Lemon Olive Oil Cake: Light, Moist, Unforgettable
Bright, moist, and aromatic, this lemon olive oil cake combines citrus zest with extra virgin richness for a Mediterranean dessert you won’t forget.
Butter gives a cake richness; olive oil gives it a longer, softer crumb and a fragrance butter cannot reach. This one keeps for days and improves on the second.
Why a delicate oil here
A bold, peppery Koroneiki will fight the lemon. Kolovi from Lesvos is lighter and more floral, so it carries the citrus instead of competing with it.
Ingredients
- 200 g plain flour
- 180 g caster sugar
- 160 ml Memilon Lesvos extra virgin olive oil
- 3 eggs
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 120 ml plain yoghurt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
Method
- Heat the oven to 175°C and line a 22 cm round tin. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips until it smells of lemon.
- Whisk the eggs into the sugar until pale and thickened, about three minutes.
- Pour in the olive oil in a slow stream, whisking, then fold through the yoghurt and lemon juice.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, and fold just until no dry flour remains. Do not beat it.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and the top is deep gold. Cool in the tin for ten minutes.
- Serve barely warm, with an extra thread of olive oil over each slice if you want to be convincing about it.
The cake people ask about afterwards is almost always the olive oil one.
Use the gentler oil
Lesvos Kolovi is light and delicately fragrant — it perfumes the crumb without overpowering the lemon.
