Olive oil makes especially moist cakes, and this one only improves the longer it sits at room temperature on your kitchen counter, wrapped tightly in plastic. A lovely crumb and not too sweet; perfect with a cup of coffee or with berries and ice cream.
I followed instructions and used a 9″ diameter springform pan, and the batter filled it to the top. Imagine my dismay when after about 20 minutes in the oven I smelled something burning. The cake had risen and overflowed the pan onto the heating element! Yikes! I pulled the pan out , cleaned up the mess and returned the cake to the oven on a sheet pan. None of the comments on Epicurious noted anything similar so I knew it was me. I realized that instead of large eggs I had used jumbo, and maybe that combined with the 2 teaspoons of baking powder caused the extra volume. Anyway, although a bit cockeyed it tasted fine.
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar; plus more
2 cups cake flour
1/3 cup almond flour or meal or fine-grind cornmeal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbs. amaretto, Grand Marnier, sweet vermouth, or other liqueur
1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs
A 9″ diameter springform pan
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle bottom and sides of pan with oil and use your fingers to coat. Line bottom with a round of parchment paper and smooth to eliminate air bubbles; coat parchment with more oil. Generously sprinkle pan with sugar and tilt to coat in an even layer; tap out excess. Whisk cake flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to combine and eliminate any lumps. Stir together amaretto, lemon juice, and vanilla in a small bowl.
Using an electric mixer on high speed (use a whisk attachment if working with a stand mixer), beat eggs, lemon zest, and 1 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar in a large bowl until mixture is very light, thick, pale,and falls off the whisk or beaters in a slowly dissolving ribbon, about 3 minutes if using a stand mixer and about 5 minutes if using a hand mixer. With mixer still on high speed, gradually stream in 1 1/4 cups olive oil and beat until incorporated and mixture is even thicker. Reduce mixer speed to low and add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with amaretto mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Fold batter several times with a large rubber spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top, and sprinkle with more sugar.
Place cake in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until top is golden brown, center is firm to the touch, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan 15 minutes.
Poke holes all over top of cake with a toothpick or skewer, and drizzle with remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil; let it absorb. Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake and remove ring from pan. Slide cake onto rack and let cool completely. For the best flavor and texture, wrap cake in plastic and let it sit at room temperature at least a day before serving.
Cake can be baked 4 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature. 8 Servings.
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