Lemon Olive Oil Cakes

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This cake is inspired by a cake I saw on Bon Appetit as well as a need for me to use up lemons on my lemon tree. The original recipe can be found here and is beautiful in concept though for me and my family's tastes, it was a bit on the dense side. This mostly has to do with the proportion of fat to eggs, which I've adjusted in my recipe below. I've also increased the lemon flavor of the cake by increasing the lemon juice.

Below you can watch the short vid on this cake from my Instagram:

Step-by-Step

Lemon Olive Oil Mini Cakes

Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Yield
10 minutes
30 minutes
40 minutes
Six 4-inch cakes
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Ingredients

  • 1¼ cups (250g) white granulated sugar
  • zest of three lemons
  • 2/3 cup (134g) olive oil (extra virgin if you like the earthiness, regular if you want a more subdued flavor)
  • 3 large (150g) eggs
  • 1 cup (227g) milk (any fat percentage)
  • 1/2 cup (120g) fresh lemon juice
  • 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt
  • powdered sugar for decorating (optional)
  • candied lemon slices for decorating (optional)

Instructions

  1. Place your oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 350F/180C.
  2. Spray 6 4-inch cake pans (I used springform pans) with cooking spray. (You can also bake this in a 9 or 10 inch cake or springform pan. If you use a large cake pan, you'll want to line the bottom with parchment and spray the entire insides.)
  3. Zest three lemons, then juice them and set those both aside.
  4. In a medium mixing bowl, add the white sugar and lemon zest. Use a mixer on medium speed for a couple minutes to get all that lovely zest oil out.
  5. Add the olive oil and mix for another half minute.
  6. Add you eggs, milk, and lemon juice until thoroughly combined. Set that bowl aside.
  7. To a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds.
  8. Make a well in the middle of those dry ingredients. Slowly pour your wet ingredients (olive oil mixture) into the center while whisking the entire time until everything comes together.
  9. Pour the batter into your cake pan(s) and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out without crumbs. For the 4 inch pans, my cakes were done at around 28 minutes. I've also used a 10 inch Springform pan and that took about 35 minutes.
  10. Allow to cool to the touch before inverting the pans to remove the cakes. I placed my mini cakes in little boxes.
  11. These cakes are so good the next day. Just make sure they are stored by wrapping in plastic and you can keep them on the counter for a few days.

💌 Notes from Adriana

Hi! I'm Adriana.

I built this site for the curious home baker. I'm a huge science + tech nerd; you'll feel right at home if you like exploring and experimenting in the kitchen too.

Here you can build cakes with my Cakeculator and find recipes to accompany the videos from YouTube, Tiktok, and Instagram.

I have lots of things to share... I hope you have fun around here!

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