Lemon Olive Oil Cake — My new FAVORITE lemon dessert of all time!! Lemon zest, juice, extract, and Limoncello add so much AMAZING lemon flavor to this EASY, ridiculously moist no-mixer cake that’s unique and INCREDIBLE!!
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This easy, one-bowl, no-mixer cake is a my new favorite lemon dessert. That’s a huge statement because this Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf with hundreds of glowing reviews is very hard to beat.
The olive oil lemon cake itself if not overly sweet, which I appreciated since it’s rich from the olive oil.
This is an excellent cake for holiday parties and events. It is a talking piece kind of cake rather than just another chocolate cake that we’ve all had a zillion times. Unique and different in the best possible way.
It would be the perfect cake to serve after a fancier dinner party with equally rich or luxurious food. I liken olive oil cake to cakes served in fancy restaurants. They are never sugar bombs – even the chocolate ones. They are more refined and tend to have unique flavor pairings that you don’t encounter often.
Ingredients in Lemon Olive Oil Cake
To make this supremely moist lemon cake recipe with olive oil, you’ll need:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Eggs
- Whole milk
- Lemon juice and zest
- Limoncello (store-bought or homemade)
- Lemon extract
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Confectioners’ sugar
Limoncello Substitute
I realize you may not want to buy a bottle of Limoncello just for this recipe, and you can substitute an orange-flavored liqueur like Gran Marnier. Or, you can make your own limoncello – but it needs 2 to 6 weeks before it can be enjoyed!
How to Make Lemon Olive Oil Cake
This recipe for Italian lemon cake with olive oil is incredibly easy to make! Here’s a look at how it comes together:
- Simply whisk together the wet ingredients, then add in the dry.
- Turn the batter into a greased and parchment-lined 9-inch springform pan.
- Bake the limoncello cake until golden brown and domed in the center.
- The cake needs to cool for 1 hour in the pan, then you can release it and let it finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Dust with confectioner’s sugar just before serving.
A note about the bake time: This limoncello cake bakes in a fairly cool oven for a long duration, low and slow. Start checking your cake at 60 minutes, but due to oven and climate variances it could take as long as 75 minutes or so to bake; watch you cake and not the clock.
Love Olive Oil Desserts?
After making this Italian lemon olive oil cake, try making my orange olive oil cake and olive oil chocolate chip cookies next!
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! Not every cake recipe is suitable for using olive oil (rather than canola or vegetable oil), but this Italian cake is perfect with olive oil!
If you’ve never tried baking with olive oil, you’re missing out! I have always preferred oil in cake rather than butter. Oil is 100% fat whereas butter is about 80% fat. That extra 20% of fat simply keeps oil-based cakes softer and moister than butter cakes. You can’t argue with science.
Olive oil cakes are supremely soft, tender, and exceedingly moist without being too heavy or dense. You can literally almost see the moistness oozing from the cake, but it doesn’t taste greasy and it stays moist for days. The cake is just as good a week later as it is on the first day which never happens with cakes, and it’s even more moist.
What I tasted more than anything was the lovely lemon flavor without being too tart or overpowering. The cake has lemon incorporated four ways: lemon zest, lemon juice, Limoncello liqueur, and lemon extract.
I used Trader Joe’s Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil and while I’m sure the flavor of the cake will change depending on the exact brand and type of oil used, I recommend a quality extra-virgin olive oil here. Something you’d dip bread in, cook chicken in, or use in a homemade salad dressing.
If you use a cheap olive oil, it will have a stronger, harsher flavor that will negatively affect the cake.
You only use 1/4 cup of limoncello in the entire cake, which doesn’t sound like much but it’s also something I wouldn’t skip. It adds a luxurious flavor that’s so elegant tasting.
If you don’t drink alcohol for whatever the reason, I cannot say how the cake will taste or turn out if you, for example, just use 1/4 cup water in its place or use an extra 1/4 cup lemon juice — that worries me more because of the extra acidity in the lemon juice coupled with the baking soda/powder and I’m not sure what will happen.
