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Baked » Recipes » Cakes and Cupcakes

Lemon Olive Oil Cake With Greek Yogurt

Published: Feb 27, 2022 · Modified: Jan 4, 2023 by Kelly Neil · This post may contain affiliate links · 49 Comments

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Rich oil, tangy yogurt, and fresh lemon were made for one another in this lemon olive oil cake. Don’t skip the sweet and zippy lemon icing!

Overhead image of a lemon olive oil cake on a pink plate with one slice laying down on the plate and a knife alongside the edge of the plate.

Photography by Kelly Neil

This post first appeared on September 10, 2014 and was last updated February 27, 2022.

Lemon olive oil cake is so easy cake to make! With its beautiful, citrus-forward flavour, it will be a showstopper on your family table (and no one will ever know it came together in one bowl in under 20 minutes).

You need a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan for this recipe as we haven’t tested the cake with anything but. We recommend Nordic Ware Bundt pans as they are remarkably robust, non-stick, and simply beautiful.

We chose cake flour for this recipe as it’s milled finer than all-purpose flour. Cake flour generally yields a lighter, fluffier cake with a higher rise. If you don’t have cake flour you can use all-purpose flour in its place.

We made a thick lemon icing for the top of this lemon cake using white food colouring. If you haven’t heard of, or tried using white food colouring, it’s a game changer for cake and cookie icing! Powdered sugar alone doesn’t give you the true white that white food colouring can add. Using it is totally optional, but if you’re curious, you can find it online or at Michaels. We also dusted the top of this cake with gold sugar, which can be purchased in the same places.

Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • Tips & Notes
  • Substitutions
  • Recipe

Close up of a slice of lemon olive oil cake on a pink glass plate.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

Ingredients

For The Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Ingredients to make lemon olive oil cake.
  • Greek Yogurt — We use full-fat thick Greek yogurt for this recipe. You can try it with lower-fat yogurt, however, the texture of the cake will probably change.
  • Olive Oil — We chose a generic grocery-store brand extra virgin olive oil for this cake. Your choice of olive oil will determine the resulting flavour of the cake, however, it’s well-balanced with the lemon so don’t use an expensive oil.
  • Lemon — Fresh lemon zest and juice will yield the best flavour. Don’t use bottled juice if you don’t have to.
  • Cake & Pastry Flour — Cake flour generally yields a lighter, fluffier cake with a higher rise. If you don’t have cake flour you can use all-purpose flour in its place.

For The Lemon Glaze

Ingredients to make lemon icing.
  • White Food Colouring — Powdered sugar alone doesn’t give you the true white that white food colouring can add. Using it is totally optional, but if you’re curious, you can find it online or at Michaels.

Method

Make The Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Unmixed wet cake ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to a mixing bowl.
A hand whisking wet cake ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Whisk until well combined.
A hand using the back of a spoon to press flour through a fine mesh sieve into a mixing bowl.
Sift in the flour and baking powder.
Sifted dry ingredients on top of wet ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Add the salt.
A hand stirring cake batter with a rubber spatula.
Stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
Cake batter in a large glass mixing bowl with a rubber spatula in the bowl.
A few streaks of flour are ok!
A hand scooping cake batter into a Bundt pan using a small measuring cup.
Scoop into a greased Bundt pan.
A hand smoothing cake batter in a tin with a rubber spatula.
Smooth the top of the batter.
Cake batter in a cake tin.
The batter won’t reach the top of the tin.
A baked cake in a tin on a wire rack.
The cake is done when the top springs back after pressing with a finger.
Hands holding a wire rack over the top of a cake tin, about to flip the cake over onto the rack.
After 10 minutes, flip the cake over onto a wire rack.
A baked lemon olive oil cake on a cooling rack.
Cool completely before glazing.

Make The Lemon Glaze

A hand using the back of a spoon to press powdered sugar through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.
Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl.
A hand holding a measuring spoon of white food colouring over a bowl of sifted powdered sugar.
Add the white food colouring if using.
A hand mixing icing with a spoon.
Stir lemon juice in by the ½ teaspoon.
A hand stirring icing in a glass bowl with a spoon.
The glaze should be quite thick, like honey.
A hand pouring icing over the top of a lemon olive oil cake from a small jug.
Pour the glaze over the top of the cake.
Overhead image of a lemon olive oil cake on a pink plate.
Decorate the icing with anything you like.

Tips & Notes

  • Full-fat Greek yogurt is the best choice for a super moist cake. See below for substitutions.
  • We don’t recommend substituting the olive oil as it lends a definitive flavour to this Greek yogurt cake. We use extra virgin olive oil.
  • Room temperature eggs are easier to mix and will emulsify with the olive oil faster than eggs cold from the refrigerator.
  • Cake & pastry flour is milled more finely than all-purpose flour. It has a lower protein content, and is also bleached. These components yield a lighter, fluffier cake with a higher rise. We recommend using it if you can.
  • We use 10-cup non-stick Nordic Ware Bundt pans. This is not a sponsored post, it’s just our Bundt standard. We haven’t tested this lemon yogurt cake using regular cake tins.
  • If you don’t have baking spray, lightly grease your pan with olive oil using a pastry brush. Dab any pools of oil in the bottom of the pan with a paper towel before you pour in the lemon cake batter.
  • If you haven’t heard of, or tried using white food colouring, it’s a game changer for cake and cookie icing! Powdered sugar alone doesn’t give you the true white that white food colouring can add. Using it is totally optional, but if you’re curious, you can find it online or at Michaels.
  • The lemon icing should be thicker than you think. If it runs quickly off the end of a spoon, it will run too quickly over your cake. Thicker glaze will have a chance to settle on the cake before it runs down to the serving platter. To thicken the glaze add more powdered sugar.

