This gorgeously fragrant and fluffy Spring Bundt Cake made with fresh lemon, thyme and olive oil is the perfect treat to welcome spring into our midst.
Is it spring where you’re at? Or are you still buried under snow? I have been hearing about freak March snowstorms in different parts of the country. Even we had a rough winter this year, but this week has been nice and warm so far. We seem to be on our way to one of our trademark (read: hot) Texan summers.
One thing that I miss during winter is the gorgeous, bright Texan sky. Beautiful, vast expanses of blue sky with puffs of cotton-white clouds, I fell in love with it the very first time I ever saw it. In fact, I painted my favorite photo backdrop inspired by my favorite blue summer sky. I know it’s the same sky, but to me, the sky in each city or country just looks and feels a tad different!
It was afternoon by the time I realized that this Tuesday was the first day of spring. Spring equinox calls for a spring themed cake, don’t you think? I wanted to make a simple cake with bright floral and citrus flavors. I had a new bottle of extra virgin olive oil that I wanted to try baking with. I regularly bake with oil instead of butter and it is especially good in chocolate cakes, keeping the cake really soft and fluffy. I have only used vegetable, coconut or mild olive oils which really do not add any special flavor to baked goods. But EVOO adds a unique flavor to cakes. It is best to not make the cake too sweet or overpower it with complicated ingredients. This helps the flavor of the olive oil to come through subtly but beautifully. I also used thick yogurt in the batter which made an extra fluffy cake with a beautifully golden crumb.
I was a bit concerned when the batter didn’t taste as good as a cake with butter. But once the cake was baked, it filled my kitchen with this unique and irresistible fragrance. Since the cake itself is only mildly sweet, I decided to glaze it. And of course, I was going to carry through the lemon and thyme flavors that I used in the cake itself.
I think the lemon, fresh thyme and fruity olive oil makes it the perfect cake to welcome spring, what do you say? I could have made the glaze a bit thicker but I was too impatient to redo it. Here’s a better example of how thick the glaze should be.
This cake will make you sing with pure joy, I promise. It’s bright and perfectly sweet, the glaze adding a nice, subtle lemony tang. The cake actually gets better as it sits for a day or two. It is soft but firm, giving you clean slices. I am very much tempted to use this olive oil cake as a base for a frosted birthday cake. I’ll let you know the perfect frosting flavor if I do give it a try.
But I’ll probably end up eating warm slices of lemon, thyme & olive oil cake with my afternoon tea. It is simply that good. It is unassuming and deceptively simple, but all said and done, the individual elements come through beautifully to make a delightful spring cake.
Here’s the recipe for Lemon, Thyme & Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Glaze. I would suggest that you use a good-quality fruity EVOO and not just a generic one, so that you can really enjoy the beauty of this cake.
- All-purpose flour - 3 cups
- Baking powder - 1 tbsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Lemon zest - 2 tsp
- Fresh thyme leaves - 2 tsp
- Sugar - 1½ cups
- Eggs - 4 large, at room temperature
- Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
- Yogurt - 1 cup
- Extra virgin olive oil - 1 cup
- Powdered sugar - 1½ cups, sifted
- Lemon juice - 2-3 tbsp
- Lemon zest - a pinch
- Fresh thyme leaves - 1 pinch
- Olive Oil Cake: Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg.F. Thoroughly grease a large bundt pan with softened butter. Set aside.
- Take the flour, baking powder, salt, zest and thyme in a mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly to combine. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and eggs. Beat on medium-speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the lemon juice, yogurt and olive oil. Beat on low-speed to thoroughly mix them together. Then increase the speed and beat until it looks slightly emulsified.
- With the beater on lowest speed, add the flour mixture, a little at a time, and mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. Do not over-mix the batter. Batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top. Tap the pan on the countertop a couple of times to get rid of any air bubbles.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan midway through the baking time. A toothpick inserted in the cake should come out almost clean.
- Remove cake pan from oven and rest on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
- Gently invert cake on to a platter and back on to the wire rack so that it can cool completely. Glaze cake when completely cool.
- Lemon Glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a thick glaze. Add a few drops of lemon juice if you are unable to incorporate all the lemon juice. Also, if you have accidentally thinned out the glaze too much, add some more sugar. Mix in the zest and thyme leaves, if desired.
- Pour glaze over the cake and allow the excess to drip down the sides. The glaze will harden slightly in a while. Slice and enjoy your cake!
- Leftover cake can be wrapped and stored on a countertop for 2-3 days.
This is a simple, beautiful and delicious cake, and I am sure that you will love it too!
Don’t forget to PIN & SAVE this recipe for later.
Have you tried baking with olive oil? Are you excited for spring? Do try this lemon olive oil cake for the perfect spring-time treat and let me know how you like it.
If you like this post, please follow this blog via Email to get post updates (find subscription box on the right side of this page, or scroll down in mobile version).
Stay connected on social media, PIN and SHARE this post.
Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | Google+
I am sharing this over at Fiesta Friday.
Virginia L says
What kind of flowers did you use to decorate? Are they edible? Where did you buy them?
Beautiful cake, thank you!
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
The flowers shown here are purely for decoration and not edible (as far as I know)
Emily says
I see I’m coming onto this recipe a little lateBUT, could I use cake flour in place of regular flour.
Thanks ,
Emily
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
I have not tried this recipe with cake flour. You may have to search around for substitution ratios.
Jay says
When you say ‘yogurt’ do you mean a plain Greek yogurt? Or should it be regular plain yogurt?
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
You can use either, they work equally well in this recipe.
Nithya says
HI Anjana..Howdy from Dallas😊
wanted to try this fluffy cake by going eggless..is there any variations that u have tried
Nithya
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
Hi Nithya! I am not sure this recipe will work without eggs. There’s not much fat otherwise in the batter to give it the fluffy texture. Here are 2 eggless cakes you can try instead: https://www.happyandharried.com/2014/09/15/eggless-vanilla-and-chocolate-marble-loaf-cake/
https://www.happyandharried.com/2018/02/28/thandai-sheet-cake/
petra08 says
Lemon and thyme is a wonderful combination and your cake looks absolutely delicious! Beautiful photos. Happy Fiesta Friday!
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
Thank you so much, Petra!!
Zeba@Food For The Soul says
Such a beautiful spring cake Anjana..and those pictures make me want to dig right it! Thanks for brining it to Fiesta Friday!
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
Thank you, Zeba. Happy FF!
Cat says
This cake looks so tasty and fluffy! I love the sound of the flavours you have used.
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
Thank you so much!
Tamara Alaine Mitchell says
Looks delicious! Not too sweet and lots of lemon peel definitely works for me. Now, we just need Spring weather here in Oregon.
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
Thank you, Tamara!
ravenouscook says
That looks beautiful, Anjana! Perfect for Spring! 🙂
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
Thank you!