Gluten-Free Meyer Lemon Cake with Olive Oil is a huge treat during Meyer lemon season! Next to chocolate, lemon desserts are a family favorite at my house -- and I'm hoping at yours too. 
I'm really in the mood for a delicious brunch. Truthfully, I'm usually in the mood for a delicious brunch. Who isn't?
Most weekends seem to lend themselves to brunch. Lazy mornings, no rushing to work or school, coffee brewing, friends and family. Especially around the holidays!
Whenever my Meyer lemon tree is full of ripe lemons, I love making this Gluten-Free Meyer Lemon Cake with Olive Oil.
In this recipe, Meyer lemons flavor the cake, decorate it, and "frost" it. It's brilliant for a holiday brunch, or dessert any time, of course.
I just love it in the winter when the green lemons turn yellow.
Suddenly my tree has such an abundance of beautiful, yellow lemons. I always get some sort of cooking or baking inspiration, when I see it out my window.
Typically we use the juice and zest of lemons in baking, but sometimes I love keeping some of the fruit whole. And with the sweetness of the cake, it's not too tart or sour.
It's the perfect serious lemon lovers treat!
When are Meyer Lemons in Season?
- Meyer Lemon season can vary, depending on the climate where they're grown. There's a tree in the back yard at my parents' house that thrives in the summertime, while mine thrives in the winter.
- Generally though, Meyer Lemon Season peaks between November and March.
How are Meyer lemons different from regular lemons?
- And by "regular" I mean the more common lemons, which are usually Eureka or Lisbon lemons.
- Meyer lemons are generally thinner skinned and smaller than regular lemons. The thinner skin usually means a super juicy lemon.
- Thought to be a cross between a regular lemon and a Mandarin orange, Meyer lemons are a bit sweeter and less acidic.
If you've been following my blog for a while, you know by now that older son has Celiac Disease, and is therefore gluten-free.
So whenever I can swing it -- in a most delicious way -- I bake gluten-free goodies. He loves lemon desserts, and loves when I make him something new, scrumptious and interesting.
This Gluten-Free Meyer Lemon Cake with Olive Oil is all that!
The coolest part about this cake is that the lemon slices function almost like frosting. Especially the inside layer of lemons, where they become slightly creamy during the cooking process.
This Meyer lemon cake would be lovely as a brunch centerpiece, or served slightly warmed with a scoop of of vanilla bean ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream for an after dinner dessert.
More of my favorite Meyer lemon recipes . . .
- Meyer Lemon Thyme Spaghetti
- Meyer Lemon Basil Pizza
- My Mom's Meyer Lemonade
- Fried Meyer Lemon Caesar Salad
- Vanilla Meyer Lemon Hot Milk Cake
- Whipped Meyer Lemon Vanilla Butter
- Marinated Meyer Lemon Garlic Croutons
- Meyer Lemon Basil Salad Dressing
If you try this cake, or any of my other recipes, I’d love to hear what you think about it in the comments below. You can also follow on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more of my mouth-watering recipes!
Enjoy every last slice!
Almond-Meyer Lemon Loaf Cake with Olive Oil {Gluten-Free}
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 medium-sized Meyer lemons, washed and dried (once sliced, you want about 1 cup)
- ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1½ tablespoons lemon zest, finely grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup gluten-free all purpose flour
- ¾ cup fine almond meal (or almond flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Set the oven and prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line the inside of a 4½ x 8½ x 3 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Lining this sort of pan with parchment can be tricky.Turn the loaf pan up side down and use a pencil to lightly outline the bottom and sides -- using a piece of parchment slightly larger than you think you'll need. Cut along the pencil lines and insert it into the pan. Then repeat this process in the opposite direction. (I like to use two separate pieces for each direction. so that it fits quite snugly.)
- Prepare the lemons. After zesting a few of the lemons (to get 1½ tablespoons), slice all of them as thinly as you possibly can. Remove seeds as you go, and don't worry if you can't slice the entire lemon (it gets hard to hold and slice as it gets smaller).
