A single-serving ramekin cake where olive oil replaces the butter entirely. It bakes in under twenty minutes and it is the dessert people never see coming.

Olive oil cakes stay moist for days longer than butter cakes because olive oil is liquid at room temperature — nothing firms up as it cools. Using Basil Extra Virgin Olive Oil pushes it somewhere more interesting still: alongside lemon zest and juice, the basil reads as herbal and floral rather than savory, closer to a lemon-verbena tea cake than anything you would find on a savory plate.

Stop stirring the moment the flour disappears. Overmixed batter in a ramekin this small bakes tight and rubbery instead of tender. Serve it warm, or at room temperature with a spoonful of whipped cream.