Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Candied Lemons

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 inch cake tin or two smaller tins. I ended up using a springform pan because it’s really the only cake-shaped pan I have. If you have a 9 inch cake tin, that should work, or use 2 smaller ones.

Combine 1 1/2 cups of the granulated sugar, plus the rest of the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour in the olive oil and almond milk and beat until those are incorporated. Now add the canola oil and mix again. Finally, mix in the juice of 1 lemon and the lemon zest.

Pour batter into the greased cake in. If you can, mound the batter up in the middle a bit, as the sides may rise more.

Bake at 350 F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The original recipe said to bake 25-30 minutes, but mine took 42. This will vary a lot based on your oven and the tin that you use! I would say test every 5 minutes starting at 30 minutes. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack before glazing.

While the cake is in the oven, candy the lemons. This part is optional, but I absolutely love the way they look (although they served purely as a garnish; we didn’t really eat them). Bring the water and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar to boil in a large pan. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and add in the 2 sliced lemons. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the lemons are translucent. Remove with tongs and drain on a sheet of wax paper, then refrigerate until cooled.

Next up, make the glaze. Sift the powdered sugar into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in the remaining lemon juice (from the 1 remaining lemon one tablespoon at a time, continuing until you have a pretty runny consistency.

Last but not least, assemble your cake! Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan and place it on your serving platter and drizzle the glaze over the top. You may not use all the glaze. In fact, I recommend using only half unless you have a major sweet tooth. Finally, garnish with candied lemons and a sprig of rosemary!

So pretty. Enjoy!

Adapted from The Gluttonous Vegan (cake) and Eat, Live, Run (Candied Lemons).