Last May my husband and I went to Italy. It was a magical two weeks spent sightseeing the most beautiful cities, touring countryside and taking fabulous cooking classes. I was in heaven. I honestly think if I didn’t have children and grandchildren here in the states, I could pack in all in and move to Italy, spending the rest of my days eating fresh vegetables, pizza, pasta and of course…Traditional Olive Oil Cake!
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Traditional Olive Oil Cake topped with berries and dusted with powdered sugar on white
Traditional Olive Oil Cake from The Organic Kitchen
 

Traditional Olive Oil Cake:

There are hundreds of recipes for olive oil cake online and most are very similar. Extremely similar in fact. My theory is, why mess with perfection? Olive oil cake is made with the usual cake ingredients but also includes olive oil  and plenty of orange and lemon zest . 

Traditional Olive Oil Cake on white plate from The Organic Kitchen
 

Before baking, the batter is topped with almond slices so the cake has a crispy, nutty top.

Traditional Olive Oil Cake topped with sliced almonds from The Organic Kitchen
 
You can serve as is, or top the cake with assorted berries, peaches, grapes, whatever is in season!

Traditional Olive Oil Cake topped with fresh berries on white plate
 
A light dusting of powdered sugar makes this cake look delicate and ethereal!

Traditional Olive Oil Cake with berries being dusted with powdered sugar
 
Just beautiful! The flavors of sweet fruit and rich olive oil are an exquisite pair!

A close up of berries on top of Traditional Olive Oil Cake from The Organic Kitchen
 

Love Cake Topped with Berries? 

Try my Lemon Cake with Blackberries!

Lemon cake with blackberries dusted with powdered sugar

 

The Recipe: Traditional Olive Oil Cake

You will need: a 9 inch non stick cake pan and a microplane for zesting the orange and lemon (affiliate links).

Traditional Olive Oil Cake
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
40 mins
 

This is an Old Italian cake recipe that was passed down from my great, great, great Grandma…. oh wait I am Danish. Okay it was passed down thru some Italians I don’t know, but it is good! It’s a moist, yellow cake and tastes great dusted with just a little powdered sugar and berries.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: classic recipe, easy dessert recipe, holiday recipe
Servings: 10 servings
Author: Linda Spiker
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon butter or organic olive oil cooking spray for pan
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 teaspoons orange zest
  • 1 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1/4 cups full fat milk
  • 3/4 cups good extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • confectioners sugar, for dusting
  • assorted berries or peaches or whatever fruit you prefer to top cake
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place oven rack in center of oven. Spray 9" round cake pan with cooking spray or use a paper towel to coat sides and bottom of an with butter

  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together the eggs and sugar. Add zest, milk and olive oil and mix until well combined.

  3. Mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Whisk until well blended. Pour mixture into the cake pan. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top of batter.

  4. Bake for 30 minutes at 350* or until cake springs back from touch. Remove cake from pan and cool on a rack. Dust with sugar, top with berries and serve!

Such a simple and lovely dessert! If you would like to receive beautiful FREE recipes like this one weekly, please sign up for my recipe newsletter (just under my picture in the right sidebar.) ~ Linda Spiker

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