pan.
- Citrus Juicer – A good citrus juicer is a must that will make squeezing lemons a breeze.
- Microplane Zester. I use this tool not only for zesting citrus but for grating cheese and chocolate too.
Easy Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Ingredients
There isn’t anything unusual here, so you should be able to get all of these olive oil cake ingredients at your local grocery store, and you may already have them on your shelf.
- Flour. All-Purpose Flour works perfectly.
- Sugar. White Granulated Sugar.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda. These help this cake rise in the oven and achieve the perfect texture you will love.
- Salt. You can use any variety, and it will work.
- Milk. I used skim milk but plant-based milk is fine. Use what you have on hand.
- Lemon. Zest and freshly squeezed juice.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I used Marca Verde Extra-Virgin olive oil, but any good quality olive oil will work. You also can use a lighter olive oil for less olive oil flavor.
- Vanilla – Pure or imitation will work.
- Eggs – I always use large for the sake of consistency.
- Powdered Sugar – The confectioners’ sugar is used for the glaze as a finishing touch.
Please note, that the printable recipe card has the full list of ingredients, quantities, complete instructions, and nutritional information. The following is a quick overview of the recipe.
How to make Lemon Olive Oil cake from scratch?
- In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Fold together until combined. You don’t need an electric mixer for this recipe.
- Pour the cake batter into a prepared pan and bake.
- While the cake bakes, make the glaze by adding the ingredients to a small bowl and whisking it together until smooth and free of lumps.
- Remove the cake from the oven when golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
- Spoon half the glaze over the cake. Let the cake cool in the bundt pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack and then turn it onto a serving plate.
- Drizzle the remaining glaze over the cake and allow it to cool completely.
How do I pick the perfect Olive Oil for baking?
The best olive oil is Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This oil is cold-pressed and the result is very pure oil with a fruity aroma. Other olive oils are a mixture of oils that may be cold-pressed and may be processed differently. As a result, they are less pure and have a less rich flavor.
What to Serve with your Olive Oil Lemon Cake
This cake is lovely all by itself, but if you want to be extra (and sometimes we should be!), top the cake with fresh berries, macerated fruit, whipped cream, or ice cream.
Substitutions – Additions – Variations
- Sub orange juice instead of lemon. It is sometimes called a citrus olive oil cake and works with other juice as well.
- Add poppyseed for a classic twist.
- Go extra rich. Top the cake with cream cheese frosting.
- Use a different pan. Get my free Baking Pan Conversion Chart.
- Add contrast. Top with fresh fruit such as raspberries or strawberries or macerated fruit for a nice contrasting flavor.
- Grate Lemon Zest. Add a sprinkling of lemon zest to the glazed cake for a special touch.
- Dress it up. Add a dollop of mascarpone cheese or crème fraiche.
Best Way To Store Lemon Cake with Olive Oil
Store your leftover cake at room temp lightly covered or refrigerated for 4 to 5 days.
Can I Freeze/Thaw Olive Oil Cake with Lemon?
Yes. Freeze the cake whole in an airtight container or freeze individual slices. To thaw the whole cake, remove it from the freezer at least one day in advance. To thaw individual servings, about thirty seconds in the microwave should do it. Add small amounts of time until it is thawed the way you want.
You may want to mix up more of the simple lemon glaze and drizzle it over the top before serving after thawing it out. You can also just give it a fresh dusting of confectioner’s sugar.
Lemon Olive Oil Cake FAQs
Not significantly. However, since it doesn’t contain dairy, it is a cake that people on non-dairy or restricted dairy diets people can try.
Olive oil replaces other saturated fats such as butter and shortening. It also adds a boost of vitamin E to your baking.
Olive oil makes this cake moist and tender.
Yes, you can replace vegetable or canola oil with olive oil at a 1:1 ratio. However, You will not get the flavor that olive oil adds so I don’t recommend it. EVOO is the star.
Olive oil has a distinctive taste that adds richness and boosts the flavor of the lemon in this cake.
Olive oil can lose some of its flavors when baked. Use a lighter type of olive oil than extra-virgin olive oil if you want a less intense olive oil flavor.
