Coffee Cake Cake with Olive Oil & Cinnamon

Whip the egg whites first—that part matters more than people think. This olive oil cake comes together fast once you know the move, and the cinnamon hits different when it’s homemade like this instead of store-bought. Sixty-five minutes total and you’ve got something that tastes like it took all morning.

Why You’ll Love This Cinnamon Cake

Tastes homemade. Because it is. The kind of thing that fills the kitchen with that cinnamon smell before you even cut into it. Twenty-five minutes of prep work. Not nothing, but honest. Works cold the next day—maybe better cold actually. Olive oil keeps it moist without that heavy feeling. Not dense. Not airy either. One bowl method basically. Cleanup’s quick.

What You Need for This Olive Oil Cake

Five eggs, but you’re splitting them—whites go one direction, yolks go another. Matters. Two hundred milliliters of mild olive oil. Not the fancy stuff. Just something neutral that won’t fight the cinnamon. Sugar. One hundred forty milliliters. Not a ton but enough to make it work. Ground cinnamon. Two teaspoons. This is the whole point. Use the good stuff if you have it. Three hundred ninety milliliters of all-purpose flour. That’s it. No baking powder. No baking soda. Just flour. A loaf pan. Twenty by ten centimeters. Standard size.

How to Make a Cinnamon Roll Cake

Set your oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Three hundred fifty Fahrenheit. Let it warm while you work. Grease the pan. Olive oil or butter. Doesn’t matter which.

Crack the eggs. Whites in one bowl, yolks in another. This is the key move—whip those whites until they’re stiff. Like actual peaks. Take a few minutes. You’ll feel when they’re done.

Grab the yolk bowl. Beat the olive oil and sugar together until it looks creamy. Pale. A bit fluffy. Then add the yolks one at a time. Beat after each one. The mix should look smooth and lighter than when you started.

Stir the cinnamon in. Just stir. Two teaspoons goes into that wet mix. Then add the flour slowly. Not all at once. Stir until it just comes together—don’t overmix.

How to Get Cinnamon Cake Fluffy

This part’s where people mess up. Fold half the egg whites in with the mixer on low. Actually low. Not medium. Then take a spatula and fold the rest in by hand. Slow. Careful. You’re trying to keep the air in there. If you smash it, the cake gets dense and there’s not much you can do about it.

Pour it into the pan. Smooth the top. Bake on the center rack for 35 to 45 minutes. Every oven’s different. Start checking at 35. Toothpick goes in—if it comes out clean, you’re done. If it’s wet, give it a few more minutes.

Let it cool in the pan for ten minutes. Then turn it out onto a rack. Let it go completely cold before slicing. This part’s hard because it smells done before it’s cool, but trust it. Hot cake falls apart.

Cinnamon Cake Tips and Common Mistakes

Don’t skip the separation. Egg whites whipped separately make this cake work. You can’t replicate that with whole eggs.

Olive oil cake recipes sometimes use olive oil that’s too heavy. Mild is the move. Something you could cook with, not something precious.

The cinnamon goes in the wet mix, not layered in. Not swirled. Just stirred in. One flavor throughout.

Cold oven won’t work here. Preheat actually matters for this one.

Cream the oil and sugar longer than feels necessary. That step builds air into the batter before the eggs go in.

If the top cracks while baking—that’s fine. It’s a loaf. Cracks happen.

Coffee Cake Cake with Olive Oil & Cinnamon

By Emma

Prep:

25 min

Cook:

40 min

Total:

65 min

Servings:

8 servings

Ingredients

• 5 eggs, separated
• 200 ml (7/8 cup) olive oil, mild flavor
• 140 ml (2/3 cup) sugar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) ground cinnamon
• 390 ml (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour

Method

1. 1 1 Preheat oven to 175 ºC (350 ºF).
2. 2 2 Grease a 20 x 10 cm (8 x 4 inch) loaf pan with olive oil or butter.
3. 3 3 Whip egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff peaks appear. Set aside.
4. 4 4 In another bowl, beat olive oil and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolks one at a time, mix well.
5. 5 5 Stir cinnamon into the wet mix. Gradually add flour, stirring just until combined.
6. 6 6 Fold half of whipped egg whites into batter with an electric mixer on low. Gently fold in the rest by hand with a spatula, careful not to deflate.
7. 7 7 Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth top. Bake in center rack 35-45 minutes. Check doneness with toothpick; it should come out clean.
8. 8 8 Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Nutritional information

Calories

280

Protein

6g

Carbs

25g

Fat

18g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Olive Oil Cake

Can I use a different type of olive oil? Mild flavor. Extra virgin tastes too much like olives. Not in a good way for this.

How long does this cinnamon cake last? Four or five days. Stays soft in an airtight container. Probably longer but nobody’s ever waited that long to eat it.

Can I make this cake with honey instead of sugar? Not really. Honey changes the whole texture. Tried it once.

What if my egg whites won’t get stiff? They will. Take longer than you think. Keep going. Even one drop of yolk messes it up, so make sure the bowl’s clean. Really clean.

Does this work as a honey bun cake base? Not exactly. Different structure. This one’s lighter. You could put stuff on top of it, but that’s its own thing.

Can I add lemon or apple to this recipe? Lemon might work. Apple gets too wet. The cinnamon’s the star here anyway.

How do I know when it’s actually done baking? Toothpick test. Clean all the way through. The top should feel set but not hard. Takes 35 to 45 minutes. Some ovens run hot.

Should I use a hand mixer or stand mixer? Either one. Hand mixer’s fine. Just don’t use it on the egg whites at the end—that’s spatula work. You lose the air if the mixer gets involved.