Rosemary Tea and Olive Oil Cake with Honey Glaze
A moist Mediterranean olive oil cake infused with rosemary tea and finished with a honey-lemon glaze — piney, floral, and quietly sophisticated.
Rosemary doesn't read as an obvious dessert herb, but steeped gently into warm milk before it goes into the batter, it lends a subtle, resinous perfume that plays beautifully against olive oil's fruity richness and honey's floral sweetness.
This cake leans on the same logic as classic Mediterranean olive-oil cakes, but swaps a portion of the liquid for a rosemary tea infusion, so the herb's piney aroma threads through every bite rather than sitting on top as a garnish.
Restraint is key — steep the tea only briefly and use a measured amount in the batter. Too much rosemary will turn the cake bitter and medicinal rather than gently aromatic; the goal is a whisper of pine in the background, not a mouthful of herb.
Finish the cooled cake with a honey-lemon glaze that soaks slightly into the crumb. The honey's warmth and the lemon's brightness round out rosemary's sharper edges, turning a humble tea-infused cake into something that feels worthy of a dinner party.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 tbsp dried rosemary (or 4 tea bags)
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
How to make it
- 1Heat the milk until just simmering. Remove from heat, add the dried rosemary, cover, and steep for 8 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve and let cool to room temperature.
- 2Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- 3In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and slightly thickened. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, then the cooled rosemary-infused milk and lemon zest.
- 4Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- 5Bake for 35–40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack.
- 6Whisk the honey and lemon juice together and brush generously over the warm cake, letting it soak in before serving.
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