Lemon Basil Olive Oil Cake
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(Update: I made a few updates to this favorite of TYB. I included the ingredients amount in grams, added a printable recipe and added the option to fill the cake with a sweet blueberry compote.)
You may think of this as a classic lemon olive oil cake, but then each bite has the sweet and aromatic notes of basil. Doesn’t it sound delicious?! This cake is very soft, moist, supple and lemony. It’s the cake for lemon lovers because it has lemon juice and lemon zest all over it! The cake itself is made in less than 45 minutes, including prep time, and you only need a few basic ingredients to make it. And the super creamy cream cheese frosting makes this cake even more divine!!
This olive oil cake is the one I do for all family birthdays and celebrations! Everyone loves it so much!! For a particular baby shower I wanted to add a twist so it felt even more special. That’s why I added basil. After seeing how much you guys loved my lemon curd cheesecake tart with a basil infused crust, I realized the answer was right below my nose! The cake was such a hit and so delicious, I knew I couldn't keep it to myself. It needed to live here on The Yellow butterfly blog!
Now, I know what you are thinking, does an olive oil cake tastes any good? If you fear you are going to taste the strong notes of olive oil, fear not! Olive oil brings so much moisture to cakes, making them soft and supple, but you won’t taste the actual olive oil. You will end with some robust and earthy floral notes. I always use the ribbon method, like when you start a sponge cake, for my my olive oil cake recipes. This way I’m forcing the oil into the eggs and sugar, emulsifying them by whisking at a very high speed and pouring the oil slowly in a thin stream. This technique makes light and delicate cakes.
You should use a mild extra virgin olive oil when baking an olive oil cake. You can use a nice Spanish olive oil like the one I used here, or an Italian olive oil as well. Use a high quality oil because that will affect the final taste of the cake. The better the quality, the less oily taste you will have.
I covered this lemon olive oil cake with a creamy cream cheese frosting. The frosting I’m featuring here is my basic cream cheese frosting recipe. It’s a pretty sturdy cream cheese frosting and its technique makes it the perfect cream cheese frosting to work on warm weather.
Olive oil cake variations
You can use this olive oil cake recipe as a base for many variations:
Use rosemary instead of basil to make a wonderful lemon rosemary olive oil cake.
You can use a gluten-free flour alternative to make a gluten-free lemon basil olive oil cake.
Add sliced almonds to make an almond olive oil cake. Go further and substitute ¼ cup of the flour with almond flour for a nuttier and heartier texture.
Do yourself a favor, do what I did and fill this cake with a sweet blueberry compote!
How to make this lemon olive oil cake
Start by mixing the milk with lemon juice to make homemade buttermilk. Even if I could use regular buttermilk, for this cake I preferred to add fresh lemon juice to the batter. You can always use regular buttermilk as well (I feel you, I’m obsessed with the flavor and texture buttermilk brings to cakes!). Use 1 ¼ cup/303g total liquid.
Bring your eggs to room temperature. To bring eggs down to room temperature quickly, submerge them in lukewarm to hot tap water 3 to 5 minutes.
While your eggs are warming up, sift over a large bowl the flour, baking powder and salt. Zest the lemons and gather the other ingredients.
Whisk sugar with lemon zest in the mixer to infuse the sugar. Add eggs and mix 5 minutes in high speed to get to the ribbon stage. And what does ribbon stage in cake batters mean? It means the mixture will look very pale and thick but when you pull up the whisk attachment the mixture will return to the bowl and incorporate to the batter like a thin ribbon.
Next, you will pour the olive oil with the mixer running in high speed to emulsify the oil with the egg-sugar mixture.
Now that the olive oil mixture is stable you just need to pour the buttermilk, the lemon juice and finally the dry ingredients. That is all!!!
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when you insert it through the center of the cake. You can make a 3-tier 6” cake or a 2-tier 8” cake with this batter, bake as stated in the recipe below for each size.
While the cakes are baking, mix the soaking syrup ingredients.
When you take the cakes out, simmer the syrup 1 to 2 minutes after the sugar dissolves completely, a total of 4 to 5 minutes. I like to remove the cakes from the pans and level the tops off before pouring the syrup. This is a bit tricky because, even with oven mitts and kitchen towels to protect yourself, the cakes will be pretty hot and delicate. If you feel confident, go for it. If you want to be more cautious, just pour the syrup with the cakes in the pan. You can prick them with a toothpick and pour the syrup using a pastry brush or small spoon. Let the cakes cool down.
Wrap the cakes with cling paper and place them in the fridge. This is a perfect make ahead cake because you can bake the cakes the day before and frost them the next one. If doing so, cover the cakes with a wet paper towel before wrapping with plastic paper to keep them moist.
Make the cream cheese frosting while the cakes are in the fridge. You can make the frosting a few days ahead as well. Frost the cakes and decorate with fresh berries or fruits. Cake will be good in the fridge for a week. You can check my Basic Cream Cheese Frosting recipe post for many tips on how to make a sturdy and creamy cream cheese frosting, especially if making ahead.
If filling with the blueberry compote, you can make it ahead as well. The compote should be chilled when filling the cakes. If making the same day, a good 30 minutes in the fridge are good enough.
What you’ll need
Cake pans! You can use 6” cake pans for a 3-tier mini cake or 8” cake pans for a 2-tier medium cake.
A large strainer for sifting the confectioner’s sugar. This golden one is my favorite!
A natural bristle pastry brush.
Large and sturdy pastry bags.
