Cake anyone? For this week's new recipe I created this light and delicious honey sweetened lemon and olive oil vanilla cake. I served this beautiful cake a few weeks ago at a little Spring Gathering I hosted with a few close friends (after enjoying a cheese and antipasto selection and then my Spring Spaghetti with Fresh Clams, Herbs, Chili & Roasted Almonds).
This cake is quick and easy to put together and makes the perfect afternoon tea cake served fresh and warm from the oven. You can also serve it for dessert with the yoghurt cream and chamomile.
The chamomile is definitely optional. You could instead add some freshly grated lemon zest or crushed pistachios if you prefer. If you decide to garnish the cake with chamomile I found my chamomile flowers at my local health food store. You can also usually find them at specialty food or tea stores too.
Check out the lemon cake recipe below, and if you’d like the full menu and recipes from the Spring Gathering (including the spaghetti) you can find them all here: Spring Spaghetti with Fresh Clams, Chili & Roasted Almonds plus a Lunch Gathering Menu
Enjoy!
Props I used in this post:
Serving Plates & Bowls: ED Cobalt Blue Chevron, ED Charcoal Grey Lines, ED Taupe Stripe
Cake Plate: ED Serving Platter
Flower (Jug) Vase: Olio Black Jug, Olio White Jug
Honey Dish: ED Charcoal Accent Plates & Bowls
Yoghurt Cream Dish: ED Fish Bowl
Ingredients
RSF, DF Options 
1 hr 20 mins 
8-10 Cake
- 1¼ cup mild tasting honey
- 1 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbs vanilla paste or extract
- Zest of 3 lemons
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup thick natural greek yoghurt (for a dairy free option you could use coconut yoghurt)
- 2¼ cups spelt flour
- ½ cup almond meal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bi-carb soda
- ½ tsp flaked sea salt
- Juice of 2 lemons (about ⅓ cup juice)
Yoghurt Cream
- 500g natural Greek yoghurt (for a dairy free option you could use coconut yoghurt)
- 150g pure thick cream (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- Zest of half a lemon
Toppings
- Extra honey for drizzling
- Chamomile flowers for sprinkling (optional)
- Fresh or dried sliced lemon to decorate (optional)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 170 degrees celsius (338 Fahrenheit).
- In a large mixing bowl combine the honey, olive oil, lemon zest and vanilla, and whisk well until combined.
- Add the eggs and whisk until combined and smooth.
- Add the yoghurt and whisk again until smooth and combined.
- Fold in the flour, almond meal, baking powder, bi-carb soda and sea salt.
- Gently stir through the lemon juice until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a pre-lined 20cm round cake tin.
- Bake for 50 minutes. Depending on your oven it may require a further 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
- To make the yoghurt cream, fold together the yogurt, cream, vanilla and lemon zest and set aside ready to serve.
- Serve the cake warm with the yogurt cream, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of chamomile flowers. Enjoy!
