This Lemon Olive Oil Snack Cake is the best not too sweet lemon cake! I use extra virgin olive oil for a simple one bowl cake recipe that you will love!
If you love lemon desserts as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorite lemon desserts like my Rosemary Lemon Ginger Biscotti, Lemon Curd Coconut Thumbprint Cookies, or my Meyer Lemon Muffins!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is my favorite lemon cake I’ve ever made and that’s saying a lot! This Lemon Olive Oil Snack Cake is the perfect not too sweet lemon cake. This is a moist and fluffy lemon cake and it’s topped lemon buttercream and candied lemons.
This not too sweet lemon cake has a larger cake to frosting ratio, which is something I prefer. Growing up, I never liked frosting, I always thought it was too sweet. On the occasions we did get cake, I would trade my brother his cake for my frosting. While I have grown up since then, and I do enjoy frosting, I love that this is a not too sweet lemon cake!
This is an easy one bowl cake, meaning you can make it in one bowl with a wooden spoon, whisk or whatever you have. You can also use your mixer to make this cake as well, it’s super flexible!
Ingredients for Lemon Olive Oil Snack Cake
Carapelli Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Real Coco Organic Coconut Milk
Organic Lemon
Costco Kirkland Organic Cane Sugar
Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar
Frontier Co-Op Organic Lemon Flavor
How to Make Lemon Olive Oil Snack Cake
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
Step 2
To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer, or whisk), add the olive oil, coconut milk, lemon juice, cane sugar, eggs, and lemon flavor. Mix on low until combined.
Add the cake flour, baking powder, sea salt, and lemon zest in that order. Mix on low until combined. Transfer to the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.
Step 3
Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan. (Be sure to check the high altitude conversion at the bottom of the recipe in the Notes section for high altitude baking time!)
Step 4
To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer, or whisk), add
Step 5
Remove the cake from the pan and spread the frosting on top. Top with candied lemons (optional).
Tips for Lemon Olive Oil Snack Cake
• This is a very simple cake recipe as it is oil based. You can do this in a bowl with a wooden spoon or whisk, with a hand mixer, or even in your stand mixer! It’s that easy.
• If you want to use a hand mixer for the frosting, you can do that instead of stand mixer.
• If you don’t have extra virgin olive oil, you can avocado oil or canola oil instead.
• If you prefer to use cow’s milk you can use that in place of coconut milk. Either will work! I just love the lemon flavor paired with coconut milk, but I’ve made this both ways and it is delicious either way!
• If you don’t have cake flour, you can easily make your own with my simple recipe for Homemade Cake Flour. This is what I used in this recipe!
• If you don’t have lemon flavor, you can substitute the coconut milk for fresh lemon juice in the frosting. This will yield a different flavored cake as lemon flavor is a sweet lemon flavor and real lemon juice is fairly tart. If you prefer the tart lemon flavor, then opt for lemon juice!
• I top this with Candied Lemons, but you can also use naturally colored yellow sprinkles or fresh fruit as well. This would be delicious with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries too!
• Make sure to store extra cake in an airtight container so it stays moist and fluffy. A cake dome is the best option for this, but you can also use a Tupperware if you cut up slices or plastic wrap in a pinch (though this is not the best option as it’s not totally airtight and it’s not eco friendly).
Why Organic
Why use organic ingredients in this recipe? You all know I’m a huge organic advocate, and I bet you may be thinking sometimes, Why would I even bother to use organic ingredients in something that is so sweet and indulgent? But, that is the exact reason why you should use organic ingredients! Sweet things need to have flavor in order to be good, otherwise they are just sweet and they don’t taste like much else. Organic ingredients are more pure than conventional ones, therefore they actually have more flavor than the non organic options. Say it with me, organic means more flavor! And not just more flavor but a more true and pure flavor. And organic ingredients are much healthier for you to eat in general as they do not contain GMOs or anything artificial. Plus, you are being environmentally friendly when you choose organic ingredients!
So, I highly recommend that you buy the best organic ingredients for this recipe! You can also shop my Amazon Storefront for all my favorite organic ingredients here. Tip – hover over each ingredient to see the name. And if you want to learn more about organic foods and the difference, read my post here on Food Labels and What They Mean.
This not too sweet lemon cake is a simple 9-inch cake for any occasion! This Lemon Olive Oil Snack Cake is light, fluffy, and zesty!
Ingredients
- Batter
3/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic coconut milk
1/4 cup organic lemon juice
326 grams (1 1/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons) organic cane sugar
3 organic large eggs
390 grams (2 3/4 cups) organic cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Zest of 1 organic lemon
- Frosting
1/2 cup (113 grams) organic salted butter, softened
212 grams (1 1/2 cups) organic powdered sugar
1 tablespoon organic coconut milk
1 teaspoon organic lemon flavor
- Topping**
Organic Candied Lemons (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
- To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer, or whisk), add the olive oil, coconut milk, lemon juice, cane sugar, eggs, and lemon flavor. Mix on low until combined.
- Add the cake flour, baking powder, sea salt, and lemon zest in that order. Mix on low until combined. Transfer to the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.
- Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer, or whisk), add
- Remove the cake from the pan and spread the frosting on top. Top with candied lemons (optional).
- Serve immediately, or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Gluten Free – Replace the cake flour with 390 grams (2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon) organic gluten free flour blend.
- High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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