A decadent two layer Chocolate Olive Oil Cake made from scratch. Covered in a rich chocolate cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries, it’s sure to be your new fave chocolate cake!
Chocolate cake alert!
You know I love all things chocolate and today, we’re talking Chocolate Olive Oil Cake. A soft, tender choccy cake covered in a fudgy chocolate cream cheese frosting. It’s going to be YOUR new favourite cake.
Two lovely layers of chocolate bliss 💕
I’m a HUGE fan of using oil in cakes instead of butter. It makes them rich, moist and undeniably delicious. It’s what makes my Cinnamon Apple Cake so tender and my favourite Blueberry Bread so moist. I even love using olive oil to make EPIC brownies.
And now we’re using olive oil to make the most melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake. Add a generous slathering of chocolate cream cheese frosting and you have a ripe royal treat.
Until I made this cake, I could NOT move away from my Chocolate Fudge Cake. But make no mistake, this Chocolate Olive Oil Cake gives it a real run for its money. This cake is everything that a chocolate cake should be.
It’s light and fluffy but it boasts a deep chocolate flavour. The chocolate sponge sticks to your fork and melts-in-your-mouth. And don’t even get me started on that frosting.
While I love a good buttercream, I wanted a lighter frosting that was made without butter. And I found it. If you haven’t tried a cream cheese frosting before – your life is not complete.
This Chocolate Olive Oil Cake is perfect served with fresh strawberries or grated chocolate. Perhaps a dollop of cream on the side for a sumptuous dessert. However you eat it, you are sure to love it.
YOU WILL LOVE THIS CAKE BECAUSE:
- It’s easy to make
- You don’t need any weird ingredients
- It easily serves a crowd
- You can make the cake ahead of time
- It tastes amazing
TIPS FOR THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE OLIVE OIL CAKE
- This is an easy cake to make. You don’t need an electric mixer to make the cake itself. It makes a two layer 8 inch cake or you could make a three layer 6 inch cake.
- I recommend using a mild olive oil for this reason. Most olive oils will say on the bottle what strength of flavour they are. Try a mild or light tasting olive oil or extra virgin olive oil.
- You will need to mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together by hand, along with a cup of hot water. The chocolate batter will be thin – this is ok.
- If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of whole or full fat milk.
- When it comes to the frosting, my number one tip is to make sure your cream cheese is softened to room temperature, this will make sure the frosting is thick and smooth – without any lumps.
- You can make the cake ahead of time and simply frost on the day of serving if you like. Let the cakes cool completely, wrap them in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container or freeze until you are ready to frost and serve.
MORE CAKE RECIPES TO TRY:
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Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Cuisine: American
Description
A decadent two layer Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
- 280Â grams (2 cups)Â plain flour
- 80Â grams (1 cup) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1Â teaspoon baking soda
- 300Â grams (1 and 1/2 cups) caster sugar
- 90Â grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 240Â ml (1 cup) buttermilk*
- 180Â ml (3/4 cup)Â olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3Â large eggs, room temperature
- 240Â ml (1 cup)Â hot water
Chocolate cream cheese frosting
- 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) full fat block of cream cheese, softened
- 375 grams (3 cups) icing or powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake tins with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Then add the sugars. Whisk together. In a separate mixing bowl, add the buttermilk, olive oil, vanilla and eggs. Whisk together. Boil the kettle and pour out 1 cup of hot water.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Start to fold together. Then slowly pour in the hot water down the side of the bowl, and continue to mix until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Divide the mixture into two cake tins and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave for 10 minutes before gently removing the cakes from their tins and leave them to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Place softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy.
-  Add half the sugar, all the cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon of milk and beat on low until combined and smooth. Add the rest of the sugar and the extra tablespoon of milk, and beat until combined.
- Spread half the chocolate frosting on top of one chocolate cake. Add the other cake on top and cover with the remaining frosting. Serve with fresh strawberries if desired.
