Lemon Cake
Total Time
40 mins
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Rating
4.82 out of 5 stars
(64)
Ingredients
8-12 servings
- 1 cup [120 g] all-purpose flour, I used spelt
- ½ cup [50 g] almond flour or finely ground almonds, see Note
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup [120 ml] extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup [100 g] granulated sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Grated zest of 1 lemon, plus ¼ cup [60 ml] fresh lemon juice
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
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Preparation
Chef’s notes
Any nut works well in this cake. To make ground nuts, just put whichever type of nut you’d like (I’ve made this cake successfully with walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios, and am sure pecans and pine nuts would also be great) in the food processor and blitz until they’re as fine as cornmeal. Or use a mortar and pestle. Or purchase ground nuts, which often go by the name “meal” or “flour” as in “almond meal” or “almond flour.” For a nut-free cake, simply omit the ground nuts and add an additional ½ cup [60 g] flour.
Feel free to SUBSTITUTE ANY CITRUS in place of the orange. Clementine, tangerine, blood orange, and grapefruit zest all work very well.
FOR A LEMON–POPPY SEED CAKE, use lemon zest and juice instead of orange and add 1 Tbsp poppy seeds to the batter.
If you’re using ground almonds, add ½ tsp ALMOND EXTRACT to the batter for a more intense almond flavor.
Just before you put the cake in the oven, dot the top with ¼ cup [80 g] RASPBERRY JAM and use a fork or the tip of a paring knife to swirl in the jam.