Celebrities find extra virgin olive oil is a great substitute for butter
Updated 21st July 2023
It’s no secret that celebrities, influencers and health advocates have been raving about extra virgin olive oil as a delightful substitute for butter in baking.
Contents:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil As A Substitute For Butter
- The ‘A-Lister’ Celebrities Who Love Their Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cake
- So, Why Is Olive Oil A Good Substitute For Butter?
- What Are The ‘Rules’ For Baking With Olive Oil?
- How To make Your Own Olive Oil Cake
It’s an exciting discovery that adds a whole new level of flavor to any cake, cookie or pastry recipe you enjoy making – without the added fat content from butter! But why are so many people turning to extra virgin olive oil as a healthier substitute for butter?
We’re breaking down everything you need to know about using EVOO for baking with insight into the taste differences compared to traditional butter, plus tips on how best to use it. Follow along as we explore why extra virgin olive oil has become a go-to indulgent treat amongst celebrity chefs and home bakers alike!
Extra Virgin Olive Oil As A Substitute For Butter
For those who think that either: you can’t bake with olive oil or baking cakes is just for winter comfort please read on. At Morocco Gold, we believe that extra virgin olive oil is an excellent substitute for butter and that beautiful cakes are great in any season!
A good quality extra virgin olive oil, such as Morocco Gold, is an excellent choice for the keen baker. Not only does it offer considerable health benefits when compared with some other fats but it also gives your baking a unique and flavoursome taste.
The ‘A-Lister’ Celebrities Who Love Their Olive Oil Cake
An unlikely treat! Olive oil cakes are not at everyone’s top of mind when it comes to desserts, but if you’re a big follower of the Kardashians, chances are you’ve seen Kourtney, Kim, or Kylie Jenner rave about a mysterious powder dusted cake with rosemary on their Instagram stories. Two celebrities that substitute butter for olive oil.
The cake happens to be an olive oil cake made by Little House Confessions in LA, and from the sounds of it, its aesthetically pleasing exterior pairs seamlessly with its moist and spongy interior. While the Kardashians were some of the first A-list celebs to share their love of this treat, other celebrities such as Shay Mitchell, Phoebe Tonkin, Addison Rae, and even Chrissy Teigen posted about the baked good to their IGS — it’s internet famous!
The cake originally started as a stay-at-home project for two LA locals, Liz Roth and Jaymie Wisneski, whose jobs in interior design and producing got affected due to the pandemic. In an exclusive interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Liz said, “Jaymie and I looked at each other and thought it would be great to sell the cakes for charity. We thought we would be making 30 cakes and giving $100 or so to charity.” But what the baking duo didn’t expect was just how viral these cakes would become. “What really popped it was that one of my childhood best friends bought a cake for Kim Kardashian,” Liz continued. Kim posted it on her Instagram, and from there, their little bakery went from a small number of orders to over 500.
“I think the appeal is that it is super light,” Liz Roth, co-owner of Little House Confections told Us Weekly exclusively. “You don’t feel like you are eating this heavy dessert after you’ve eaten a full meal. Olive oil cake is extremely popular in Italy I think for this very reason.”
What started as a quarantine hobby for Roth and Little House Confections co-owner Jaymie Wisneski has turned into a social media sensation. “We were SUPER shocked when Chrissy Teigen posted and mentioned that she had been seeing the cakes for months and had wanted one!!” Roth said.
Not only are they popular on the ‘gram, the taste and ingredients are just as delectable. Roth tells Us that their olive oil cakes are so moist because almost all of the sweetness comes from fresh squeezed juice and zest, with the most important ingredient of course being the olive oil. “We refuse to skimp on the quality of any of our ingredients because ingredients are key to the absolute freshest cake.”
So, Why Is Olive Oil A Good Substitute For Butter
Extra virgin olive oil has no shortage of benefits for your health and wellness. This monounsaturated fat helps keep your cholesterol in check as well as offering a host of antioxidants that are essential for healthy living. Incorporating a more monounsaturated or polyunsaturated source of fat rather than just saturated fats. Compared to vegetable oils, extra virgin olive oil is free from chemicals and other impurities that compromise both the nutrients and flavour of the ingredient.
What Are The ‘Rules’ For Baking With Olive Oil?
Extra virgin olive oil can easily be substituted for butter in several recipes, in everything from breads to cookies to brownies to pies.
But using extra virgin olive oil in a recipe that calls for butter isn’t quite an equal comparison. When a recipe calls for butter, you’ll want to use ¾ of that amount. For example, if the recipe needs six ounces of butter, use just four ounces of extra virgin olive oil.
Why isn’t it an even swap? Extra virgin olive oil is 100% fat while butter is only 80% fat. If you’re swapping regular canola or vegetable oil for extra virgin olive oil, it will be an even substitute.
How To make Your Own Olive Oil Cake
Although this chic cake is in high demand and difficult to obtain, but you can easily make a version of it at home.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (170 g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup (78 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons (44ml) of orange juice (fresh squeezed if you can manage it)
- 1 tablespoon (6 g) orange zest
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Line a 9 inch springform pan or cake pan with parchment paper. Coat the sides with olive oil.
- Cream the sugar and eggs together with a mixer set to medium for 2 minutes.
- Drizzle in the olive oil and mix for 1 minute.
- Mix in the orange juice and orange zest.
- Combine the baking soda, baking powder and flour in a separate bowl and add to the ingredients above in two batches. For each batch, gently mix to incorporate all of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do not overmix which can make the cake tough.
- Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes. The cake is done when it springs back from the touch and and the edges pull away from the pan.
- Cool the cake on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
- Put confectioners sugar in a sieve and shake it onto the top of the cake.
- Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.