The titular ingredient in this Italian-style olive oil cake recipe provides most of its flavor, so choose yours with care. Extra-virgin olive oil gives the dessert a vibrant taste, while lesser grades will produce subtler results. Both are reliably delicious so long as you use a high-quality olive oil. Adding lemon juice and zest elicits the fruity flavors of the oil, providing the cake a soft finish that goes perfectly next to a pile of blueberries, sliced figs, poached pears, or whatever fruit is in season wherever you are.
Cake flour is critical to the airy crumb here—as much as we love a scrappy pantry swap, we don’t recommend substituting self-rising or all-purpose flour. If you cannot resist tinkering, use half lemon and half lime, grapefruit, or orange zest for a mixed citrus cake (serve over lemon curd to up the ante). We love finishing this lemony olive oil cake with a simple powdered sugar shower, but if you prefer a sugar glaze, make one with vanilla extract and lemon or orange juice to further boost those citrus notes.