Notes
*If you don’t have buttermilk, make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of whole or full fat milk.
Keywords: Chocolate cake, Olive oil cake, Chocolate olive oil cake
Hi jess
I really like ur recipe and wanted to try but we don’t eat egg so how I can replace egg with !!!!
Hi Neetika, I’m sorry but I haven’t tested this recipe without eggs.
Hi Jess, can I use vegetable oil rather than olive oil and soy milk please?
Hi Abby, I haven’t tried myself but my guess would be that it’d be fine!
Can I use sunflower oil instead o olive oil and also it doesn’t state how many gms of brown sugar. Help!
Hi Christine, I haven’t tried it myself with sunflower oil but I’m sure it’d be ok. The recipe says 90 grams of brown sugar. Hope that helps!
Great cake!
I was inspired by the olive chocolate cake in the Chef Show and i found this recipe which is fantastic. I used a different frosting, a chocolate ganache with butter as they do in the show and it nailed with the cake!
Thanks you for sharing!
★★★★★
Hey Ana, so glad you enjoyed it! I loved watching that episode of Chef as well!
Hi. A technical question regarding the Whisking of the liquid ingredients.. your method asks for the liquids to be whisked together. But it’s unclear to what level of whisking you mean here. Are we simply trying to mix the liquid ingredients together well (a whisk helps due to its form) or are we trying to truly whisk air into the liquid ingredients to change the structure and create a lighter more voluminous liquid?
I hope you can clarify this, as I’m now concerned my whisking wasn’t vigorous enough.
Many Thanks
Cris
Hi Cris, sorry for the confusion. You are just whisking to combine in this recipe – hope that helps!
Hi Jessica,
I really would like to make this cake but what about the amount of chocolate to use in cakes and cream? You didn’t meantion it in the ingredients list.
Hi Sofia, both the cake and the icing have cocoa in them which is in the ingredients list. The frosting cream cheese in it, which is also included.
Want so much to make this cake. Can I use plant-based milk with vinegar to substitiute the buttermilk? Also, can I use vegan cream cheese for the frosting?
Hi Gerry, I’m sorry I haven’t tested this cake with a plant based milk or tried the frosting with vegan cream cheese so I really can’t say. I feel like the milk substitute would probably be fine though!
This past weekend I made Jess’s recipe as a treat for one of my teenager’s friend’s birthday and I am SO glad I did. The cake was rich, moist and flavoursome. plus very economical too. I used canola oil as that is what I had in my larder. The mixture would easily have filled 3 X 20cm tins but I only had 2 (Briscoes’ sale here I come lol :)) I was able to split each cake in half making four layers in total. I sandwiched the layers together alternately with ‘Caramilk’ ganache and a cream cheese icing which was also the topping. I covered the cake with every sort of lolly (as confectionery is called here in New Zealand!) I could think of…Mint Aero, nougat, fudge, crushed up Crunchie bars, yoghurt-covered raisins, ‘Pocky’ sticks, Ferrero Rocher and, finally, a tiny Lindt teddy! The cake was a big hit and I will always use Jess’s recipe in future. Thanks so much Jess – I am really grateful that you generously share your recipes. p.s. I just spotted you holding a giant cookie and my teenager has his final exam on Wednesday…now, whatever can I bake? 😉
★★★★★
Hi Marie, I’m so glad you enjoyed this cake! And I love the idea of pairing it with caramilk ganache and loads of lollies – what a treat! Thank you so much for your lovely feedback.
Hello,must I use olive oil?cant I use any vegetable oil?
Hi Doofan, yes vegetable oil works in this recipe too!
Hi, could you tell me what kind and brand of cocoa you used? and also olive oil. Thank you
Hi Ruth, I use Cadbury or Nestle cocoa and a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Hope that helps!
I love the combination of chocolate and olive oil in desserts! This cake looks so moist and I love the chocolate frosting!
★★★★★
Thanks Natalie!