What do tomatoes, olives and peaches all have in common? They’re all fruit! Surprise! Or not, I don’t know if you already knew that. Olive oil is most regularly used as a savory cooking oil, but it works amazingly well in desserts, providing hydration and depth of flavor. The three recipes below incorporate olive oil in different forms and flavor combinations. Forge ahead to transform olive oil from savory to sweet. I’m sure you’ll love olive these desserts!
Toni Shindler-Ruberg / Daily Nexus
Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.)
Servings: ~16 cupcakes or one 9-inch cake
Active / Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 to 20 minutes or 30 to 35 minutes
Note: I personally do not like frosting, so I ate these with some cherry preserves. But if you are a frosting fiend, check out this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ½ cup (110 grams) granulated sugar
- Scale up to ¾ cup (150 grams) for a sweeter cake
- ¾ cup (145 grams) brown sugar
- ½ cup (125 milliliters) olive oil
- 1 ½ cups (355 milliliters) coffee or water
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) cider vinegar or white vinegar
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line your cake pan or cupcake tin with parchment paper or inserts.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar. Add olive oil and brown sugar, mixing until just combined. Add coffee and vinegar, and continue whisking until smooth.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan. If making cupcakes, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until springy and a toothpick comes out clean. If making a cake, bake for about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing the cupcakes or cake to cool completely.
- Optional: dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Toni Shindler-Ruberg / Daily Nexus
Rosemary Olive Oil Shortbread (Adapted from Cookie and Kate.)
Servings: ~16 cookies
Active / Prep time: 15 minutes
Inactive / Rest: 1 hour resting, optional
Cook time: 10 minutes
Note: You have two options for shaping and baking.You can form the dough into logs or rectangular blocks and refrigerate for an hour, slicing off ½ inch portions to make individual cookies. Or you can press the dough into a 9-by-9-inch greased pan and put it directly into the oven, cutting the cookies into rectangles afterwards.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 grams) powdered sugar
- Scale up to ¾ cup if you want a sweeter cookie
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup (125 milliliters) olive oil
- Zest of 1 lemon
- ½ tablespoon of chopped rosemary
Directions:
- Whisk flour, sugar, sea salt, lemon zest and rosemary together in a medium bowl.
- Add olive oil, and mix until no dry streaks remain. Turn out onto a clean work surface and bring the dough together with your hands.
- Form the dough into blocks or logs and refrigerate for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Cut the dough into ½ inch slices and place on a baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown on the bottom.
- Let cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack for cooling.
Toni Shindler-Ruberg / Daily Nexus
Greek Yogurt Cornmeal Cake (Adapted from Bertolli.)
Servings: one 9-inch cake
Active / Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 to 35 minutes
Notes: For an extra kick, you can add seeded, finely chopped jalapeño to the cake batter.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (86 grams) cornmeal
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (280 grams) Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup (145 grams) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (63 milliliters) olive oil
- 2 eggs, room temperature
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cake pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, brown sugar and olive oil. Add the eggs one at a time until well combined.
- Add the half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold gently. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until no dry streaks remain and the mixture is just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until springy and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for about 10 to 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Whew! You’ve reached the end. Next time you whip out your oven mitts, consider reaching for the olive oil. I hope you enjoyed experimenting with this sampling of olive oil desserts as much as I do!