3 recipes I think you’ll love if you’re loving this one:
Lemon Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake
Super Moist Lemon Blueberry Cake
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You won’t believe how delicious the cake is! I know it’s going to be one of your favorites. Enjoy my friends and until the next one!
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Lemon Basil Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
Lemon olive oil cake
◯ Natural granulated sugar – 1 ½ cup, 300g
◯ Lemon zest – zest from 2 large lemons
◯ Lemon juice – 2 TBSP, 28g
◯ Milk – 1 cup + 2 TBSP/275g
◯ Cake flour (you may use all-purpose flour as the original recipe) – 2 cups, 300g
◯ Baking powder – 1 Tsp, 5g
◯ Fine sea salt – 1 Tsp, 6g
◯ Large eggs, at room temperature – 3
◯ Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 cup, 220g
◯ Vanilla extract – 1 Tsp, 5g
Lemon basil soaking syrup
◯ Freshly squeezed lemon juice - ½ cup, 115g
◯ Natural granulated sugar - ½ cup, 100g
◯ Basil leaves - 5 to 6
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
◯ Butter (salted or unsalted), a bit softened - 8 TBSP, 113g (1 stick, ½ cup)
◯ Confectioner’s sugar - 3 cups, 384g
◯ Vanilla extract (optional) - 1 Tsp
◯ Fresh lemon juice - 1 Tsp
◯ Cream cheese (in bricks, not whipped, and still chilled) - 12 oz., 339g (1 ½ box)
Blueberry Compote (optional)
◯ Cold water – ¼ cup, 2 oz.
◯ Blueberries – 1 cups, 136g
◯ Natural granulated sugar – 2 TBSP, 25g
◯ Freshly squeezed lemon juice – 1 TBSP, 6mL
Details
Yield:
a 2-layer 8” cake or a 3-layer 6” cake
Total time:
2 hours
Active Time:
20 minutes for making the cakes, 5 minutes for soaking the cakes, 15 minutes for making the frosting
Baking time:
20 to 30 minutes, depending on cake size
Equipment:
cake pans, stand or electric hand mixer
Steps
Making the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare your cake pans by greasing them with butter or spraying baking spray.
Rub the 1 ½ cup/300g of sugar with the lemon zest for 2 to 3 minutes, until sugar is fragrant and there are no lumps of it. Set aside.
In a small bowl or measuring cup mix the 2 tablespoons/28g of lemon juice with the 1 cup and 2 tablespoons/275g of milk. Let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
With a large sieve sift over a large bowl the 2 cups/300g of flour (cake or all-purpose), the teaspoon/5g of baking powder and teaspoon/6g of salt.
Place the 3 eggs and the 1 ½ cup of the sugar-lemon zest mixture in a mixing bowl and using the whisk attachment whisk in high speed (level #8 in the Kitchen Aid) for 5 minutes. Mixture should become light pale a foamy.
With the mixer running, start drizzling slowly the cup/220g of olive oil in a thin stream. Mix for 2 minutes. Decrease speed to the lowest and add the lemon juice-milk mixture and the teaspoon/5g of vanilla extract. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Mix by hand any large streak of dry flour with a wooden spoon.
Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean after you inserted it through the center, 20 to 25 minutes for 6” cakes, 30 to 35 minutes for 8” cakes. After a few minutes, invert cake into a plate and back on a rack. Level off cakes if necessary by cutting from side to side the top bumps with a serrated knife. Pour soaking syrup (recipe follows).
Making the lemon basil soaking syrup:
While the cakes bake, combine the ½ cup/115g of lemon juice and ½ cup/100g of sugar with the 5 to 6 basil leaves. While the cakes are cooling down, bring to a simmer or gentle boil. After sugar has dissolved, cook for 1 to 2 minutes, swirling frequently.
Remove from heat and using a pastry brush or small spoon pour the syrup evenly through cakes. Let them cool down completely. Wrap your cakes with plastic paper and place them in the fridge about 30 minutes before frosting, or until the frosting is ready.
Making the cream cheese frosting:
With a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand mixer using the beaters, beat the 8 tablespoons/113g of butter in medium speed (#4 in the Kitchen Aid) until loose and fluffy.
Place a large sieve over the bowl and sift the 3 cups/384g of confectioner’s sugar over, or sift it on a separate bowl and scrape it into the butter. Beat until a course crumbly paste forms.
Add the 1 teaspoon of vanilla and the teaspoon of lemon juice and mix.
Smear the 12 ounces/339g of cream cheese into the butter mixture as much as you can, then beat it until well incorporated. You would still see lumps of cream cheese.
Scrape the beaters and the walls and bottom of the bowl to reincorporate any pieces of cream cheese.
Change to the whisk attachment and beat still in medium speed (bring it down to speed #2 in using a stand mixer) until very creamy and silky, without any lumps of cream cheese. Stop and scrape the walls of the bowl one or two times in between to make sure cream cheese is incorporating well.
Chill for 30 minutes before frosting any cake.
You can make this cream cheese frosting a few days ahead, just let it out of the fridge for 5 or 10 minutes before working with it.
Making the blueberry compote (optional):
In a small saucepan combine the ¼ cup/2 oz of water with 1 cups/136g of blueberries, the 2 tablespoons/25g of sugar and the tablespoon/6ml of lemon juice and turn the heat on in medium. Let it boil, then cook for 5 extra minutes, until the blueberries start releasing their juice but are not completely broken. Remove from heat.
Let it cool and chill for 20 to 30 minutes before filling the cakes. You can make a few days in advance.
