Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

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 favourite chocolate cake!

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:

• Chocolate Fudge Cake
• Cinnamon Apple Cake
• Neapolitan Cake
• Peanut Butter Cake
• Carrot Cake

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.

Let’s Bake

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Yield Serves 12 1x

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.9 from 18 reviews

Prep: 60 minutesCook: 30 minutesTotal: 1 hour 30 minutes

A decadent two layer Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with cream cheese frosting.

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Ingredients

Chocolate cake

• 280 grams (2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
• 80 grams (1 cup) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
• 240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
• 180 ml (3/4 cup) olive oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 240 ml (1 cup) 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 sugar or powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons full fat or whole milk

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with baking or parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Place softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy.
6.  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.
7. 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

Cocoa powder: You can use natural cocoa powder or Dutch processed cocoa powder (I prefer the latter). Don’t use sweetened chocolate powder.

Caster sugar: Since retesting this recipe in 2024, I have reduced the caster sugar from 300 grams to 200 grams. It is still ridiculously moist and bakes up beautifully.

Buttermilk: 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.

Olive oil: I recommend a good quality olive oil that has a mild flavour. You can also substitute a flavourless oil like grapeseed oil, if you prefer.

Hot water: You can use hot coffee if you like! Add 1 teaspoon of instant coffee to the boiling water. It won’t give the cake a coffee flavour, just enhance the chocolate flavour.

Cake size: You can use this recipe to make two 8-inch cakes, three 6-inch cakes or one 9 by 13 inch sheet cake. Baking temperature and cook times remain the same.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: CakeCuisine: American

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Jessica Holmes

Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.