You can use a paper towel or a pastry brush and coat the pan with butter or shortening. Add flour (about 1⁄4 cup) and gently tap and rotate the flour around the sides to make sure the surface is completely coated.
My second favorite way to grease a cake pan is what I learned in a cake decorating class I took several years ago. It combines the grease and flour together and you can make as much as you want. I store it for about 6 months at room temperature.
This is how it’s done:
Homemade Pan Release: Take an even amount of flour, vegetable oil, and shortening and blend it together until it becomes a smooth paste. Apply this mixture evenly over the inside of the pan with a brush or papertowel.
Do not overbake the cake. This cake is so moist as long as you don’t bake it too long you should not need to worry.
Freshly squeezed juice has more flavor and a lower acid content than bottled lemon juice.
Lemon is so versatile. It’s a healthier way to add flavor to your favorite dish and is an amazing cleaning product. Here is a free printable for some of my favorite ways to use it.
Tips to Make the Perfect Lemon OIive Oil Cake
Use fresh lemon. It isn’t hard to juice a lemon and the resulting juice has better flavor and less acid than bottled.
Use quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It should read that it’s cold-pressed and mechanically processed. This means that it’s made without chemicals or heat, which helps preserve its nutrients and nutritional value.
Zest the lemon before juicing it.
Cool completely before slicing. This is a tender cake that will slice best once it’s allowed to cool.
I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe as much as we do. Drop me a comment below, and don’t forget to give it a star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Your comments and ratings help others decide if this recipe is for them too.
Lemon Olive Oil Cake – Sur La Table Recipe
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 2-1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Zest of 1 lemon microplane or finely grated
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup Olive Oil
I used Marca Verde brand
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 eggs
Glaze
- 1-3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 °F. Spray a 9×13 cake pan or an 8-cup bundt pan with nonstick baking spray and flour.
- In a large bowl, combine cake ingredients and fold together until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 50 minutes until golden brown. When a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, the cake is done.
- While the cake is in the oven, combine the glaze ingredients. Whisk to blend.
- Remove cake from oven. Whisk the glaze mixture again, and carefully spoon 1/2 of the glaze over the cake.
- Let the cake cool in the bundt pan for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges of the cake and turn it out onto a serving plate. Slowly drizzle the remaining glaze over the top of the warm cake. Allow the cake to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.
Some of our Favorite Recipes with Lemon
- Lemon Cake Mix Cookies
- Blueberry Lemonade Pie
- Lemon Pistachio Muffins
- Old-Fashioned Lemon Icebox Pie
- Lemon Pudding Poke Cake
- Blackened Salmon with Lemon Butter
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This recipe for Lemon Olive Oil Cake was originally shared on 3/10/15. I’ve added some new images, tips, and answered some questions to improve my reader’s experience. No changes were made to the recipe.
A lovely cake that calls for simple ingredients and yet come our beautifully. Thank you!
Thank you! I’m glad it worked for you.
Served at our neighborhood ladies’ luncheon. It disappeared quickly! Easy to make!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you.
The lemon and olive oil together in this cake are SO good! We can’t wait to bake (and devour) this again.
Thank you, Erin!
My family loved this cake. It was easy to make and I served it with whipped cream. Very good.
Thank you. It’s so good and not overly sweet.
LOVED THIS CAKE! Of course anything with lemon is a love of mine. And I kind of felt like it was “healthy” making it with olive oil! 😉
Thank you, Kate it’s truly unique and great for brunch or lunch with the girls.
I made this in a Bundt pan. It ran over in the oven. What a mess! Will use a 9×13 if I make it again.
Bundt pans come in different sizes. I use a 9 cup pan, and regardless of the amount of batter, don’t over fill the pan.
I plan to try the recipe this coming weekend. I have a question regarding the last step. If I don’t plan to serve immediately, should I wait to add the olive oil to the cake? Or is it fine to let it sit overnight?
Great question, Marie! I would definitely glaze it even if you don’t serve it immediately. I believe that glaze allowed to infuse the cake would be amazing.
This is my go to recipe when I’m craving lemon cake, but I add pine nuts, fresh thyme and rosemary finely chopped, so much fresh taste
Oh that sounds amazing, Laurie! I’ll have to give your version a try!