- Make the batter. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine ½ cup of the sugar with the olive oil, vanilla, lemon zest and salt. Blend until it's smooth. Then add the eggs and mix until they are fully incorporated, and the batter is once again, smooth.Now gently fold in the flour, almond meal, baking powder and baking soda. Mix until smooth and set aside.
- Assemble. Sprinkle 1½ tablespoons of the remaining sugar over the bottom of the parchment-lined pan. Then in a single layer, line the bottom surface, and about ¼ of the way up the sides of the pan with lemon slices. You will need to slice some of them in half for the sides -- placing the flat edge at the bottom edge of the pan. Evenly spread about half of the batter over the lemon slices, and carefully press another single layer of the lemon slices over this first layer of batter, and sprinkle them with the last 1½ tablespoons of sugar. Finally, evenly spread the remaining batter on top.
- Bake. Bake in the preheated 350°F oven until the cake is golden brown, is beginning to crack, and will no longer jiggle when you move the pan -- about 45 minutes.
- Cool. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 20 minutes or so. Then invert it onto a serving platter and very slowly and gently, peel away the parchment paper. Let it cool for at least another 45 minutes before slicing.
NOTES
NUTRITION
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Barbara
This looks delish! I love that you totally wrapped the cake in lemon slices.
Coco
That looks gorgeous. I've been wanting to bake something new. I'm going to try your cake tonight!
Linda K. Smith
The Meyer Lemon cake is beautiful--may even go to our overrated
fancy grocery store here in Scottsdale to get those lemons, which
I can't find anywhere else.
Amee
Wow!!!! I've never seen anything like this. I've tried to avoid having 18 different kinds of flour in my house, but i just need to do it and stop substituting!! 🙂
Farzana
How thick is this batter out of curiosity? This looks so yummy. I love anything with citrus 🙂
valentina
Hi there! The batter is more or less that consistency of a thick pancake batter. Hope you try it and enjoy! 🙂
Brian Jones
I would always choose a citrusy cake over any other, I love the sharp bite. This sounds delicious!
valentina
Then this is for you, Brian. Enjoy and happy holiday season! Thank you.
Michelle
We love any kind of lemon cake! I love how this is wrapped in those thin lemon slices. Will have to try this x
valentina
Thanks so much, Michelle. Enjoy! 🙂
Sally - My Custard Pie
Lemon over chocolate for me any day. How lucky to have your own lemon tree.
valentina
Thank you, Sally. For me it a close second to chocolate, but I LOVE it. 🙂
Claudia Lamascolo
I have a meyers lemon tree here in Florida and I love it. I can sure see a difference in flavors. I will keep this for when they are back on my tree next year thanks
valentina
I hope you love the cake! Thank you. 🙂
Cliona Keane
This looks so tasty! I bet the lemon just makes it explode with flavour!
valentina
It does! Thank you, Cliona. 🙂
Dawn
I'm ALWAYS in the mood of brunch! And if it involved something like this lemon loaf, all the better! Love how you placed a generous layer of lemon slices on the bottom of the loaf pan. Citrus is always so good in baked goods. This one must taste SO good!
valentina
Thanks so much, Dawn. Happy to hear you also love lemons and brunch. 🙂 Enjoy and Happy holidays! 🙂
nancy buchanan
Anything with lemons captures my interest and this cake looks and sounds amazing! Sadly, my meyer lemon tree isn't as prolific - but my friend's is so I think I'll help her out with her harvest and make this cake! Sounds like a fair trade to me!!!
valentina
Nancy, I love food trades like that! I made my neighbor guava bread using the guavas from her tree. Happy Holidays to you and your family! 🙂 xo ~Valentina
David @ Spiced
Can I just reiterate how jealous I am that you have a Meyer lemon tree in your backyard!? That is so cool! And what a great way to use up some of those ripe lemons. This cake looks awesome with the sliced lemons, and I can just imagine how tasty it is. Yum! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, Valentina. Cheers, my friend!
