Foolproof LEMON OLIVE OIL CAKE, dairy-free [recipe]

A dead-easy, dairy-free lemony Lemon Olive Oil Cake, which is one of like three recipes I actually bake because I can't bake to save my loaf. In fact, the only other recipes for baked goods on this site are essentially variations on this Olive Oil Cake (links to those recipes included), and banana bread.

At some point I will bake an olive oil banana bread.

As a quick note, all of the Olive Oil Cake recipes I've shared so far are dairy-free, and it's partially by design because I don't usually keep milk, buttermilk or even yogurt on hand. Because this Olive Oil Cake is something I decide to make on some random Wednesday afternoon, I want to be able to bake it right away without having to go to the grocery store to buy additional ingredients. I almost always have flour in the freezer and sugar because it doesn't go bad, and always have lemons, olive oil, and eggs, obviously.

Recipe for LEMON OLIVE OIL CAKE below, cooking Notes and shopping Resources follow. You can watch a short video of my making the cake here.

NOTES and RESOURCES for Lemon Olive Oil Cake

1. Flour. You can use any form of wheat flour for Lemon Olive Oil Cake. I used this brand of organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour; I don't bake enough to keep all kinds of specialty flours. I have made this cake with half whole wheat flour and as expected, it works perfectly well.
2. Olive Oil. The point of this Lemon Olive Oil Cake is the olive oil, so use the best-tasting (to you) olive oil you can afford. For an olive oil cake, it's probably best to go with an olive oil on the milder, fruitier side rather than on the intense, peppery side.  I like this California-grown olive oil, but it's also VERY expensive, so I am saving that for times when I am eating straight olive oil like as a dip for bread, and using this mild, organic olive oil for the cake.
3. Lemons: I generally use Meyer lemons for everything because that's what my Mom gives me from her trees, but for this Olive Oil Cake, I used organic regular yellow lemons because I like how tart they are for this cake. You can use Meyer lemons if you have them; the cake will be ever so slightly sweeter!
4. All other fresh herbs and produce from either the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday, or Whole Foods Market when I can't find what I need at the farmers' market.

TOOLS and EQUIPMENT

• Also try:
  Meyer Lemon Thyme Olive Oil Cake recipe, also dairy-free, slightly smaller in volume than the Olive Oil Cake in this recipe, baked in a Bundt or loaf pan
• Rosemary Olive Oil Cake with Candied Rosemary recipe, dairy-free, baked in 8-inch round cake pan