Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Bundt Cake
Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Bundt Cake
This olive cake has so much to offer! The hint of lemon, a vanilla glaze, the delicious essence of EVOO and an optional basil add on. What's not to love?!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 TBSP Meyer lemon juice
- Zest of Meyer lemon
- 3 eggs
- Optional Ingredient:
- A dozen basil leaves, coursly chopped
- Glaze:
- 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray. You can also use a round cake pan.
- Step 2 In a large bowl, sift together the two flours, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
- Step 3 In another bowl, add your eggs with the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and whip the mixture for about 4 minutes, until it is pale and airy.
- Step 4 Optional Step: If you are adding the basil, blend the milk with olive oil and basil in a food processor on high speed for about 2 minutes until the mixture turns a light lime green. Otherwise you will just add the milk and olive oil individually in the next step.
- Step 5 Make a well in the dry ingredients and add in the egg mixture and whisk. Add the milk and olive oil (or the optional basil mixture) next. Whisk until everything is combined.
- Step 6 Pour the batter into the pan and give it a light tapping to even it out and get out any air bubbles. Place it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Step 7 Let the cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a small knife around edge of cake, then turn the cake out onto rack to let cool completely.
- Step 8 To make the glaze: Whisk confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. Set cake and rack over tin foil. Drizzle glaze on cooled cake, allowing it to drip over edges. Let the glaze set for at least 20 minutes before serving.
- Step 9 You can serve the cake warm or allow it to cool and serve later.
It’s hard to believe now, but olive oil cake wasn’t even on my radar for the longest time. I of course saw it on dessert menus off and on for awhile, but it just never quite piqued my interest. As someone who generally gravitates towards the most chocolate-y dessert on the menu, I think it was the concept that confused me more than anything. What could olive oil possibly contribute to a cake that would make it the “star” ingredient? For this reason, I passed it by all these years until finally the hubby impressed upon me the significance of this dessert.
I wish I could remember which restaurant we were at when I finally took the plunge and ordered it. For the sake of this post, let’s say it was Maialino’s in New York – their OO cake is famous! – but needless to say, the rest was history. I’m a HUGE fan of it now and will never look back!
Olive oil cakes are wonderful for so many reasons, but they receive a lot of love for their exceptional “moistness” (yup, I made it a word), crispy golden crusts and their aromatics. In my opinion, the richness of the olive oil only improves the cake with time! I upped the ante even further with Meyer lemon juice and zest, a vanilla glaze, and if you’re feeling extra adventurous, an optional basil addition in step 4.
I found using a small spouted mug was a perfect way to drizzle the glaze over the cake.^
So this weekend, as I rolled up my sleeves on a rainy Saturday and got down to baking, I finally paid homage to this cake and gave it the love it deserves. I tried it out on our dinner guests that night and they were big fans, which is always a sign of a good recipe. And Marc and I were already craving it again so much the next morning that we decided to use up the leftover cake to make Olive Oil French Toast. Sounds crazy delicious right?! We’ll let you be the judge.
