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Side view of an olive oil cake with a brown butter frosting with a couple slices cut out.
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4.87 from 15 votes

Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

A simple citrus Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Frosting, perfect for any celebration or simple weeknight bake. I based this cake on one I had at Tulie in Salt Lake City!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Cooling1 hour
Total Time2 hours 30 minutes
Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: brown butter, olive oil
Servings: 12
Calories: 663kcal

Ingredients

Cake

  • 300 grams granulated sugar
  • 1.5 lemons zested
  • 1 orange zested
  • 5 grams fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 145 grams sour cream
  • 200 grams olive oil
  • 5 eggs standard large
  • 250 grams all purpose flour
  • 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking sod

Brown Butter Buttercream

  • 228 grams salted butter
  • 450 grams powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream more as needed

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven.

Olive Oil Cake Batter

  • In a large bowl, add in the 300 grams of granulated sugar, the zest of one and a half lemons and one orange. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until fully incorporated. The sugar will begin to clump from the oils.
  • Crack all five eggs into the bowl, along with the sour cream, olive oil, vanilla, and salt. Whisk for about two minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder into the wet ingredients. Use a flat rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. It will still look clumpy from the bubbles.
  • Grease a 9" round cake pan, *If using this 9" springform pan from USA pan that I love, you don't need to line or grease the pan.
  • Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake in the hot oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 20-30 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Once baked, take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing it from the cake pan and leaving to cool completely.

Brown Butter Buttercream

  • While the cake bakes and cools, place the butter into a sauce pot. Place the pot over medium low heat and let the butter melt, then bubble, then go silent. Once it quiets down, start to stir it regularly until it really begins to brown.
  • Once it has browned, pour the butter into a heat safe mixing bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. You want the butter to become the texture of just softened butter, not soup. If it isn't firming up enough, place the bowl of butter into the fridge, stirring occasionally until it's just spreadable.
  • Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl with the butter and add the teaspoon of vanilla extract. Use a mixer to whip until fully combined and smooth. Add in a tablespoon of heavy cream at a time until the buttercream is soft and spreadable and no longer super stiff.
  • If you add too much cream, just add in a bit more powdered sugar until it is thick enough.

Decorate

  • Once the cake has cooled and the buttercream is whipped, scoop the frosting onto the top of the cake.
  • Use the back of a spoon to swirl it around for a rustic design or an offset spatula to smooth it over the top and sides of the cake. I like to use a bench scraper last to really smooth out the sides.
  • Store in the fridge fully iced on a plate or cake stand. Once you've cut into it, store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes

Tips for Olive Oil Cake with Brown Butter Frosting
  • I like to use a combination of lemon zest and orange zest for this cake but you could use all lemon if you prefer! To make it extra citrusy, use this lemon olive oil like this one from Brightland!
  • Make sure your oven is preheated! This cake should be baked immediately once mixed and assembled because the baking soda will start to react quickly so you don't want the air bubbles to burst before it hits the oven.
  • Don't over mix the cake batter. Because of the oil and high number of eggs, this cake can easily become tough if you over mix it. Simply fold the dry ingredients into the already mixed wet, just until no dry bits are visible - it will still look clumpy but that's ok.
  • I recommend using this 9" springform pan from USA pan for all of my cakes but especially this one because the sides are nice and tall allowing this cake to rise quite a bit.
  • Be sure to bake the cake fully, it should have a nice golden brown color and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when it's finished baking.
  • For the brown butter buttercream, make sure to brown the butter to the point of having dark flecks in it. If it just becomes golden brown there won't be a lot of flavor from the butter. If you pour it out of the pan and decide it isn't brown enough you can always pour it back in the pan and heat it again.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 663kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 119mg | Sodium: 460mg | Potassium: 73mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 62g | Vitamin A: 686IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 1mg