Olive Oil Pudding: A Silky Chocolate Pudding Made With Extra Virgin
Olive oil pudding, in the sense most people search for it, is a smooth, spoonable chocolate pudding thickened on the hob with cornflour (cornstarch) and finished with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. The oil is whisked in off the heat, where it turns the pudding glossy and silky and adds a fruity, gently peppery note behind the chocolate. It needs no eggs, no oven and no whisking of egg whites, and it sets in the fridge in about two hours. Below is our own recipe, written for this article in metric and US measures, with a dairy-free version, the fridge rules from the UK Food Standards Agency and USDA, and how to choose the oil.
For our own oil, see our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml).
The Short Answer
- To make olive oil chocolate pudding, cook milk, cocoa, sugar, salt and cornflour until it boils and thickens, take it off the heat, melt in dark chocolate, then whisk in extra virgin olive oil and chill until set.
- Our recipe uses 480ml (2 cups) of milk, 25g (3 tbsp) of cornflour, 85g (3oz) of dark chocolate and 45ml (3 tbsp) of extra virgin olive oil, and fills four glasses.
- The pudding must come to a gentle boil for a full minute; cornflour only thickens properly, and loses its raw, starchy taste, once it has boiled.
- It contains no eggs, so unlike a classic mousse there is no raw egg; with oat or soy milk and milk-free chocolate it is dairy-free and plant-based.
- Cover the surface to stop a skin, refrigerate within two hours of cooking, and eat it within two days, which is the FSA's limit for leftovers; USDA allows 3–4 days.
- A medium-fruity extra virgin olive oil suits chocolate best: you taste it, but it sits behind the chocolate rather than competing with it.
- Sidr & Stone's olive oil is a single-estate, cold-pressed, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil from our own farm on the plains outside Marrakech, Morocco, sold in 500ml dark glass.
Pudding or Mousse? How This Differs
Chocolate and olive oil appear in several of our recipes, and they are different desserts. Our olive oil chocolate mousse is light and airy: melted chocolate and oil folded into whipped egg whites, served uncooked. This pudding is the opposite in almost every way: cooked, eggless and dense, with a texture closer to a thick custard. It is the one to make when you would rather not use raw eggs, when you want a dessert from cupboard staples, or when you want something you can spoon rather than something that melts on the tongue.
| Olive oil chocolate pudding | Olive oil chocolate mousse | |
|---|---|---|
| How it sets | Cornflour, cooked to a boil | Whipped egg whites (or aquafaba), uncooked |
| Eggs | None | Raw eggs in the classic version |
| Texture | Dense, smooth, spoonable, like a thick custard | Light, airy, melting |
| Main liquid | Milk, dairy or plant | None beyond a splash of water or coffee |
| Where the oil goes | Whisked into the hot pudding off the heat | Melted with the chocolate |
| Skill needed | Low: whisk and watch the pan | Medium: whipping and folding |
If you want chocolate and olive oil in a bake instead, our chocolate olive oil cake and olive oil brownies use the same pairing in the oven.
Ingredients
This makes four glasses of about 150ml (⅔ cup) each. Grams first, with US measures alongside.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Whole milk, or unsweetened oat or soy milk | 480ml | 2 cups |
| Caster (superfine) sugar | 65g | ⅓ cup |
| Unsweetened cocoa powder | 20g | ¼ cup |
| Cornflour (cornstarch) | 25g | 3 tbsp |
| Fine salt | 1g | ¼ tsp |
| Dark chocolate (60–70% cocoa), finely chopped | 85g | 3oz |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 45ml | 3 tbsp |
| Optional: seeds of ½ vanilla pod, or ½ tsp instant coffee, or finely grated zest of ½ orange | — | — |
| To finish: a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and flaky sea salt per glass | — | — |
Equipment: a medium heavy-based saucepan, a balloon whisk, a heatproof spatula, a jug and four small glasses or ramekins. A fine sieve helps if you want the smoothest possible result.
We use no vanilla extract and no alcohol of any kind: standard vanilla extract is made with alcohol, and many chocolate pudding recipes add a liqueur. Vanilla seeds scraped from the pod, coffee or orange zest give the pudding all the depth it needs. Some dark chocolates contain milk or carry a "may contain milk" warning, so check the label if you are making it dairy-free.
The Method, Step by Step
- Mix the dry ingredients. In the saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cornflour and salt, breaking up any lumps of cocoa. Mixing them dry first keeps the cornflour from clumping when the milk goes in.
- Make a paste. Pour in about 120ml (½ cup) of the milk and whisk to a smooth, thick paste. Then whisk in the rest of the milk, and the vanilla seeds or coffee if using.
