Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake

A loaf of lemon olive oil cake topped with lemon wedges and pistachios on a plate. Behind some fresh lemons.

Author: Katie

This vegan lemon olive oil cake is super tender with crisp, caramelized edges and bursting with citrus flavor! Bonus: it comes together in just one bowl!

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5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 50

Total Time: 1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American-Inspired

Servings: 8 slices

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1,5 cups (230 g) white all-purpose flour
¾ cup (75 g) almond flour
1 cup (200 g) soft brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients

¼ cup (55 g) light, extra virgin olive oil *see notes
¾ cup (180 g) unsweetened soy milk (or oat, almond...)
¼ cup (60 g) fresh lemon juice (about 1,5-2 lemons)
1 heaped tbsp lemon zest
¼ cup (40 g) chopped pistachios (optional)

Glaze (optional)

¾ cup (90 g) powdered sugar
3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

You can find detailed step-by step-photos above the recipe card.

Instructions

Lemon Cake

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) (conventional heat) and line a loaf pan (8 inch/ 20cm) with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. If your baking powder looks clumpy or crumbly, give it a quick sift to break it up and make sure it blends evenly into the batter.
1,5 cups white all-purpose flour, ¾ cup almond flour, 1 cup soft brown sugar, 2 teaspoon baking powder, pinch of salt
Add the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to gently fold everything together until just combined—don’t overmix.
¼ cup light, extra virgin olive oil, ¾ cup unsweetened soy milk, 1 heaped tablespoon lemon zest, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Transfer batter into the prepared tin, smooth the top, and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cover with foil at around 35-40 minutes or when you feel that the cake becomes too dark on the top (it should be golden brown).
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing or serving.

Glaze (optional)

The glaze is optional: whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice and pour the glaze over the cake.

Video

Notes

Olive oil: If you don't want the taste to be too overpowering I recommend using a mild, light-tasting extra virgin olive oil.
Stick to ingredients: Working with fresh lemon juice and leaving agents can be tricky because of their individual ways of affecting the dough. So for best results, try not to tweak the amount of lemon juice or baking powder/soda.
Chop pistachios: Using whole pistachios might make the cake a bit challenging to slice cleanly - they can create uneven cuts or cause the cake to crumble around them. I didn't mind that so I left them whole but if you prefer a smoother slice, I recommend roughly chopping them first.

Nutrition

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates.

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