Olive Oil Cake: The Recipe and Why Extra Virgin Matters
Olive oil cake is the cake people bake when they want something quietly impressive without any fuss: one bowl, no mixer, no softened butter, and a crumb that stays moist for days. It is also the one cake where the oil is not a background fat but the lead flavour, which is why the bottle you reach for matters more here than in almost any other bake. Below is our own citrus olive oil cake recipe, written from scratch for this article with metric and US measures side by side, followed by the honest reasons extra virgin olive oil earns its place in it, what changes if you use a "light" or refined oil instead, and the variations (lemon, orange, almond, gluten-free) people most often ask about.
For our own oil, see our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml).
The Short Answer
- An olive oil cake replaces butter with olive oil, which keeps the crumb tender and moist for three to four days because the oil stays liquid at room temperature.
- Our recipe uses 150ml (⅔ cup) of extra virgin olive oil, three eggs, orange and lemon, and a little ground almond in a 20cm (8in) round tin, baked at 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F for 40–45 minutes.
- It is dairy-free as written: no butter, no milk, no yoghurt. It is not egg-free.
- Extra virgin matters because the oil is a main flavour, not a hidden one. A fresh, fruity extra virgin oil adds green, peppery, almond-like notes; refined "light" olive oil adds almost nothing, and a stale oil makes the cake taste stale.
- Extra virgin olive oil is a safe choice for baking: the centre of a cake finishes at roughly 93–99°C (200–210°F), well below the point where a good oil starts to smoke.
- Sidr & Stone's olive oil is a single-estate, cold-pressed, unfiltered extra virgin oil from our own farm on the plains outside Marrakech, Morocco, sold in 500ml dark glass.
Olive Oil Cake Recipe: Ingredients (Metric and US)
This makes one 20cm (8in) round cake, about 10 slices. Spoon and level flour into cups if you are using US measures; weighing is more reliable for cakes, so we list grams first.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Plain (all-purpose) flour | 200g | 1⅔ cups |
| Ground almonds (almond flour) | 50g | ½ cup |
| Baking powder | 2 tsp | 2 tsp |
| Fine salt | ½ tsp | ½ tsp |
| Large eggs, room temperature | 3 | 3 |
| Caster (superfine or granulated) sugar | 200g | 1 cup |
| Finely grated zest | 1 orange + 1 lemon | 1 orange + 1 lemon |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 150ml | ⅔ cup |
| Fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges) | 120ml | ½ cup |
| Fresh lemon juice | 1 tbsp | 1 tbsp |
| Demerara (turbinado) sugar, for the top | 1 tbsp | 1 tbsp |
Optional glaze: 60g (½ cup) icing (powdered) sugar stirred with about 1 tbsp orange juice until it falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon. If you glaze, skip the demerara.
Tin and oven: one 20cm (8in) round tin at least 5cm (2in) deep, lightly oiled and base-lined with baking paper. Oven at 180°C conventional, 160°C fan, 350°F, or gas mark 4.
Method: How to Make Olive Oil Cake, Step by Step
- Prepare. Heat the oven. Oil the tin with a little of the olive oil and line the base. Zest the orange and lemon before you juice them.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, caster sugar and both zests for 2–3 minutes by hand (or about a minute with an electric whisk) until pale, slightly thickened and no longer gritty.
- Add the oil slowly. Pour in the olive oil in a thin stream while whisking, so it emulsifies into a glossy, thick batter rather than pooling on top. Whisk in the orange and lemon juice.
- Fold in the dry mix. Add the dry ingredients in two goes, folding with a spatula or whisking gently just until no dry flour remains. Stop there; overmixing toughens the crumb.
- Bake. Scrape into the tin, scatter the demerara over the top and bake for 40–45 minutes, until the top is deep golden, springs back when pressed and a skewer in the centre comes out clean. Start checking at 35 minutes in a fan oven.
- Cool. Leave in the tin for 15 minutes, then run a knife round the edge and turn out onto a rack. Glaze (if using) only once the cake is fully cool.
Two cues worth knowing. If the batter looks split or greasy after step 4, the oil went in too fast; keep whisking for another 30 seconds and it usually comes back together. And if the top browns before the middle is set, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the tin for the last 10 minutes. For a deeper look at swapping olive oil into bakes that were written for butter, see our guide to baking with olive oil.
Why Extra Virgin Olive Oil Matters in This Cake
In most cakes the fat is a supporting actor. In an olive oil cake it is a third of the flavour, because 150ml of oil sits in a batter with nothing else as strongly flavoured except the citrus. That is the whole case for extra virgin: it is the only olive oil grade that tastes of olives.
