At the Royal Tea, these were called Jolly Good Lemon Thyme Cakes.  Perfect name!

Anything lemony ranks  high on my list of favorite foods, and these little lemon cakes do not disappoint.

I got this recipe last year from The Pioneer Woman, and I  have been making it ever since.   Ashleymac was given credit for sharing the recipe, but I think the recipe originated in the Food Network Magazine.  One of the comments on the Tasty Kitchen site mentioned this, and I found the recipe on the Food Network site.  Just wanted to give credit where credit is due.

These are so lemony and good.  How unusual to use olive oil as the shortening, but it works.  The addition of thyme really sets them apart.  Love fresh thyme.  Just pull those little leaves off the stems, and you are good to go. The fact that these lemon cakes are so easy to make in a blender is also a big plus.

I have been making mini-cupcakes, but on the Food Network site, they made them into mini-bunt cakes (bunt cakes- I always think of My Fat Greek Wedding.  Still makes me laugh!)  Wouldn’t the bunt cakes be great served with fresh strawberries like shortcake.

For this recipe, cupcake liners are helpful.  That way you will not have trouble getting the cakes out of the pan.  The cakes are delicate.  If you make the mini-bunt cakes, be sure to butter and flour or spray your pan well.

Enjoy!

Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Thyme Recipe

Food Network

Makes 12 regular cupcakes or 36 mini-cupcakes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a muffin pan using 1 tablespoon melted butter and flour, or use baking spray with flour, or use cupcake liners.

Ingredients for the cakes:

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

2 whole eggs

¼ cup olive oil

2/3 cups whole milk

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

Instructions for the lemon cakes:

Pulse the sugar and lemon zest in a blender until combined. Your kitchen will smell divine!

Add the eggs one at a time, then gradually pour in the olive oil and milk, pulsing until emulsified into a thin batter, about 30 seconds.  Don’t over blend or the cakes will be too puffy.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and thyme in a small bowl.

Add flour mixture into the blender in 2 batches and pulse each batch until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for about 25 minutes.  The cakes will just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and spring back when lightly touched when done.  Adjust the cooking time if you make mini-cupcakes.

While cakes are cooking, make the glaze:

Ingredients for the glaze:

1 ½ cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or more as needed

Instructions for the lemon glaze:

Whisk the powdered sugar, melted butter and lemon juice until smooth, adding more lemon juice if glaze is too thick.

I dip the tops of the cakes into the glaze, but the directions suggest drizzling the glaze over the cakes.  Do whatever makes you happy.

Garnish with a sprig of thyme – makes them pretty.

Jolly Good!