- Cook until it boils. Set the pan over a medium heat and whisk constantly, getting into the corners. After 5–7 minutes it will start to steam and then thicken quite suddenly. Keep whisking until it bubbles, then turn the heat down and let it bubble gently for 1 minute, still whisking.
- Melt in the chocolate. Take the pan off the heat, add the chopped chocolate and the orange zest if using, and whisk until the chocolate has melted completely.
- Whisk in the olive oil. Pour in the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking hard as you go. The pudding will loosen slightly, then turn glossy and silky as the oil is absorbed. If you want it perfectly smooth, push it through a fine sieve into the jug.
- Pour and cover. Divide between the glasses. To stop a skin forming, press a small piece of baking paper or cling film directly onto the surface of each, or leave them uncovered if you like a skin.
- Cool, then chill. Leave the glasses at room temperature for 20–30 minutes, until they stop steaming, then put them in the fridge within two hours of cooking. Chill for at least 2 hours, until set.
- Finish. Just before serving, add a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and a small pinch of flaky salt to each glass.
Dairy-free olive oil pudding
Use unsweetened oat or soy milk in place of whole milk, and a dark chocolate made without milk. Oat and soy milk both thicken well with cornflour. Almond milk gives a slightly softer set because it has less body; if you use it, add an extra 5g (2 tsp) of cornflour. Because the olive oil replaces the butter some pudding recipes stir in at the end, nothing else needs to change.
Why Extra Virgin Olive Oil Works in Chocolate Pudding
Many classic chocolate pudding recipes finish with a knob of butter, stirred in off the heat. It adds richness, makes the surface glossy and gives the pudding a rounder, silkier feel in the mouth. Extra virgin olive oil does the same job. Whisked hard into a hot, starch-thickened pudding, it breaks into fine droplets that are held in the thick mixture, so the pudding feels smooth and rich rather than oily, and it stays dairy-free.
The difference is flavour. Butter tastes of cream; a good extra virgin olive oil tastes of fruit, grass and a little pepper. Against dark chocolate, those notes behave like a pinch of salt or a spoonful of coffee: they make the chocolate taste deeper and less sweet. Adding the oil off the heat, at the end, means it is not cooked for long, so more of its fresh character survives into the finished pudding.
The objection: "Won't it taste greasy or of olives?"
Not if you whisk the oil in properly. Three tablespoons of oil spread across four servings is a modest amount, and once it is emulsified into the thick base you notice silkiness, not oil. If the surface ever looks shiny with separate oil, it was added too quickly; whisk hard for 30 seconds, or use a stick blender, and it will come back together. As for flavour, with 60–70% chocolate a medium-fruity oil comes through as a faint green, peppery finish. If you want almost none, use a mild, delicate extra virgin.
Storing Olive Oil Pudding Safely
This is a cooked milk pudding, so treat it as a perishable fridge food.
- Refrigerate it promptly. The UK Food Standards Agency advises letting cooked food cool and putting it in the fridge within one to two hours; USDA FSIS says leftovers must be refrigerated within two hours of cooking, or within one hour if the room is above 32°C (90°F). Small glasses cool quickly, which helps.
- Keep the fridge cold. The FSA advises a fridge between 0 and 5°C; USDA advises 40°F (4°C) or below.
- Keep it covered. A lid, cling film or baking paper stops the pudding picking up fridge smells and drying out.
- Eat it within two days. The FSA says to eat cooked leftovers within 48 hours; USDA FSIS allows 3–4 days. We follow the shorter window.
We do not recommend freezing it. Cornflour-thickened puddings tend to weep liquid and turn grainy when thawed, so the silky texture you made it for is lost. The pudding is at its best on the day after you make it, once it has set fully but before the chocolate flavour starts to flatten.
Sources, read 13 October 2026: the FSA's How to chill, freeze and defrost food safely and USDA FSIS's Leftovers and Food Safety.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Thin pudding that never sets | It did not boil, or not for long enough | Return it to the pan and whisk over a medium heat until it bubbles for a full minute, then add the oil again |
| Lumps | Cocoa or cornflour added straight to hot milk | Mix the dry ingredients first and make a paste with cold milk; push lumpy pudding through a sieve |
| Starchy, floury taste | Undercooked cornflour | Boil gently for the full minute next time |
| Oily surface | Oil added too fast or not whisked in | Whisk hard or use a stick blender while the pudding is still warm |
| Thick skin | Surface exposed while cooling | Press baking paper or cling film onto the surface |
| Grainy texture | Chocolate overheated, or pudding frozen | Add chocolate off the heat; do not freeze |
Which Olive Oil to Use for Chocolate Pudding
Because the oil goes in at the end and much of it is tasted almost as it came from the bottle, the style of oil matters here more than in a bake. The good news is that dark chocolate is strong enough to carry a full-flavoured extra virgin.