How To Store Lemon Olive Oil Cake

  • Store your Greek yogurt cake, loosely covered with aluminum foil on the counter for up to two days. After that, place it in the fridge. If your house or climate is super hot or humid, store the cake in the fridge directly after serving.
  • We don’t recommend storing this cake in airtight containers. The lack of air makes the glaze sort of wet and runny which does not look good.
A lemon olive oil cake on a pink plate with a slice removed.

Substitutions

  • You can use full-fat sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt. We think ricotta would also work, however, we haven’t tested this.
  • If you don’t have cake & pastry flour, you can substitute all-purpose flour. Keep in mind there’s a risk your lemon Bundt cake could turn out a bit drier if using all-purpose.
  • Fresh squeezed orange or grapefruit juice are great substitutes for lemon.
Three slices of lemon olive oil cake on plates.

More Lemon Recipes

Lemon Blueberry Crepe Cake
Strawberry Lemonade Sangria
Lemon Curd Ice Cream (No-Churn)
Lemon Elderflower Popsicles

Recipe

Overhead image of a lemon olive oil cake on a pink plate with one slice laying down on the plate and a knife alongside the edge of the plate.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake With Greek Yogurt

4.7 from 10 votes
Author: adapted from Gabriel Cabrera
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 37 minutes mins
Total Time 57 minutes mins
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Comments

Description

 

Rich oil, tangy yogurt, and fresh lemon were made for one another in this lemon olive oil cake. Don't skip the sweet and zippy lemon icing!

Equipment

  • Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk
  • Rubber spatula or wooden spoon
  • 10-cup non-stick Bundt pan
  • Wire rack

Ingredients
 

For The Lemon Olive Oil Cake

  • 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • Zest of a lemon
  • ¼ cup juice of a lemon, 63ml juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 ½ cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt

For The Lemon Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon white food colouring, optional
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Makes: 10inch10 x 10inch round

Instructions
 

Make The Lemon Olive Oil Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180ºC). Lightly spray the inside of a 10-cup non-stick Bundt pan with baking spray and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, olive oil, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar until well combined.
  • Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Add the salt.
  • Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together. Stop when the flour is almost mixed in—a few streaks of flour are okay!
  • Scoop the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan avoiding the middle column of the pan.
  • Use the rubber spatula to gently smooth the top of the batter.
  • Place the tin in the oven and bake the cake for 37 to 40 minutes or until the top is light golden brown and springs back when pressed with a fingertip.
  • Remove the cake from the oven. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then carefully flip the cake from the tin onto the wire rack.
  • Cool the cake completely before glazing.

Make The Glaze

  • Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and add the white food colouring if using. Stir the food colouring around to distribute it through the sugar.
  • Add lemon juice, by the ½ teaspoon, until the glaze is thick and runs slowly off the end of a spoon like honey. You want the glaze to be quite thick!
  • Pour the glaze over the cooled cake the add any decorations you like. We sprinkled gold sugar over the top of our cake.
  • Allow the glaze to set for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

Full-fat Greek yogurt is the best choice for a super moist cake. See below for substitutions.
We don't recommend substituting the olive oil as it lends a definitive flavour to this Greek yogurt cake. We use extra virgin olive oil.
Room temperature eggs are easier to mix and will emulsify with the olive oil faster than eggs cold from the refrigerator.
Cake & pastry flour is milled more finely than all-purpose flour. It has a lower protein content, and is also bleached. These components yield a lighter, fluffier cake with a higher rise. We recommend using it if you can.
We use Nordic Ware Bundt pans. This is not a sponsored post, it's just our Bundt standard. We haven’t tested this recipe using regular cake tins.
If you don't have baking spray, lightly grease your pan with olive oil using a pastry brush. Dab any pools of oil in the bottom of the pan with a paper towel before you pour in the lemon cake batter.
If you haven't heard of, or tried using white food colouring, it's a game changer for cake and cookie icing! Powdered sugar alone doesn't give you the true white that white food colouring can add. Using it is totally optional, but if you're curious, you can find it online or at Michaels.
The lemon icing should be thicker than you think. If it runs quickly off the end of a spoon, it will run too quickly over your cake. Thicker glaze will have a chance to settle on the cake before it runs down to the serving platter. To thicken the glaze add more powdered sugar.

How To Store Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Store the cake, loosely covered with aluminum foil on the counter for up to two days. After that, place it in the fridge. If your house or climate is super hot or humid, store the cake in the fridge directly after serving.
We don’t recommend storing this cake in an airtight container. The lack of air and the moisture in the cake will make the icing melt and run.

Substitutions

You can use full-fat sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt. We think ricotta would also work, however, we haven't tested this.
If you don’t have cake & pastry flour, you can substitute all-purpose flour. Keep in mind there's a risk it could turn out a bit drier if using all-purpose.
Fresh squeezed orange or grapefruit juice are great substitutes for lemon.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 288mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g
Did you make this recipe?Let us know on Instagram @baked_theblog or tag #bakedtheblog!
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Comments

  1. Julie says

    November 20, 2016 at 11:20 am

    Hi there
    When should I glaze the cake? I want it for tomorrow. Can I make the glaze now and it will still be white and hard or should I only make it before I serve it? Don’t want it to go translucent and sink into the cake over night?
    Would love your advice please.
    Thanks.

    Reply
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