valentina
Cheers to you, David! And thank for always checking out my recipes. Maybe Santa will bring you a Meyer lemon tree. . .. 😉
David
Meyer lemons are abundant here in our neighborhood, too. The cake sounds amazing and your son is very lucky that you are such an amazing baker! (The rest of your family, too! 😊)
valentina
Thanks so much, David! The do seem quite content in the baking department. 😉
2pots2cook
You rock ! Shared !
valentina
Thanks so much! 🙂
Kelly | Foodtasia
What a lovely cake! I just saw some Meyer lemons in the market yesterday but didn't buy any because I didn't know what to make with them. Those lemons on the inside sound so good. Definitely a must try!
valentina
Hi Kelly! I hope you love this cake as much as my family and I do. Thanks for checking it out and happy holiday season to you and yours. ~Valentina
Mimi
Wow!! This is a perfect gift for a lemon lover! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cake moulded with lemon slices. Just beautiful.
valentina
Thank you so much, Mimi. And thanks for visiting. Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season. ~Valentina
Gerlinde @Sunncovechef
I love my Meyer lemon tree and are always happy when I find a new recipe like this one. I am also going to check out your other Meyer lemon recipes. Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.
valentina
Merry Christmas to you, Gerlinde! Happy you have a Meyer lemon tree too. The possibilities are endless. 🙂 Happy baking and thank you for visiting my site! 🙂
Ron
Nice job Valentina. I could definitely enjoy your Meyer lemon cake. we love lemony desserts over here, but don't have Meyer Lemons. Perhaps I could use half regular lemons and half tangerines. What do you think?
valentina
You could definitely do that Ron! And you could really do this with any citrus you like. Tangerines would be excellent. And if you have them, blood oranges would be gorgeous! Enjoy!
Deb|EastofEdenCooking
Lemon desserts are a personal favorite. Which makes this lush lemony loaf a must bake recipe! Thank you for the #citruslove Valentina!
valentina
Thank you, Deb! I hope you love it! Happy citrus season. 🙂
Audrey McVey
This recipe sounds delicious. I would like to reduce the carbs even more. What could I substitute for the gluten free flour...more almond meal? Coconut flour? I’m curious what you think.
valentina
Hi Audrey, Thanks for writing in. While I haven't tried this, so I can't say for sure, I would try it with coconut flour. It absorbs a lot more moisture than other flours, so I would use 1/2 cup or less. Maybe start with 1/3 cup to see the consistency of the batter. I'd also add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the recipe. It might be more dense this way, but it's definitely worth a try. I'd love to know how it goes if you give it a try. 🙂 ~Valentina
Madaline Hernandez
I would like to start out by saying that it reallllllly irks me when people give a recipe 5 stars without having actually made it. Since going GF I haven’t found a palatable cake recipe. I’ve tried dozen to no avail. So, I took a chance with this one.
I picked up some Meyer lemons last week & got around to trying them out last night. Your recipe seemed easy enough & I had all the ingredients on hand. This cake is out of this world. As a lemon lover, I replaced the vanilla extract with lemon extract & fresh Meyer lemon juice. Surprisingly, I did not care for the lemon slices in the cake & picked them out as I was eating. But overall, this cake was a success! When I finish off this loaf I plan to tweak it into a sour cream loaf cake next.
Thank you so much!
valentina
Hi Madaline, Thank you so much for you note and I'm so happy you enjoyed this cake! I remember years ago when my son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and had to go gluten-free. It was daunting at first, and hard to find things he liked -- especially treats. He loves this cake, too. 🙂
As for readers leaving 5 stars without having tried a recipe first, I get how that can be irksome. I admit though, that sometimes when I see a recipe that looks exciting to me, I'm guilty of doing it too. Sometimes we just get overly enthusiastic.
If you try it, I'd love to hear how the lemon cake turns out with your sour cream tweak, too. Love that idea.
