ITALIAN LEMON OLIVE OIL CAKE

Everyone needs a vibrant, light, fluffy, moist lemon cake recipe up their sleeves. Easter is coming up and it wouldn’t be complete for me without a beautiful, seasonal lemon cake. My Grandma Faye loved all things lemon so it was essential at our Easter Sunday dinner. Her recipe, albeit wonderful, uses a cake mix and I wanted to create one from scratch. You can’t beat homemade!

Back in the day when I was competing in recipe contests, I found a contest where the grand prize was a trip to Italy! It had been at the top of my bucket list for years. I went straight to the kitchen and went to work! It was for Bertolli olive oil and since I assumed most people would go the savory route, I went to dessert. I wanted to create an Italian Lemon Cake using olive oil, reminiscent of the Tuscany countryside.

Ingredients
Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake:

• 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Canola Oil
• 3 Eggs
• 1 1/3 cup Whole Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Zest
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt

Filling:

• 1 cup Lemon Curd

Lemon Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 cup Butter softened
• 1 - 8 ounce package Cream Cheese softened
• 4 cups Powdered Sugar may need 1/4 cup more depending on consistency
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Lemon Zest plus more for garnish
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla or Vanilla Beans optional

Garnish:

• Lemon Zest
• Blackberries
• Mint

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, add oil, eggs, whole milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cream for 2 minutes. In large bowl, add sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into egg mixture and fold. Spray two 9-inch or three 8-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Place batter into baking pans. If using three 8-inch pans, bake for 20-26 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. If using two 9-inch pans, bake for 30-36 minutes. Cool.

To make frosting:

• In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl often. Add powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon zest and cream together. Chill.

To assemble cake:

• Remove cakes from pan. Spread frosting on top of one cooled cake layer. Place other cooled cake layer on top and spread frosting all over. Garnish with lemon zest and fresh blackberries.
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For full instruction please see : www.modernhoney.com

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