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This One Bowl Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake is perfection! The crumb is tender and moist, and the flavor is just incredible.
Did I just say olive oil pound cake?
Oh yes, I did. Olive oil.
This stuff isn’t just for making savory dishes.
It pairs so beautifully with lemons and a few select spices. And we use just enough olive oil to make the pound cake incredibly moist and tender. And honestly, I’m just transported back to the Amalfi Coast all over again.
My intentions for this lemon olive oil pound cake was for it to be sweet, but not too sweet. Easily swappable if you wanted to use orange zest instead of lemon. And also, something a little different than my whole orange cake.
So this recipe starts the way most do, you’ll need flour, baking powder, and granulated sugar. But instead of using butter in the batter, if using olive oil. And I’ll tell you this: I’ve even swapped the olive oil for extra virgin Meyer lemon olive and this pound cake comes out perfect every single time.
First time a cake I’ve made has come out super moist. Great recipe. Easy to follow and great results.
How to make olive oil pound cake:
Ingredients for olive oil pound cake
- olive oil (of course)
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- large eggs
- whole milk
- baking powder
- lemon juice and lemon zest
- vanilla extract
- a pinch of each: nutmeg + cinnamon
The spices are entirely optional for today’s lemon pound cake recipe, but I promise you, I’ll never make this without them because they make the whole house smell DIVINE.
Making Olive Oil Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven and prep your pan. Start by placing a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
- Combine the ingredients. in a large mixing bowl, whisk the olive oil sugar eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and milk. You could also do this on low speed in a stand mixer, but honestly, I use a whisk and a bowl and keep it simple. Since we aren’t using butter, we don’t need to cream anything. Simply combine the wet ingredients. Then fold in the fry ingredients into the mixture.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.Bake until the center is tested with a cake tester and comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan on the counter for several minute before attempting to remove. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Why I think you should make this recipe
- ONE BOWL. I repeat: one bowl.
- Tender and moist on the inside
- Sweet, but not too sweet
- Makes your house smell like a little corner bakery
Other dessert recipes to try:
One Bowl Lemon Olive Oil Pound Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup milk I used 2%
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg optional but sooo good
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon optional but sooo good
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray (you can also line it with a piece of parchment paper and leave an overhang to act as a handle to help remove the cake from the pan if you’re worried about the cake sticking.)
- STIR: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and milk. When combined, stir in the lemon zest, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Fold in the flour until *just* combined. If you overmix, the pound cake will come out tough.
- BAKE: Pour the prepared batter into your loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Cool the pound cake for roughly 30 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from the pan, and let cool to room temperature (about another 30 minutes.) Sometimes, I like to serve this dusted with a light coating of powdered sugar before slicing and serving!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Easy peasy lemon olivey. I subbed cloves and orange zest for nutmeg and lemon zest respectively, and it turned out great!
I just learned how to bake, @ 68 years old. This recipe was fantastic! Easy to follow with amazing results.
I made this beautiful cake today and it was super easy. I used macadamia oil and left out the lemon zest and juice. It was very moist and delicious. Any chance to add metric measurements please ?
So good! And easy to make. I whipped up a simple glaze with powdered sugar and lemon juice and poured it on top. It makes such a great snack to have with a cup of coffee. Starbucks, eat your heart out!
Love this recipe! I made it with buttermilk and instead of vanilla I used almond extract! Delicious!
I used cake flour instead of ap and light cream instead of milk. I also added lemon extract along with fresh lemon zest and fresh lemon juice. While cooling I poked small holes in the cake and drizzled a thin lemon juice/conf sugar mixture.
Sliced beautifully, super moist and lemony. Tyou for the baseline recipe.
This is literally my favorite lemon loaf recipe I’ve found. I’ve made it probably a dozen times!!
I would recommend adding the sugar 1/2 a cup at a time, and fully incorporating it into the olive oil before adding more. Adding all the sugar at once makes it a a little hard to whisk. I also find (at least in my oven) it takes closer to the 65 minutes than the 55 minutes for the middle to bake.
Thank you for sharing!
I’ve made this many times over the years and continue to really love it. The olive oil flavor is bold and prevents the cake from being too sweet. Soy milk works great as a substitute for dairy milk.
Regular, virgin or extra virgin olive oil?
Great recipe— I made a few modifications since I’m gluten intolerant. Used Bobs Red Mill 1:1 baking flour, I reduced the sugar to 1 cup, used almond milk vanilla unsweetened, and I added an extra egg since my eggs weren’t that large. I had left over lemon juice (not much) so I poured it in after pouring the batter into the loaf pan. Thought it was a mistake and I got worried that it made it too watery. I baked it for 55 min and followed your instructions afterwards. It smelled so good while it was baking. Results: It was delicious! It is so moist and soft, and the crust!! Wish I could post pictures. Definitely a winner! I’ll be making this again.
This is my second review for this recipe, but it deserves it. To this day this is one of my favorite cake recipes. It never fails — it’s always moist and delicious for days and freezes like a dream. I always double the zest (I am a citrus freak!) of whatever citrus I’m using and the spices are essential to making this truly special. Thanks again for sharing such a lovely recipe!
Can I use blood oranges instead? Is it a direct swap?
May I know the ingredients measurements in grams? Thank you
Good ingredients. I would say 55 mins is way too long for this in the oven, try for 45.
During the 17 years I have been baking, I never bothered leaving a comment, but this recipe is so unbelievably good I had to let people know: this is the best cake I have ever made. The recipe is so easy yet the cake is so professional, now my family asks me to make it a couple times a week, and they don’t buy any sweet bread in the store anymore! Hugs and gratitude from Mexico !
Delicious! Easy make, and darn tasty
Delicious! Brings me back to baking with my Mom.
I had some lemon crumble from a previous lemon muffin recipe in the freezer and I sprinkled that on top before baking, and it was so good!