My thoughts are that during baking, the potency of the actual alcohol bakes off and what you’re left with is simply the flavor. Again, it’s only 1/4 cup divided between a cake that will easily feed 12 so each person is maybe getting 1/2 teaspoon. Cough syrup has more.
Yes! Do NOT make this cake in a regular 9-inch cake pan. Most are only about 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep and this cake rises to about 2 1/2 to 3 inches on the sides and nearly 4 inches in the center. It will overflow in a regular 9-inch pan.
Sure thing! You can make orange olive oil cake, or play around with using grapefruit or lime zest and juice. I’m sure any kind of olive oil citrus cake would be delicious!
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Lemon Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons grated lemon zest
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ cup Limoncello, Gran Marnier may be substituted
- 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F, add a circle of parchment paper to the base of a 9-inch springform pan, and spray the parchment paper and the sides of the pan very well with cooking spray; set aside. Do not make this cake in a regular 9-inch cake pan. Most are only about 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep and this cake rises to about 2 1/2 to 3 inches on the sides and nearly 4 inches in the center. It will overflow in a regular 9-inch pan.
- To a large bowl, add the olive oil, eggs, and whisk well to emulsify and incorporate.
- Add the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice (I was able to get sufficient zest and juice from one very large ripe lemon), Limoncello, lemon extract, and whisk to incorporate.
- Add the sugar and whisk to incorporate.
- Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and whisk until just incorporated; don’t overmix. The batter in on the thin side; this is normal.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, place pan on a baking sheet as insurance against a leaky springform pan, and bake for about 68 to 75 minutes. Start checking after 60 minutes since all ovens vary. Cake will be golden browned and domed in the center when done, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow cake to cool in the springform pan for about 1 hour before releasing it and allowing the cake to finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Dust with confectioners’ sugar prior to serving. Cake will keep airtight at room temp for 1 week and although I haven’t tried it, I think this cake would freeze very well for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Lemon Desserts:
The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat) – Took years but I finally recreated it!! Easy, no mixer, no cake mix, dangerously good, and SPOT ON!!
Lemon Lemonies – Like brownies, but made with lemon and white chocolate! Dense, chewy, not cakey and packed with big, bold lemon flavor!
Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze – An easy little cake with big lemon flavor! Soft, fluffy, and foolproof if you like puckering up!
Lemon Crinkle Cookies — Lemon crinkles are pillowy soft on the inside and chewy on the outside, with slightly crispy edges from the powdered sugar coating!
Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies – Packed with big, bold lemon flavor for all you lemon lovers! They’re soft, chewy and not at all cakey!
Softbatch Glazed Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies – Big, bold lemon flavor packed into super soft cookies thanks to the cream cheese!! Tangy-sweet perfection! Lemon lovers are going to adore these easy cookies!!
Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread — This EASY, no-mixer homemade quick bread combines tangy lemon flavor with tender zucchini which keeps it so incredibly soft, tender, and moist!
Originally published December 27, 2019 and republished February 18, 2022 with updated text.
Everyone loved it! I think it’s a perfect treat to have with coffee in the morning! And olive oil makes it more healthy:) I made it again and covered the top with thin lemon slices before baking, worked great and made each piece even more lemony and the cake looks beautiful. Also I subbed Lemonsello with rum and it worked out! Thank you!
Everyone loved it! I think it’s a perfect treat to have with coffee in the morning! And olive oil makes it more healthy:) I made it again and covered the top with thin lemon slices before baking, worked great and made each piece even more lemony and the cake looks beautiful. Also I subbed Lemonsello with rum and it worked out! Thank you!
Glad everyone loved this and I am sure the thin lemon slices add an extra beautiful touch!
I made this cake for my Mom’s 90th birthday. It was delicious, everyone loved it! Will definitely make again.
I made this cake for my Mom’s 90th birthday. It was delicious, everyone loved it! Will definitely make again.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this came out great and that you will definitely make it again!
Happy 90th birthday to you mom, this will be a memorable year, that is for sure!
