There’s nothing like a rich Olive Oil Cake that tastes like the Mediterranean. I’m sharing why I love Moroccan olive oil to make my favorite olive oil cake recipe, plus tips on extra virgin olive oil and a video recipe!
Today’s delicious, tasty and moist cake is in partnership with my friends at Mina. All opinions are my own.
Have you made or tasted an olive oil cake before? I’m excited to share with you my favorite recipe for it, and so many tips and info on making the absolute best cake today! Let’s get started.
WHY OLIVE OIL CAKE
While you may think of olive oil for cooking or for your salad dressings, you’ll be surprised what olive oil can do to your baking recipes.
The origin of olive oil cake stems from the Mediterranean. Olive harvest season is a celebration in many cultures, and lots of recipes are made to highlight that season.
So what can you expect from an olive oil cake?
- It’s utterly tasty! Rich fruity and complex favor that will pleasantly surprise you.
- Super moist! Like stays moist for 3-4 days!
- Easy to make! One bowl and whisk cake.
- Fool proof—your can’t mess it up!
- Comforting, it almost feels like grandma baked the cake for you.
- Pairs wonderfully with your coffee and tea.
Before we get into the step by step details and tips of the recipe, we need to talk about our hero : The olive oil.
To make the best olive oil cake, you’ll need to use quality olive oil. It goes without saying since it’s our hero ingredient.
MOROCCAN OLIVE OIL
If you’re on instagram, you’ve probably seen how I love Mina’s extra virgin olive oil. It comes in different sizes which you can get here.
Why I love Moroccan olive oil?
- Out of all the Mediterranean olives, Moroccan olives are known for their longevity and high polyphenol content.
- The polyphenols which are the main antioxidant we all look for in olive oil, are most potent in Moroccan olives.
- They have a slight peppery taste and a sweet fruity note which contrast and balance each other so beautifully.
- It’s thankfully ready available now across the US!!
While you’ve probably never thought of it, but all the olive oil brand in the market are a blend of several olives form several origins. You can’t have any traceability to the product.
When I discovered Mina’s extra virgin olive oil, I also discovered that it’s a single origin oil.
When you buy olive oil that’s high in polyphenols, you can use it endlessly. Cooking, baking, searing, raw on salads, marinades, and so much more!
You’ll find some useful tips below and info on olive oil. For now let’s make some cake!
OLIVE OIL CAKE RECIPE
As you can see from the video, this is seriously an easy one bowl and whisk cake. There’s no fancy technique and for that it’s a fool proof recipe.
I love accenting my olive oil cake recipe with citrus. The most common flavor would be a lemon olive oil cake. However, I very much prefer a clementine or orange olive oil cake.
The sweetness of oranges (or clementines in today’s cake) brings out the sweetness from the olive oil in my opinion far more than the lemon can. So for that, I prefer clementine.
Be careful about adding too much clementine zest or juice, you don’t want to overpower the subtle flavor of olive oil.
What you need to make Olive Oil Cake Recipe
- Flour
- Sugar
- Baking Powder and baking Soda
- Salt
- Mina’s Olive Oil
- Yogurt
- Clementine zest and juice (can use orange instead)
- Eggs
As easy as it looks on video is exactly as easy as this cake is! Preheat your oven as a first step.
Second step is to get yourself a large bowl and mix in all ingredients using a whisk until just blended.
Be careful about over mixing the batter, you don’t want a perfectly smooth batter. Some lumps are very much welcome.
I line a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment paper before pouring the cake batter in. You can likewise bake this in a springform or square pan 9 inch as well.
Once the cake is baked golden brown and ready, and while it’s still warm, I love finishing it off with a secret tip.
You’ll need a toothpick and 2 extra tablespoons of Mina’s olive oil.
Use the toothpick to poke the cake on top evenly, about half an inch apart pokes.
Then you’ll need a pastry brush and simply brush the surface of the warm cake with some extra virgin olive oil.
The cake will slowly absorb that olive oil adding another level of flavor to the humble olive oil cake recipe. Rest assured your cake will NOT be greasy or oily, rather flavorful and tasty!
This tiny little trick will make your cake stand out, I can not recommend it enough! Also can’t recommend using quality olive oil like Mina for this!
A final dusting of powdered sugar is what I use here. Make sure the cake is cool completely before dusting the sugar.
Even though it’s optional, because the cake doesn’t really need more sugar. I only add a light dusting to make the cake feel like a homemade grandma style baked cake.
Since olive oil cake does remind me of the Mediterranean and my grandma’s cooking, I absolutely love keeping that comfort feel to it.
You may however choose to fancy it with a glaze or whipped cream and it will still be amazing! But for me, it will always feel like grandma’s cake.
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
We all love extra virgin olive oil and use it nearly everyday. But we rarely look at where it’s coming from and what quality of olives were used, what amount of antioxidants are we getting form it, and more.
I’ve been using that brand for years because they have a variety of sauces, teas, olives and condiments. Their products are phenomenal.
Very recently I found out that they’ve added extra virgin olive oil to their line of products and so I had to try it!
At first like many of us, I wanted to taste it and compare it to other olive oils I’ve been using. I just loved it!
After that, I read more and more about the traceability and quality of Moroccan olives. I found out it has a large amount of polyphenols and that means I am getting the real benefit of olive oil, not just the taste.
Olive Oil Smoke Point
This is another important factor to think about. Most of the extra virgin olive oils you find at the grocery store is a blend of different olives from different sources.
So it’s mass produced and very low quality. For that it has a very low smoking point. And that can limit how you use the oil. For example, you won’t be able to sear with it or use it in cooking like you’s like to.
