Deliciously grown-up dessert: Meyer Lemon Sage Olive Oil Cake

Not-too-sweet Meyer Lemon Sage Olive Oil Cake balances sweet and tart beautifully, and the sage gives it a nice grown-up finish. Recipe below.

In case you’ve just tuned in, the lovely Christina over at A Thinking Stomach recently sent us a generous box of Meyer lemons grown on her own tree. We’ve been thoroughly enjoying experimenting with them. This cake Marion has now made three times is the best thing we’ve done so far. I’ll let her tell you about it.

A couple of days ago, in one of those far-ranging conversations about things that are delicious and things that are definitely not delicious, my colleague Melody pointed out that so many commercial pastries—and we are talking white-tablecloth-restaurant level, not six in a factory-sealed cardboard box for one US dollar level—are disappointing, just because someone thought it would be a good idea to save five cents by skimping on an essential ingredient. Cannoli rolled in peanuts instead of pistachios. Napoleons made with something that certainly isn’t butter and filled with something not unlike grout. Lemon bars overdosed with sugar to make up for not actually being very lemony.

Well, this is lemony. For some time now I’ve been thinking about a recipe that appears all over the Internet in many forms: Olive oil cake, and this week’s installment of our Meyer lemon festival gave me a reason to try it out.

This cake is simple to make, bakes quickly, and stores well. It is flexible—if you don’t have Meyer lemons, you can use regular lemons; if you don’t have plain kefir, you can use buttermilk or plain yogurt. The sage gives it a subtle grown-up nuance. And it really delivers that tart/sweet surge that lemon freaks like me want. In one of the experiments to produce this, I baked a pair of cakes and we delivered one to each daughter. One of the girls texted us, “Caek gud.” And yes, if I say so myself, it is.

Meyer Lemon Sage Olive Oil Cake
Makes 8 to 10 slices

1-1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest, divided
1/2 cup plain kefir or buttermilk
1 scant cup white sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup olive oil (not extra virgin)
2 teaspoons fresh sage, finely minced

For syrup:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice

For icing:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons Meyer lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a 9-inch springform pan using the same olive oil you use in the cake. Cut a round of parchment paper for the bottom of the pan, place it in the pan, then oil that too. Sprinkle a little flour on the bottom of the pan. Bang the side of the pan with the heel of your hand to evenly distribute the loose flour.

Put into a medium bowl the flour, baking powder, salt and 4 teaspoon of the zest. Mix well with a fork.

In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk or kefir, eggs, sugar, olive oil and sage. Whisk thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk everything together. Pour into the springform pan. Place in the center of the hot oven.

Baking usually takes about 28 to 30 minutes, but set a timer for 24 minutes to be on the safe side. The cake is ready when a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven and put it on a rack to cool. After 10 minutes, take off the sides of the pan.

In another ten minutes, poke the cake all over with a heavy fork. Then mix together the syrup ingredients. If the sugar won’t entirely dissolve, heat it gently in a saucepan over low heat while stirring, just for 30 seconds or so. Carefully spoon the syrup on top of the cake, a little at a time.  The idea is that the syrup will ooze into the cake through all those holes. Slowly pouring a spoonful of syrup onto the cake and then spreading it around with the back of the spoon helps and also is very meditative.

After you’ve spread all the syrup on the cake, go away for about 45 minutes. Then come back and mix together the icing ingredients. Coat the top of the cake with the icing—it will be a bit runny. While the icing is still wet, sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of zest on top.

You can actually make this cake the evening before you want to serve it, it is so nice and moist.

Kitchen Notes

Substitutions allowed. You can use regular lemons with this if you prefer. You can also use plain yogurt rather than kefir or buttermilk.

Use good olive oil, not goody two shoes. For the olive oil, I recommend not using an extra virgin olive oil—it can tend to be overly assertive in taste. Just use regular olive oil.

Sage advice. Fresh sage is very moist, so be cautious when chopping it. It likes to stick to the knife blade rather than politely remaining on the cutting board.

More Meyer lemon goodness. Looking for other ways to use these sweet, seasonal delights? Try Cornish Hens with Meyer Lemons and Olives or Linguine with Scallops and Meyer Lemons.