Mad this delicious cake again for my Mom’s 92nd birthday celebration..still her favorite.
Happy birthday to your mom and I am glad to hear this is her favorite cake! How lovely for me to know that!
Made this cake today. Wish I could include a picture. It came out well, however, the center is a bit mushy. I can taste the alcohol and I really don’t care for it. I did bake it the full 75 minutes and it smelled amazing coming out of the oven. Just wish it was a bit more fluffy rather than mushy. I think maybe I needed to do just one cup of oil instead? Either way, I will be experimenting with this recipe again. Maybe next time I’ll do the orange and omit the liqueur.
Made this cake today. Wish I could include a picture. It came out well, however, the center is a bit mushy. I can taste the alcohol and I really don’t care for it. I did bake it the full 75 minutes and it smelled amazing coming out of the oven. Just wish it was a bit more fluffy rather than mushy. I think maybe I needed to do just one cup of oil instead? Either way, I will be experimenting with this recipe again. Maybe next time I’ll do the orange and omit the liqueur.
If you can taste the alcohol and it had a very soft texture (mushy) I am fairly certain you needed to bake it a bit longer. It’s a very dense cake, so it will always seem super moist, but just based on what you wrote, another 5-15 minutes may not have hurt. Glad you will experiment again and yes you can omit liquor and I suggest a longer bake time too. All ingredients, climates, ovens, etc vary.
How can I scale down this recipe?
How can I scale down this recipe?
Not sure since I have only made it like this and it’s not common at all to have a 5-inch cake pan springform style if you were to halve the recipe. I would make as written and know that you can freeze it or give extra to a neighbor, family, etc.
Why do I have to scroll for a mile before finding the recipe?
I just made this cake and it is fantastic!!
Only adjustments I made were as follows:
1. Swapped lemon extract for vanilla as I didn’t have any lemon
2. Reduced the sugar to just 1 cup and this was still just the right sweetness for us
3. Drizzled limoncello on top when the cakes come out of the oven so it falls into all the cracks of the cake and makes it that much more lemony!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Will be making it again and again and again!
I just made this cake and it is fantastic!!
Only adjustments I made were as follows:
1. Swapped lemon extract for vanilla as I didn’t have any lemon
2. Reduced the sugar to just 1 cup and this was still just the right sweetness for us
3. Drizzled limoncello on top when the cakes come out of the oven so it falls into all the cracks of the cake and makes it that much more lemony!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Will be making it again and again and again!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that it turned out fantastic and that you were able to get away with vanilla extract and less sugar, too! I’ve always wondered if less is possible but have never experimented. Thanks for sharing your results.
I’m sure the limoncello on top was great too!
Glad you’ll be making this again and again!
I made this yesterday – super moist and tastes so fresh with the lemon (love the yellow color of the cake!) Next time I would add another teaspoon of extract and more zest to really boost the level of lemon flavor (I only used 1t of lemon extract ) Thank for sharing the recipe – Happy New Year!
I made this yesterday – super moist and tastes so fresh with the lemon (love the yellow color of the cake!) Next time I would add another teaspoon of extract and more zest to really boost the level of lemon flavor (I only used 1t of lemon extract ) Thank for sharing the recipe – Happy New Year!
Glad it’s super moist and that you’ll be making it again!
This cake looks so good! I’m totally giving it a try with the kids today!
Paige
https://thehappyflammily.com
I hope you were able to make it! LMK how it went!
OK!! I love that you love lemons. I love them as well. I used to eat them. However, I am very new to baking so what is Limoncello? HELP
Google it but it’s a lemon liqueur.
I’ve been making my own Limoncello for a few years now. It’s easy, but requires some time to peel the lemons without getting any pith (the white part). My lovely neighbor gives me tons of lemons. You can google how to make it.
I love olive oil-based cakes, even if only recently I made my first… not sure you follow the Great American Baking Show, but I was a contestant this year, and our very first assignment was to bake an olive oil cake…
if you don’t mind me including a link…. https://bewitchingkitchen.com/2019/12/13/the-great-american-baking-show/