Gluten-Free Lemon Olive Oil Cake Recipe

Whole Lemon Olive Oil Cake on white wood cake stand.

4.80 from 5 votes

Gluten-Free Lemon Olive Oil Cake Recipe

This Lemon Olive Oil Cake is truly unique. With thinly sliced Meyer lemons creating layers that act as frosting and make every bite lemony and incredibly delicious, it's an upside down, gluten-free cake that's beautiful for any celebration.

Prep Time35

Cook Time45

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cake for breakfast, great for brunch

Servings:

Calories: 282kcal

Author: Valentina K. Wein

Equipment

Ingredients

about 5 medium-sized Meyer lemons * washed and dried
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
⅔ cup olive oil
1½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1½ cups Cup4Cup gluten-free all purpose flour
1½ cup almond flour (or fine almond meal)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Set the oven and prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan, or the entire inside of two 8½ inch loaf pans with parchment paper.
Prepare the lemons. After zesting a few of the lemons to get 3 tablespoons of zest, slice all of them as thinly as you can. If there are seeds, remove them 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). Set the slices aside.
Make the batter. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine 1 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 flour or 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 with lemon slices. If desired, you can also add slices on the sides of the pan. If you do this you will need to slice some of them in half, 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 55 minutes for the round cake pan, and about 45 minutes for the loaf pans.
Cool. Let the cake cool in the pan(s) 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. (Ideally, slicing the cake the next day is best).

Notes

* You can use other lemon varieties, but if you can get your hands on Meyers, you'll appreciate their slightly sweeter taste, thinner skin, and next to no seeds. Depending on how thinly you can slice the lemons, the amount of lemons you'll use will vary.

Nutritional information is automatically calculated, so it should only be used as an estimate.

Nutrition