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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!
So simple that a novice baker like myself did it. Turned out very yummy, better and more moist on the second day. Prep time was a bit longer since zesting lemons can take more than 5 minutes, more like 15-20 minutes. I also misread and mixed together all the dry ingredients into the flour, which I folded in last. It turned out ok. If I’m in a hurry next time, I would probably leave out the lemon zest to save time and add more cinnamon or other spices (ie, cardamom) instead. Thanks for posting such a great recipe!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Tammy!
What a great recipe. My first ever lemon cake.. I’d Post an image but can’t see how. I iced with a cream cheese lemon icing. Definitely a keeper. Thanks so much
Love how you added cream cheese icing – sound fantastic! Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to add a picture here, but feel free to tag me on instagram if you shared a picture there, would love to see 🙂
Wonderful…I made this in a muffin pan…so good!
Just made this cake this afternoon, it was is satisfying and easier than I thought. I used fresh lemon rind & let it cool with melted pats of butter.
that sounds delicious!
This recipe was AMAZING! I can’t eat dairy so I was worried I would taste the olive oil, but this pound cake had the perfect amount of vanilla, lemon juice and sugar to create a wonderful flavor! I used a gluten-free flour blend and I did have to bake mine for 90 minutes, but I would definitely recommend this recipe. 🙂
So glad it worked out for you, Michele! Thank you for letting me know that GF flour also works and the bake time on it!
My husband tried to make mayonnaise (olive oil, eggs, and lemon) but couldn’t get it to emulsify. I didn’t want to waste a cup of fine olive oil (during the current pandemic) so I went searching for an olive oil cake and found your recipe. I used 3/4 cup of his failed experiment, added an egg, some zest, and the rest of the ingredients in your recipe and voila! It came out beautifully. Thank you so much!
How clever! I would have never thought to do that! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment 🙂
Delightful cake! Easy recipe, delicious results! I baked it for 44 minutes in an 8×8 aluminum pan (I don’t have a loaf pan) and it was perfect! I cut the cake in half and then each half in slices so, somewhat resembled typical pound cake slices? The flavor was subtle and the lemon just present enough. I may have pinched too lightly with the cinnamon and nutmeg and next time I will pinch a bit more as I didn’t really notice them at all. The crumb is moist and the outer edge holds up nicely. A winner of a recipe!
Thank you for letting me know that this recipe also works in a square baking pan, I know others were interested in this as well. A more generous pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg is never a bad idea in my book 😉 I so appreciate you taking the time to come back and comment!
I so enjoyed making this! I did substitute the lemon zest for extract. I
Very delicious! Mine looks just like your picture. Followed the directions carefully but used a square pan.
JR, did you use an 8×8 pan? Glass or aluminum? Any modification on the bake time? I’d love to make this cake but don’t have a loaf pan.
Loved it! Made it for Easter and served with fresh strawberries. Moist cake with just the right crisp crust and lemon tang.
Ok my original comment was “the crust was pretty burnt and the lemon flavor was barely there” but on second thought I don’t think this is a bad thing. I like that the lemon flavor is understated and not too sugary, and the hard crust gave it structure. It actually wasn’t really burnt. The texture of this really is the star of the show. It’s not crumbly at all, but bouncy.
I dont have fresh lemon can lemon juice or lemon extract used as a substitute foe the lemon zest and if so how much?
Yes, just swap the fresh juice for bottled lemon juice (the same amount) and sub in about 1/8 teaspoon of lemon extract for the zest! Hope you enjoy the lemon pound cake
Can I use whole milk?
That will work!
This is a truly amazing cake. Simply wonderful. Six days later, this cake is still moist and delicious — even without a drizzle or glaze. I chose to make this with some leftover citrus — Meyer lemons and limes — and it is just dreamy. Because I am a citrus FREAK, I increased the total zest to 5t total — my only modification. I will be trying this with all kinds of citrus! Even my citrus-averse relatives thought this cake was lovely. Thank you so much for this excellent recipe!
Wow, baked these and nailed it at the first try because this recipe is GREAT.
Modifications I made:
-baked muffins instead, still at 350F. Watch them after 15 minutes, until done.
-did gluten free blend. I halved the recipe, so only needed 1 cup of flour. I blended 40-50% rice flour, 40% teff flour, 20% almond flour. Sorry, I’ve just got a rough estimate! The texture on these is fantastic. Can’t even tell they’re GF. And, I like being able to make my own blend of GF flour.
-used macadamia nut milk; I recommend the fattiest alternative milk you can get for baking
-halved the recipe, used two whole large eggs
-shaved off 30% of the sugar and it was still a tad too sweet for me. Sweeten to your liking, but I like it less sweet!
Yum! Thank you!! Can’t wait to make these agin and again.
It doesn’t seem like very much lemon juice or zest. Can I add more?
Really really yummy. The flavors are beautiful. I’ve made olive oil cakes before, tried various recipes including ones that add orange juice, etc. But this pound cake’s flavor is my favorite. Something about the cinnamon and nutmeg, gives it a lovely twist. Love this.
Can I substitute milk with buttermilk? I am reading to make it now and am out of milk!
Sorry, I’m not sure whether buttermilk would make a good substitute in this recipe. If you decide to give it a try, I would love to know how it went!
Wow!…Easy, Delicious, Scarfed Down!
First time a cake I’ve made has come out super moist.
Great recipe. Easy to follow and great results.