Happy early Thanksgiving and thank you again. 🙂 ~Valentina
Annelise Wunderlich
I made this in an attempt to put my Meyer lemon harvest to good use! And it didn’t disappoint. I didn’t have a loaf pan so used a round cake pan and it came out beautifully. Not too sweet, but just enough and with the brightness of the lemons it was a great new addition to my dessert repertoire!
valentina
Hi Annelise, What a lovely comment. It makes my day that you loved this cake. My little Meyer lemon tree is bursting with lemons right now, so I have a small harvest to put to use, too. 🙂 Thank you for this, and for visiting Cooking On The Weekends and checking out my recipes. 🙂 ~Valentina
Maggie
If I baked in large muffin tins would it be the same temperature and time?
valentina
Hi Maggie. Thanks for writing in. The temperature should remain the same. The baking however will be different, and I can't say exactly how much. My assumption is that is will be a considerable amount shorter. I would begin to check them after the first 20 minutes. I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but I have to test the recipe this way to know for sure. (You've inspired me to do so, so at some point I'll add that information to the recipe as an option.) I hope you love the flavor of this recipe. Please let me know, time permitting, how they turn out. Enjoy! 🙂 ~Valentina
Maggie
Thank you! In the oven now!!!
Ame
I just made this cake last night. It’s amazing! I wasn’t sure I’d like the lemon slices, but they are spectacular. I discovered my baking soda was dead afterwards, so it’s probably a little more dense than it should be, but it’s beyond delicious 😋. Thank you! I have some grapefruit so I may try a grapefruit version (with Meyer zest).
valentina
Hi Ame, Thanks so much for writing in! I'm so happy you loved this recipe. Funny, I was just looking at the last of the Meyer lemons on my little tree, thinking I should make this in the next few days. I think it would be so fun to try with grapefruit -- if you do it, I'd love to hear how it turns out. Thanks again and stay well. 🙂 ~Valentina
Pixy Jones
Hi Valentina,
Came across this recipe and I am going to make it for my guest over the weekend. I have some beautiful meyer lemons! I make my own gluten-free flour blends for my breads, cakes cookies ect....my blends do not contain xanthan gum so do you recommend using some and if so how much?
Thank you
valentina
Hi there, and thanks for writing in. I find cakes and muffins hold together pretty well without it, but it won't hurt and could only help, so I'd use it. For this recipe I'd use 3/4 teaspoon. I hope you love it! Enjoy. 🙂 ~Valentina
Lily
Thanks for sharing this recipe. The cake was a big hit tonight -- so delicious between the Meyer lemons and moist texture. Looking forward to trying a piece with some ice cream/whipped cream tomorrow.
valentina
Hi Lily, Thanks so much for writing in. I'm so happy this was a hit! It will be fantastic with the ice cream. YUM! Hope you have a lovely weekend. 🙂 ~Valentina
Sus
This looks so good. Going to try today. Ok to use butte instead of olive oil? And I don’t have gluten free all purpose handy. Standard all purpose will work?
valentina
Hi there! Thanks for writing in. The regular AP flour will work well. I haven't tested it with butter so I can't guarantee it, but if you melt the butter first, I think it should work. (And be delicious!) Happy New Year! 🙂 ~Valentina
Denise
This looks fantastic! And I was just gifted with 5 Meyer lemons from my neighbor. What do you think about using regular AP flour instead of almond meal and gluten free flour?
Valentina
Hi Denise. Thanks for writing in. 🙂 I wouldn't suggest replacing the almond flour. However, you can replace the gluten-free flour with regular AP. If you can't have nuts and need to remove the almond flour, I'd use 1/3 cup of coconut flour instead. (The amount is smaller because it absorbs more moisture than the almond.) I hope this helps! ~Valentina
Steve
Just made this earlier today. Wow! The best Meyer lemon bread I’ve baked. Used coconut sugar (added a little more than recipe calls for), otherwise followed it exactly. I used a mandolin to slice the lemons and being able to cut them very thin I believe is key to this yummy bread. Thank you so much. Will make this many more times……
Valentina
Hi Steve. Thanks so much for writing in, and I'm so happy you loved this cake! Awesome that you used a mandoline. You are right about the thin slices being key for this recipe. Thanks again and I hope you have a very happy holiday season. 🙂 ~Valentina