12 of Our Best Oil-Based Cake Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the best oil for baking cakes? ›

Canola oil is, without doubt, one of the best types of oil for baking. It's preferred in many recipes since it has the most neutral flavor compared to other types of oil. It also tends to be lighter in flavour, so it will not negatively affect the baked product's flavor and texture.

Texture:Cakes made with oil tend to be moister and have a more tender crumb. Oil coats the flour proteins better than butter, resulting in a softer texture. Cakes made with butter can have a richer flavor and a slightly firmer texture. Butter contributes to a more traditional and dense cake structure.

Because this cake is so simple, it's important to use high-quality ingredients–typically, extra virgin olive oil is used for the stronger flavor. Here, Stella explains why using a high-quality olive oil is worth it in olive oil cake.

Oil-based cakes are incredibly moist.

An oil-based cake is never dry and here's why: oil is a liquid (or, for lack of a better word, “wet”) at room temperature, and so, thanks to that liquidity, cakes made with it taste moist.

The oils which should be avoided for cooking are oils like soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, and safflower. These oils have unstable fats and will decimate the nutritional properties of your food. Oh, and they'll give you a big fat health risk in the meantime.

Any dessert recipe that calls for vegetable oil as an ingredient is a perfect chance to swap it for olive oil. In these recipes, the swap would be a one-to-one ratio. In other words, if the recipe calls for one cup of vegetable oil, you would simply use one cup of extra virgin olive oil.

What about substituting oil for butter? Depending on the type of oil, it can add complex flavor and welcome moisture to your baked goods. A good rule of thumb is to replace about 3/4 of the butter in a recipe with olive, canola, or vegetable oil. (If the recipe calls for 1 cup butter, use ¾ cup oil.)

There are no surprises here: butter tastes better than oil in baking recipes. However, in recipes with other bold flavors – such as chocolate, coffee, or citrus – butter can sometimes compete with the other flavors and this is normally when a recipe calls for oil instead.

Why is my olive oil cake so dense? Several things could contribute to a dense olive oil cake, including overmixing the batter, using too much flour, or not incorporating enough air into the batter during mixing.

Typically, olive oil is a safer bet when cooking because of the higher smoke point and neutral flavor, and extra-virgin olive oil is ideal for a flavorful dressing, a dip for bread, or a last minute pour over a cooked piece of meat. However, this is entirely a matter of preference.

What olive oil should I use for olive oil cake? ›

If you want the benefits of an olive oil cake but don't want any noticeable flavor added from the olive oil, use olive oils that have a mild intensity like a Spanish Arbequina or Greek Koroneiki.

A press cake or oil cake is the solids remaining after pressing something to extract the liquids. Their most common use is in animal feed.

Yes, the use of both butter and vegetable oil in a cake recipe can definitely make your cake fluffy and moist. In fact, many recipes call for a combination of these two ingredients. Let me explain how this works. Butter is a great ingredient for adding flavor and richness to a cake.

How do I substitute olive oil for butter in cakes and other baked good? As a general rule of thumb, substitute three-quarters of the butter in a recipe with olive oil. In other words: If a baking recipe calls for a stick of butter (8 tablespoons), for example, use 6 tablespoons of olive oil.

Where butter is sweet, milky, and often in the background of a cake's flavor, olive oil is earthy, grassy, and bold. An olive oil cake will always have a savory edge, sometimes even a backnote of bitterness, that a butter cake will lack.

Oil cakes tend to bake up loftier with a more even crumb and stay moist and tender far longer than cakes made with butter. So why do most cake recipes start with butter? Flavor. Cakes made with butter often taste better than oil cakes.

The verdict: Use butter if you want to. If you have extreme concerns about your cake sticking, use shortening (which is pure fat with no water), cooking spray, or baking spray. Coconut oil or bacon fat will also work, as will clarified butter which has the milk solids removed.

Both olive oil and canola oil will work for baking cakes, depending on what you want the final dessert to taste like. According to Bakestarters, canola oil is the best choice for baking most cakes because it won't affect the flavor of the cake at all and will let other ingredients like chocolate or vanilla bean shine.