Made it in a bundt pan (took 45 minutes), and have just tried a couple of crumbs because I MUST SAVE IT for the company tomorrow! It. Is. Delicious. I did add about a tsp of dried crushed rosemary to it for that extra little flavor hit. Question though – mine fell in the middle in the oven – is that because I opened the oven once to check it before it was baked enough?
A sinking cake can definitely be caused by the door being opened or slammed when closing but I think it’s because you used a bundt cake pan. Not all cakes work well in other pans. Other reasons may be that your baking soda and baking powder losing their’ potency, or the oven temperature is off.
Next time try it in the 9×13 pan and let me know how it goes.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your comment!
This cake is delicious but do not lie to people about the 126 calories stuff. Each slice if evenly split in 10, this has 451 calories a slice. Amazing taste but horrible for you.
My nutritional label is automatically calculated for 10 pieces. I took the opportunity to change the pieces to 12 for a 9×13 pan and reran it. I still don’t get 451 calories per piece and don’t manipulate the data either. I’m am glad you enjoyed the recipe but don’t take being called a liar lightly. I assure you and my readers that I provide my honest feedback.
Delicious! I have made a similar cake using grated carrots and I couldn’t believe how light and moist it was!
Carrots? Very interesting. I love seeing and hearing all the interesting people do. So good to hear from you again!
Thank you!
Lemons yumm lmbo
Julie this cake looks super delicious, moist and tangy. The perfect start to spring! We love olive oil cakes in our home, that’s if I can get away from the ghee 😉 I was introduced to the olive oil cake in Dorie Greenspans Baking book. So yum! We’ve been hooked ever since. I’m going to give your cake recipe a shot! Can’t wait! 🙂
Thank you! I did enjoy this cake. I haven’t looked at the baking book. I’ll have to look for it.
Yum! This cake looks so lemony and moist–sounds delicious!
Thank you Nancy. It is so light and delicious!
Looks super moist.. I should try cake with oik
I remember you said how much you love lemons! Your love for lemons is clearly showing here. What a fantastic recipe.
Thank you Dave! Your memory is perfect!
Hi Julie, This looks absolutely divine! Looks like a light, flavorful cake – perfect with evening coffee/tea ! Incidentally, I saw a lemon olive oil cake in a event BHG magazine too and was hoping to try it too. Yours looks great! 🙂
Thank you! Do give it a try. I think you will enjoy it. Enjoy your day!
It looks so moist, you made it perfect, Julie! 🙂 I made similar cakes couple of times, but sometimes it was too oily… yours looks good!
Have a nice weekend! -Mila
Thank you Mila! It had a light olive oil flavor but wasn’t oily at all. I hope your weekend has been enjoyable too! Julie
I’ve seen cakes and such made with olive oil but never made or tried one, gonna have to try this it looks amazing!
Thank you Michelle! There are so many things that I want to try. I see other peoples recipes and wonder why I haven’t made that? A vicious cycle 🙂
Love lemon in cakes, it tastes so wonderful and is perfect with spring right around the corner.
Thank you! Spring better be around the corner!!
I certainly hope so!
I love the idea of making this in a Bundt pan! It might be time for me to grab a chair an get into that high cupboard where it’s sat forever! 🙂
Ha! I have gadgets and pans in three different rooms!
lol. me too! Does the garage count for some things – make that four!
hmmmm garage…a new hiding place :)!
Well, I keep my giant roaster and my canning stuff out there…both are kind of once a year things, if that.
I had to do everything to resist licking my screen! I love Lemon too! I love just drinking Lemon and water everyday! in a cake? Even more!! I’ve never baked with Olive oil… but now I’m convinced that I have to try! Thank you for sharing this recipe Julie!
Thank you for stopping by and your lovely comments!
You’re inspiring me to do more with lemons!!!!! Thank you – muah! 🙂 🙂
Thank you! I just love lemons in so many things!
I would never think to make a cake with olive oil, but I bet it makes it SO moist!
I wouldn’t have either and couldn’t believe how fresh and light it tasted. Thanks for stopping!