I got this bundt pan for Christmas and I wanted an excuse to use it so I was happy when my in-laws invited us over for the Super Bowl because I finally got to use it!

I love cake that is dense and moist and doesn’t really NEED a frosting. So I wanted to do a lemon olive oil cake. I mostly used Claire Saffitz’ Lemon Bundt Cake recipe but I did change a few things for my own taste. When I was making the batter, it smelled so strong of olive oil and I was worried it would be way too strong but after baking it, you couldn’t taste it at all. It was AMAZING and a huge crowd pleaser.

CAKE INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup room temperature milk
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 4 room temperature eggs
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup softened butter

LEMON SOAK INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2/3 cup sugar

GLAZE/ICING INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• Splash of vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Start by buttering and flouring your bundt pan. This is SO important. My cake just slipped right out because I did this. I didn’t have to bang on the top of my pan to get it out or anything. I took softened butter and a pastry brush and brushed a thick layer of butter on the entire inside of the pan. I made sure to get around the flute and the top of the bundt pan the most because that’s where it likes to stick. Then I sprinkled flour in the pan and banged it in a circle until all the butter was coated. Set aside your pan until your cake batter is ready.

START PREHEATING OVEN TO 350°

2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. (Flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt)

3. Mix milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract together. The acidity from the lemon juice may cause the milk to curdle slightly but it’ll all come together when it’s mixed so don’t worry.

4. Massage lemon zest into sugar with your fingers. This allows the zest to release flavor and you’ll be able to smell it as you do this.

5. Add eggs and butter to the sugar and zest mixture and beat until lightened in color and slightly fluffy. CONTINUE BEATING while you slowly stream in the olive oil. You don’t want the eggs and oil to split so it’s important that you incorporate it slowly and smoothly.

6. Alternating between the dry mixture and the milk mixture, add to the egg and sugar mixture you created. You want to start and end with your dry mixture. So go dry, wet, dry, wet, dry, mixing and scraping the bowl between.

7. Pour batter into your bundt pan. It should be a relatively loose batter so it should fall into all the grooves nicely.

8. Bake at 350° for 40-55 minutes. Check after 40 with a skewer, toothpick, or paring knife to see if any batter comes off. A few moist crumbs are okay but you don’t want any batter or large clumps. If you see that, put back into the oven for longer. Mine took 45 minutes.

9. Make lemon soak mixture by combining sugar and lemon juice.

10. Once cake it out of the oven, allow to sit for 5 minutes. While it’s still hot in the pan, poke the cake with a skewer to make little holes. Using a pastry brush, dab the lemon soak all over. There’s a lot of soak so don’t be shy, but we are going to soak the rest of the cake as well so leave the majority of the soak for the other part of the cake. Doing this while the cake is hot allows the cake to want to absorb it and really soak it all in. Let the cake cool in the pan for another 10-15 minutes.

11. Flip the cake over onto a cooling rack. I think it’s easiest to put the cooking rack on top and then grabbing both and flipping together. Your cake should slide right out with the butter and flour coating we did. Place a cutting board underneath the cooking rack. This will catch the remaining lemon soak as we dab it on.

12. Use the remainder of the lemon soak to dab ALL OVER the cake. inside, outside, and it seems like a lot of liquid. Use ALL of it. I say to dab it because if you swipe it all over, it’ll create crumbs. Dabbing helps keep the beautiful shape of the bundt pan that you got. Any soak that dropped onto the cutting board, you can pick up with your brush and dab it on the cake again. Allow the cake to cool completely.

13. Make glaze. Combine powdered sugar, milk, and lemon juice. Slowly pour over the top, allowing the glaze to drip down the sides on its own. *In the photo, I did 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tbsp milk, 1 tsp lemon juice and some vanilla. It ended up being a little thick and we all wanted more glaze so I adjusted the recipe. BUT if you like it thicker or less glaze, go for the original ratio I did.* I also did this while the cake was on the cooling rack so if the glaze runs off it doesn’t get all over the cake plate. I topped it with some leftover lemon zest.

ENJOY!