Make This Lemon Olive Oil Cake Your Fall Potluck Go-to - Bon Appetit

As someone who just moved into a new apartment and is very slowly restocking kitchen supplies and equipment—but also someone with a major sweet tooth who loves baking—finding simple, non-finicky desserts to ease into autumn baking is an absolute delight. I want the immediate payoff of a sweet treat without stressing over creaming butter and sugar together or trying to properly aerate a batter without a stand mixer.

Mina Stone’s Super Lemony Olive Oil Cake checks every box: minimal effort, high payoff, and no special equipment needed. You don’t even need a hand mixer! If you’ve got a whisk and two mixing bowls, then you’ve got everything you need to make this bright, citrusy, perfectly moist cake with just the right note of grassiness from high-quality olive oil. I ate it for breakfast with coffee. I ate it as a pick-me-up snack when the afternoon doldrums hit. I may just commit and eat a hefty slice for dinner too. And without a doubt it is my new go-to cake to bring over to friends’ houses for parties and potlucks.

This recipe comes from Stone’s new cookbook, Lemon, Love & Olive Oil, a deeply personal collection of recipes, many of which she learned from her Greek grandmother. Traditionally, Greek olive oil cake uses orange juice and zest, but when she ran out of oranges, Stone swapped in lemons, resulting in this bright, golden-hued stunner of a cake.

Lemon, Love & Olive Oil

This simple cake very much follows the general ethos of her cookbook, relying on simple, high-quality ingredients, nothing too fussy or particular, and exceedingly approachable techniques. You’ll want to stock up on plenty of feta, tomatoes, and, of course, lemons and high-quality olive oil to cook through the many vibrant, comforting, and shareable dishes in the book. Other standout recipes: Mlitzanosalata, a cold herby eggplant appetizer; Cypriot Bulgur with Toasted Pasta and Tomato, shot through with butter-toasted bits of vermicelli; and Semolina Halvah with Toasted Almonds and Cinnamon, a nutty, toasty dessert that is as striking as it is delicious. If you’re on the hunt for a book to cook through on repeat this fall, Lemon, Love & Olive Oil is the move—and this olive oil cake should be the first recipe on your list.