Lemon Olive Oil Cake Recipe: Moist, Tender & Easy

This lemon olive oil cake is everything a simple cake should be: moist, tender, fragrant with fresh lemon, and ready in under an hour with one bowl and a whisk. Instead of butter, it uses extra virgin olive oil, which gives the crumb a soft, springy texture and a gentle fruity depth that butter cannot match. It keeps beautifully for days, and many people (us included) think it tastes even better on day two.

Prep: 15 minutes | Bake: 40–45 minutes | Serves: 8–10 | Pan: 9-inch (22 cm) round

Why Olive Oil Makes the Best Lemon Cake

Butter is solid at room temperature, so a butter cake can turn firm and dry as it cools. Olive oil stays liquid, which is why a good olive oil cake stays moist and soft long after it comes out of the oven. The oil also carries flavor: green, fruity notes sit naturally next to citrus, so the lemon tastes brighter rather than sweeter.

That is why olive oil cake is a classic across the Mediterranean, where olive oil is simply the everyday fat. In Greece, olive oil sweets and cakes are part of the home-baking tradition, especially in olive-growing regions like Crete.

Which Olive Oil to Use for Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Because the oil is a main ingredient here and not just a background fat, its flavor shows up in the finished cake. Use a fresh extra virgin olive oil that tastes good on its own; a tired or rancid oil will make a tired, rancid cake. (Not sure how to tell? Our guide on how to spot a truly great extra virgin olive oil explains what to look for.)

We bake this cake with Memilon Crete extra virgin olive oil, a single-origin Koroneiki oil from our family estate in Phaistos, in the Messara plain of southern Crete. It is early harvest and cold extracted below 80°F (27°C), with 0.29–0.31% acidity and 610 mg/kg polyphenols in our lab analyses (read more in The Power of Polyphenols). It is grassy and peppery on its own; in the oven the pepper softens and leaves a green, fruity note that pairs well with lemon. Drizzle a little extra over each slice at the table and you will taste the difference.

Prefer a milder, more delicate cake? Bake it with our delicate Lesvos Kolovi olive oil instead: golden, light and delicately fragrant, it lets the lemon lead.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake Ingredients

• 1⅔ cups (200 g) all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon fine salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• Scant 1 cup (180 g) granulated sugar
• Zest of 2 lemons
• ⅔ cup (160 ml) Memilon Crete extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup (120 ml) plain yogurt (Greek or regular)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Optional lemon glaze: ¾ cup (90 g) powdered sugar whisked with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

How to Make Lemon Olive Oil Cake

1. Prepare the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9-inch (22 cm) round cake pan with a little olive oil and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Make lemon sugar. In a large bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips until the sugar is damp and smells strongly of lemon. This pulls the essential oils out of the zest and gives the cake its fragrance.
3. Whisk the eggs. Add the eggs and whisk for about 3 minutes, until pale, thick and slightly increased in volume.
4. Add the olive oil. Pour in the olive oil in a slow, steady stream while whisking so it blends in smoothly. Whisk in the yogurt and lemon juice.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the bowl. Fold gently with a spatula until no dry flour remains. Do not overmix, or the cake will turn tough.
6. Bake. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40–45 minutes, until the top is deep golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool and finish. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Spread the glaze over the cooled cake if you like, or serve it plain with a thread of olive oil on each slice.

Tips for the Best Olive Oil Cake

• Use room-temperature eggs and yogurt. They blend more evenly with the oil and give a lighter crumb.
• Zest before you juice. It is much easier to zest a whole lemon than a squeezed one.
• Measure flour carefully. Spoon it into the cup and level it off, or better, weigh it. Packed flour makes a dry cake.
• Do not skip the resting time. The flavor and texture settle as the cake cools, and the lemon becomes more pronounced the next day.

Storage and variations

Wrap the cooled cake well and keep it at room temperature for up to 3 days; olive oil cake does not need the fridge. For an orange version, swap the lemon zest and juice for orange. For a gluten-free option, a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend can replace the all-purpose flour, though the crumb will be slightly more delicate.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake FAQ

Can I use any olive oil for olive oil cake?

Extra virgin olive oil gives the best flavor. Choose a fresh, good-tasting one, because you will taste it in the finished cake. Very bitter, intensely peppery oils will be more noticeable than mild ones, so start with the amount in the recipe and adjust to your taste next time.

Why is my olive oil cake dense?

The most common causes are overmixing the batter after the flour goes in, packing the flour into the measuring cup, and old baking powder. Fold the flour in gently and stop as soon as it disappears.

Does olive oil cake taste like olive oil?

It tastes subtly fruity and rich, not like a salad. Baking mellows the oil, and the lemon keeps the flavor bright.

Can I make lemon olive oil cake ahead?

Yes. It is one of the best make-ahead cakes: bake it a day early, keep it covered at room temperature, and glaze just before serving.

Bake It With Great Olive Oil

A simple cake is only as good as its few ingredients. If you want to bake this lemon olive oil cake with the same oil we use, you can find Memilon Crete high polyphenol Greek extra virgin olive oil in a light-proof 1 L tin (33.8 fl oz), with free shipping on every order. Looking for more ways to cook with it? Try our Greek salad or Cretan dakos next, or browse all of our Greek extra virgin olive oils.