Extra virgin olive oil is mechanically pressed from fresh olives and never refined, so it keeps the aromas and bitter, peppery compounds of the fruit. Under the International Olive Council's trade standard, it must also pass both a chemical test (including free acidity of no more than 0.8%) and a tasting panel that finds no sensory defects. Refined olive oil, by contrast, is neutralised, bleached and deodorised to remove off-flavours, and with them most of the flavour and most of the polyphenols. "Light" or "extra light" olive oil is refined oil sold on its mildness, not a lower-calorie product, as we explain in our article on what "light" olive oil really means.
What a good extra virgin oil does to the cake
A fresh, fruity extra virgin oil gives the finished cake a soft green, almost almond-like aroma that pairs naturally with orange and lemon, and a faint peppery finish that stops the sweetness feeling flat. A very robust, bitter oil can be too assertive for a delicate citrus cake; a medium-fruity oil is the sweet spot. Our article on what "fruity" means on an olive oil label explains the vocabulary.
The objection: "Isn't it a waste to bake with good oil?"
It is a fair question, and the honest answer is: not in this cake. In a chocolate cake, the oil's character largely disappears, and a milder oil is perfectly sensible. In a citrus olive oil cake the oil is the point, and the difference between a fresh extra virgin and a refined oil is the difference between a cake that tastes of something and one that does not. The quantity is also modest: 150ml is under a third of a 500ml bottle.
Is Extra Virgin Olive Oil Safe to Bake With?
Yes. The worry comes from frying, not baking. Although the oven is set to 180°C, the batter itself never gets that hot: the water in it holds the inside of the cake close to boiling point, and baking guides from US extension services generally put a finished cake's centre at around 93–99°C (200–210°F). Only the outer crust gets hotter, briefly. A good extra virgin olive oil is well able to cope with that, as our article on olive oil at high heat covers in more detail.
What the oven does do is soften the oil's character, and some of its more delicate compounds will not survive intact. We have not found published research measuring exactly how much of olive oil's polyphenol content survives inside a baked cake, so we will not put a number on it. The practical point stands without one: an oil that starts fresher and fuller-flavoured ends up as a better-tasting cake.
The one oil not worth baking with is a stale one. Rancid olive oil smells of crayons, putty or old nuts, and baking concentrates that note rather than hiding it. If your bottle has been open for months, smell it before it goes in; our guide to telling whether olive oil has gone off walks through the checks.
Extra Virgin vs Light vs Other Oils: What Each Does to an Olive Oil Cake
| Oil | Flavour in the cake | Texture | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh, medium-fruity extra virgin olive oil | Green, citrus-friendly, faintly peppery | Moist, tender, keeps 3–4 days | Citrus, almond and classic olive oil cakes |
| Robust, very bitter extra virgin olive oil | Strong and grassy; can dominate | Same | Chocolate or spiced cakes, or use half and half with a milder oil |
| "Light" / refined olive oil | Almost neutral | Same | When you want an oil cake without olive flavour |
| Sunflower or vegetable oil | Neutral | Same | Any oil-based cake; not an olive oil cake in flavour |
| Melted butter (not recommended here) | Rich, dairy | Firms as it cools; dries sooner | Butter cakes; changes the recipe |
Texture barely changes between the oils, because they are all liquid fat. Flavour is what changes, which is why the choice of olive oil matters so much more than the choice between oil brands in a neutral cake. If you are standing in a shop choosing a bottle, our guide to choosing a quality olive oil sets out what to look for on the label: the grade, a harvest or best-before date, dark glass or a tin, and a named origin.
Variations: Lemon, Orange, Almond, Gluten-Free and More
The base recipe is deliberately adaptable. These are starting points rather than separately developed recipes, so expect to adjust bake times slightly.
- Lemon olive oil cake: use the zest of 2 lemons and replace the orange juice with 60ml (¼ cup) lemon juice plus 60ml (¼ cup) water. Finish with a lemon glaze made like the orange one.
- Orange olive oil cake: use the zest of 2 oranges and leave out the lemon entirely. Blood oranges, in season, give a pink-tinged glaze.
- Olive oil and almond cake: raise the ground almonds to 100g (1 cup) and lower the flour to 150g (1¼ cups). The crumb becomes denser and moister; scatter flaked almonds on top before baking.
- Gluten-free olive oil cake: replace the plain flour with 150g of a gluten-free plain flour blend and raise the ground almonds to 100g. Add ¼ tsp xanthan gum if your blend does not already contain it, and check baking powder is labelled gluten-free.
- Chocolate olive oil cake: replace 40g (⅓ cup) of the flour with cocoa powder and swap the orange juice for water or cooled coffee. A milder oil suits this version.
- Loaf version: bake in a 900g (2lb) loaf tin for 50–60 minutes, covering loosely with foil if it browns early.
You will also see "Maialino olive oil cake" in searches: it refers to the version Food52 published from the restaurant Maialino, one of the best-known olive oil cakes online. Ours is a separate recipe written for this article, kept simple and alcohol-free so it works as an everyday cake.
