High Altitude Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Lemon olive oil cake is moist and soft, with a delicate fruity flavor and tender crumb, drizzled with tart lemon icing.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 2 votes

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Cooling Time 1

Total Time 1 55

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings8

1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon zest (zest of 1 large lemon)
1 ½ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
1 ⅛ tsp baking powder
½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
1 large egg
1 large egg white (save the extra yolk for another use)
¾ cup whole milk
⅔ cup olive oil (EVOO will have a stronger, fruitier flavor than refined olive oil)
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1-2 large lemons)

Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
Spray an 8-inch round baking pan with non-stick baking spray, and line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper.
In a bowl, use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar until moist and fragrant.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of lemon sugar, then whisk until evenly distributed.
Add the egg, egg white, milk, oil, vanilla and lemon juice, and whisk until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for about 35-40 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
After the cake has cooled in the pan for 30 minutes, gently turn it out of the pan and set it on a serving plate.
Pour the icing on top of the warm cake, then let the cake sit and cool for another 30 minutes, while the icing sets.
Serve the cake warm, or at room temperature. Just before serving, decorate the top of the cake with fresh lemon slices and a sprinkling of finely chopped pecans.

Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Keyword Cake, High Altitude, Lemon, Olive Oil