| Oil style | In chocolate pudding |
|---|---|
| Mild, delicate extra virgin | Good if you want only a hint of olive oil; adds silkiness more than flavour |
| Medium-fruity extra virgin with gentle pepper | The best all-round choice; fruity and green behind the chocolate, with a light peppery finish |
| Robust, very bitter and pungent extra virgin | Works with 70% chocolate and coffee; can taste harsh with milk chocolate |
| Refined, "pure" or "light" olive oil | Gives the texture but almost no flavour; you lose the reason for using olive oil |
| Any old or rancid oil | Avoid; a stale, waxy taste is very obvious in a dessert |
Freshness matters more than price. Look for the extra virgin grade, a harvest or best-before date, dark glass or a tin and a named origin; our guide to choosing a quality olive oil explains each check. If you are weighing the oil against butter more generally, olive oil vs butter sets out what the evidence says about each.
The objection: "Isn't it a waste of good extra virgin olive oil?"
Only if you cook it hard, and this recipe does not. The oil goes in after the pudding has left the heat and is finished with a few raw drops on top, so its flavour is what you taste. A fresh, sound everyday extra virgin is ideal; save your most special bottle for the finishing drops, where it is most noticeable.
How to Serve Olive Oil Pudding
- Simply: a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and flaky salt on each glass.
- With fruit: fresh raspberries, cherries, sliced pears or orange segments.
- With crunch: chopped toasted hazelnuts or pistachios, or crumbled olive oil biscuits from our olive oil cookies.
- Cold and creamy: with a small scoop of olive oil ice cream; our olive oil ice cream guide includes a dairy-free version.
- Warm: straight from the pan into small cups, as a thick drinking chocolate you eat with a spoon.
Why Sidr & Stone
In this pudding, the oil is one of only a handful of ingredients and the last thing to go in, so you taste it clearly. The oil is the part of this dessert 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; once it is gone, it is gone until the next harvest.
- Cold-pressed within hours of harvest: 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 claim that chocolate pudding needs a single-estate oil; any fresh, sound extra virgin will make a good one. What we will say is that our oil is single-estate, rain-fed, organically grown and cold-pressed within hours of harvest, and that the product page carries the details of the current batch, so you can judge it for yourself before it goes into your pudding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you put olive oil in chocolate pudding?
Yes. Whisk 45ml (3 tbsp) of extra virgin olive oil into the hot pudding after it has thickened and left the heat. It does the job of butter, making the pudding glossy and silky, and adds a fruity, peppery note that suits dark chocolate.
Is olive oil pudding the same as olive oil chocolate mousse?
No. Pudding is cooked and thickened with cornflour, contains no eggs and is dense and spoonable. Mousse is uncooked, set with whipped egg whites or aquafaba, and light and airy.
Why didn't my chocolate pudding thicken?
Almost always because it did not boil long enough. Cornflour needs to come to a gentle boil and bubble for about a minute to thicken fully. Return it to the pan, whisk until it bubbles, then finish it again.
Can I make olive oil pudding dairy-free?
Yes. Use unsweetened oat or soy milk and a dark chocolate made without milk. The olive oil already replaces butter, so the recipe is otherwise unchanged. With almond milk, add 5g (2 tsp) extra cornflour.
Is Sidr & Stone's olive oil good for chocolate pudding?
Yes. It is a single-estate, cold-pressed, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil, so it adds a fresh, fruity character that sits well behind dark chocolate. Use it measure for measure in this recipe and for the finishing drops.
How long does chocolate pudding keep in the fridge?
Refrigerate it within two hours of cooking, covered, at 0–5°C (40°F or below). The FSA advises eating leftovers within 48 hours; USDA allows 3–4 days. We recommend two days, and we do not recommend freezing it.
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, currently to pre-order as a limited single-harvest batch, 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 chocolate pudding is the simplest chocolate dessert in our olive oil collection: one pan, no eggs, no oven. Boil the cornflour properly, melt the chocolate off the heat and whisk the oil in hard, and you get a glossy, silky pudding with a fruity, peppery finish that butter cannot give.
Choose a fresh, medium-fruity extra virgin, keep the pudding covered in the fridge and eat it within two days. With so few ingredients, the oil is not a background note; it is one of the flavours you are serving.
If you want a single-estate oil for your pudding and the finishing drops, our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml), rain-fed and cold-pressed within hours of harvest, 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 recipe and general food-safety information drawn from the UK Food Standards Agency and USDA FSIS pages as read on 13 October 2026; guidance can change, so check your national food-safety agency for the latest advice. Cooking times are starting points and depend on your pan and hob. The recipe contains milk (unless made with plant milk) and may contain soy or nuts depending on the milk and chocolate you choose; check labels for allergens. 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.