Olive Oil Citron Cake

Lemony Snippets: A Series of Citrus

This is a bit of a redux from an earlier post I made about a citron cake, but because I like changing the past, there have been some tweaks made! Sidenote: I will likely re-post a few recipes from this Substack that I’ve tested and re-tested. Just to make sure you have every chance of success if you do decide to make them!

A citron cake is a classic French baking staple. But one that does often uses butter/buttermilk/lemon curd. I did a partnership with Graza olive oil recently and there really couldn’t have been a better option to uplift the lemon and showcase the olive oil than this cake. Olive oil cakes themselves are popular for a reason. They’re incredibly easy. That’s not a diss, but it’s important to know that simple, successful recipes like this are what keep people cooking more. This recipe is straightforward and works best with Graza’s ‘Drizzle’ or ‘Sizzle’ EVOO. Add some whipped cream/merengue on top with an extra pour of olive oil and you’re golden…just like this cake!

Coming soon: many more lemon and citrus forward recipes.

---

Recipe

Need

• 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan (or similar)

• Ladle

Ingredients

250g AP flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
150g granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
Zest of 3 lemons
115g full fat Greek yoghurt (or ricotta)
4 whole eggs, room temp
215g Graza EVOO
Juice of 3 lemons (same lemons from zest)
1 cup granulated sugar

Sieve the flour and baking powder mixture into a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, lemon zest, vanilla, yoghurt, and 4 eggs until well combined. Add the olive oil and whisk thoroughly to incorporate. Add the sieved flour mixture to the batter, and whisk until combined. Make sure the batter is smooth and no visible lumps are present. It should form ribbons as it drips off of a spatula. Let the batter rest for 30-45 minutes.

Prepare your loaf pan by spraying with nonstick spray. Line the sides with cut out strips of parchment paper to ensure the cake does not stick. Once the batter is rested, pour into the loaf pan.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 45-55 minutes (rotating halfway through) or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. While baking, make the lemon syrup. Add lemon juice and sugar to a pot and heat over medium high heat until simmering, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Keep on low heat. Once the cake is baked, Remove from loaf pan and let cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes. Poke the cake all over with a tooth pick or cake tester. Ladle your syrup over the cake until it’s all gone.

Let cool and slice. Serve with whipped cream and even more olive oil.