Storing, Serving and Keeping Olive Oil Cake
Olive oil cake keeps better than almost any butter cake. Wrapped or under a cake dome at cool room temperature, it stays moist for three to four days, and many people find it tastes better on day two, once the citrus has settled into the crumb. Avoid the fridge, which dries cake out faster; freeze slices instead, well wrapped, for up to two months, and thaw at room temperature.
Serve it plain with tea or coffee, with fresh berries or orange segments, or with a spoonful of yoghurt or cream if you are not keeping it dairy-free. A thin drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of flaky salt over a slice sounds odd and works surprisingly well.
On health, the honest framing is simple: this is still a cake, with real sugar and real flour. Using extra virgin olive oil means the fat is mostly monounsaturated oleic acid rather than the saturated fat of butter, which is a reasonable swap within an overall balanced diet. It does not turn cake into a health food, and we would be wary of any recipe that claims it does. For the wider research on olive oil's own compounds, see our article on olive oil polyphenols.
Why Sidr & Stone
An olive oil cake is only as good as the oil in it, and that is the part of the recipe we can speak for. Sidr & Stone's extra virgin olive oil comes from one place, our own farm on the plains outside Marrakech, and we control every step from tree to bottle.
- Single-estate: Sidr & Stone's olive oil comes from our own family-owned farm near Marrakech, Morocco, with no blending across origins.
- Rain-fed: the trees are not irrigated; they take what the season gives.
- Organically grown: no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides are used (not yet certified; certification is in progress).
- Single harvest: each batch is small and limited; picked when the fruit is ready, and once it is gone, it is gone until the next harvest.
- Cold-pressed: to protect flavour, aroma and polyphenols.
- Unfiltered extra virgin: minimally processed, so a little natural sediment at the bottom of the bottle is normal.
- 100% natural: a single ingredient, olive oil, with nothing added.
- Dark glass with a gold label: 500ml bottles that protect the oil from light.
- 10% of profits to charity: a Sidr & Stone commitment across every product.
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
We will not tell you ours is the best olive oil for cake; that is for your own kitchen to decide. What we will say is that it is single-estate Moroccan, rain-fed, organically grown and cold-pressed, and that in a recipe where the oil is a third of the flavour, those details show up on the plate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is olive oil cake?
Olive oil cake is a simple sponge-style cake that uses olive oil instead of butter as its fat, usually flavoured with citrus. The oil makes it moist and tender, keeps it fresh for several days and gives it a gentle fruity flavour.
Why use extra virgin olive oil rather than light olive oil?
Extra virgin is unrefined and keeps the flavour of the olives, which is what makes an olive oil cake taste distinctive. Light olive oil is refined and nearly neutral, so the cake will be just as moist but will taste much like any other oil cake.
How do I know when my olive oil cake is done?
The top should be deep golden and spring back when lightly pressed, the edges should start to pull away from the tin, and a skewer in the centre should come out clean. If you use a probe thermometer, the centre should read about 93–99°C (200–210°F).
Does olive oil cake taste of olive oil?
A little, and pleasantly so. With a medium-fruity extra virgin oil, it tastes of citrus first, with a soft green, faintly peppery note behind it. A very robust oil will taste stronger; a light oil will taste of almost nothing.
Is Sidr & Stone's olive oil good for baking?
Yes. It is a single-estate, cold-pressed, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil, so it brings real olive flavour to a cake like this one. Its character is best appreciated in citrus and almond bakes where the oil is meant to be tasted.
Can I make olive oil cake without eggs?
Not with this recipe; the eggs provide much of its structure and lift. Egg-free olive oil cakes exist, but they rely on a different balance of liquid and leavening, so it is better to follow a recipe developed to be egg-free than to adapt this one.
Where can I buy single-estate extra virgin olive oil?
Our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml) is available directly from the Sidr & Stone website, with fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
Is olive oil a medicine?
No. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history — including being honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah — and a substantial body of modern research, particularly around polyphenols, cardiovascular health, and the Mediterranean diet pattern. It can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine, but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any olive oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
Olive oil cake earns its popularity honestly. It is quick, forgiving and keeps for days, and it asks for nothing more specialised than a whisk and a round tin. The one ingredient that decides whether it is merely good or genuinely memorable is the oil, because in this cake the oil is not hidden; it is tasted.
So bake it with an oil you would happily eat on bread: fresh, extra virgin, with a clear origin and a date you can check. Our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml), single-estate, rain-fed and cold-pressed, is available to pre-order now, with fulfilment in the UK, EU and US.
Our extra virgin olive oil is grown organically on our own single-estate farm on the plains outside Marrakech: we control every step from tree to bottle, and no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers are used. It is not yet certified organic — certification is in progress, and we will publish it as soon as it comes through.
Disclaimer: This article shares a home-baking recipe and general cooking information at the time of writing; ovens, ingredients and individual dietary needs vary, and the recipe contains eggs, wheat (in the standard version) and almonds. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, consult a qualified medical professional.