However, quality Mina Extra Virgin Olive oil comes from Moroccan olives which have a load of polyphenols and for that they have a smoking point up to 405 degrees F. This makes the oil idea for all uses!
Some Olive Oil Benefits
I can’t really claim to know every single benefit of olive oil, so for that I’m listing some of my favorite and well known benefits of it.
- High in anti-oxidants
- Contains good Omega-3
- Has Anti-inflammatory properties
Many people use olive oil for their skin and hair too. And some claims indicate that olive oil can help regulate blood sugar and improve memory.
If you don’t use olive oil for its benefits, I’m sure you use it for its’ taste, and either way, Mina’s Olive Oil will win 🙂 Give that a try!
ORANGE OLIVE OIL CAKE TIPS
- Use quality extra virgin olive for the best tasting olive oil cake. I use Mina’s Extra virgin olive oil which you buy here.
- Preheat the oven before starting the recipe because it comes together really quick.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper for easiest cleanup.
- Use a 9 inch round pan, square pan or springform pan.
- Have a large bowl, a whisk and a spatula ready and measure the ingredients.
- Use orange instead of clementine or even lemon. I prefer orange or clementine.
- Whisk everything into a large bowl and the batter is ready.
- Once the cake is golden brown and out of the oven and while it’s still warm, poke the surface with a toothpick and brush the entire cake with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- A light dusting of powdered sugar gives the cake a comfort feel.
- Once cooled, the cake stays fresh on the counter well covered for at least 3-4 days. It remains moist and tasty!
- You can freeze the cooled olive oil, well wrapped for up to 3 months.
- ENJOY!
OLIVE OIL RECIPES
Labneh Dip with Zaatar Pistachio Mint Olive Topping
Ultimate Tuna Salad Recipe with Olive Dressing
Tabouleh or Tabouli With Lemon Tahini Dressing
Broccoli Pesto – Healthy Pasta Recipe
Spaghetti aglio e olio – Olive oil Pasta
Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil Mina’s brand
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup Yogurt
- Zest of 1 clementine
- 2 tablespoons clementine juice
Finish off:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tablespoons Powdered sugar
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
-
Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper and set aside.
-
In a large bowl, Mix all the cake ingredients using a whisk until well blended but not necessarily smooth. Keep some lumps in your batter.
-
Pour the batter to the prepared baking pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 50-55 minutes.
-
Use a toothpick and insert it in the middle of the cake to check if it comes out clean, that would mean the cake is ready.
-
Allow the cake to cool slightly until it’s warm enough for you to handle.
-
Use the same toothpick to poke the top surface of the cake.
-
And now take a pastry brush and brush the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the surface and allow the cake to soak it up.
-
After 20 minutes or so, once the cake has cooled completely, place it on a serving plate and dust it with confectioners sugar or powdered sugar.
-
Serve right away and enjoy!!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
ORANGE OLIVE OIL CAKE TIPS
- Use quality extra virgin olive for the best tasting olive oil cake. I use Mina’s Extra virgin olive oil which you buy on amazon.
- Preheat the oven before starting the recipe because it comes together really quick.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper for easiest cleanup.
- Use a 9 inch round pan, square pan or springform pan.
- Have a large bowl, a whisk and a spatula ready and measure the ingredients.
- Use orange instead of clementine or even lemon. I prefer orange or clementine.
- Whisk everything into a large bowl and the batter is ready.
- Once the cake is golden brown and out of the oven and while it’s still warm, poke the surface with a toothpick and brush the entire cake with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- A light dusting of powdered sugar gives the cake a comfort feel.
- Once cooled, the cake stays fresh on the counter well covered for at least 3-4 days. It remains moist and tasty!
- You can freeze the cooled olive oil, well wrapped for up to 3 months.
- ENJOY!
Jasmine
I want to make this recipe, just wondering what type of yogurt is best? I usually have plain 0% Greek yogurt on hand…will that work?
Mahy
Hi Jasmine, yes that absolutely works! The fat % of yogurt doesn’t matter nor the type, it’s basically there to create a tangy acidic environment in the batter. If you were to go with a higher fat %, you’d get a slightly richer tasting cake. I also use the yogurt I have on hand 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Jasmine
Thank you!! I made the cake this evening and it is AMAZING! My kids couldn’t wait for it to cool down before trying it out. The aroma is intoxicating and the flavour does not disappoint. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! I will be making another one tomorrow for our Sunday brunch
Beth
I love how simple this cake is to make! My family is going to be all over this recipe! Can’t wait to give this a try!
Claudia Lamascolo
Finally I found a recipe with all the ingredients I love in a cake this looks perfect!
Tara
What a beautiful cake! I love that texture and the flavors sound amazing with the addition of the Moroccan olive oil. Yum!
Sara Welch
Such a light and flavorful cake that does not disappoint! Excited to make this again for Easter; hands down delicious!
Jess
What a beautiful cake that is so simple to make!
Maike
Wow! I’ve never heard of Olive Oil Cake. But this recipe looks easy and super delicious. I literally can’t wait to make this for my family. Thank you!
Kristina Tipps
Such a simple and delicious recipe. I love using olive oil instead of butter in baking, and with this recipe the clementine gives it even more delicious flavor. I make a similar lemon olive oil cake, and I love the idea to change it to orange!
Carrie Robinson
Olive oil cake is such a treat! 🙂 Definitely trying this recipe soon.
Lindsay
I’ve never had olive oil cake, but I’m looking at these photos and my mouth is just watering! Going to save this to make soon!