Growing up, my mom always preferred lemon desserts. In the true fashion of trying to copy everything my mom liked, I have now developed a strong preference for citrus based desserts. But desserts are always a bit of a downfall for me when I have company over for dinner. I always seem to run out of time.
Enter this 7-ingredient lemon olive oil cake that involves no flour (gluten-free friendly and no flour all over your kitchen!) and no fancy baking equipment. You don’t even need vegetable oil! Just your regular everyday cooking extra virgin olive oil. Don’t have a cake pan? You can do this in a square brownie pan! Don’t have a lemon? Use an orange! The world is your oyster/cake. One bowl, a quick 15 mins in the oven and your dessert is ready.
The result is a thin, crumbly, spongey cake that’s not too sweet but hits the spot after a decadent meal. Also goes well with tea for an afternoon treat.
Lemon Olive Oil Cake
30 minutes total
Ingredients
2 large eggs
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large lemon zested (yields about 1 tbsp lemon zest)
2 cups almond flour (ground almonds)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp kosher salt
½ lemon, juiced (yields about 2 tablespoons)
Method
Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a 9” cake pan by oiling the sides/spraying with cooking spray and lining the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper
Tip: trace the bottom of your pan on a piece of parchment paper and cut out the circle to get the perfect piece
Whisk together the eggs, olive oil, sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl until smooth
Add the almond flour, baking powder and kosher salt on top. Mix together with the wet ingredients using a fork, which helps prevent you from overmixing. Mix until combined.
Add the lemon juice and fold into the mixture.
Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. The top should be evenly brown.
Let cool completely before serving. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar on top. Or with a big scoop of ice cream.