Chocolate & olive oil tart
Chocolate and good olive oil are old friends: the oil deepens the chocolate, keeps a cake moist for days, and adds a savoury, grown-up edge butter cannot. The trick is choosing an oil that flatters the sweet rather than fighting it.
To a lot of people olive oil is for salads and frying, full stop. But around the Mediterranean it has always gone into cakes, biscuits and tarts, and once you try it you understand why. In a chocolate tart or cake it does three things butter cannot: it carries the chocolate’s aroma further, it keeps the crumb moist for days, and it leaves a faint savoury depth that makes the whole thing taste less flatly sweet. The one decision that matters is which oil.
Which oil to bake with
This is where most people go wrong. A fierce, grassy, peppery oil — the kind you would pour proudly over bread — will fight a dessert and leave a bitter, throat-catching aftertaste behind the sugar. For baking you want the opposite: a milder, fruity, well-balanced oil with low bitterness and pungency. Ripe, sweet styles are ideal. Save your most aggressive bottle for savoury food and reach for something rounder here. It still needs to be real extra virgin — a rancid or refined oil will taint everything — just not the most peppery one you own.
How it behaves in the oven
Olive oil is liquid at room temperature, where butter is solid, and that changes the texture it gives. Oil-based cakes are famously moist and tender and they stay that way for days, because there is no butter to firm up as it cools — a real advantage for a make-ahead tart or a loaf cake. It also melts effortlessly into warm chocolate, so a chocolate filling comes together smoothly with no risk of a split, greasy butter emulsion. And because it carries no dairy, an olive-oil dessert is naturally suited to anyone avoiding butter.
Getting the balance right
Two habits make the difference. First, do not drown the dessert — olive oil is assertive, and a little goes a long way; follow a recipe written for oil rather than sloshing it into one written for butter. Second, think about a raw finish: a few drops of the same fruity oil, and a pinch of flaky salt, over a slice of chocolate tart is a genuinely lovely, faintly savoury flourish. As always with olive oil, the good stuff is wasted if it is stale, so bake with an oil you would be happy to taste on its own.
| For baking | Choose | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Oil style | Mild, fruity, ripe | Fierce, grassy, peppery |
| Bitterness | Low | High, throat-catching |
| Quality | Fresh extra virgin | Rancid or flat oil |
| Amount | As the recipe states | Extra ‘to be safe’ |
| Best use | Chocolate, citrus, loaf cakes | Delicate, pale sponges where it dominates |
Baking notes
- Pick a mild, fruity oil, not your most peppery bottle.
- Use a recipe written for oil — do not just swap it one-for-one into a butter cake.
- Expect a moist crumb that keeps well for days.
- Finish with a few raw drops and a little flaky salt over chocolate for a grown-up edge.
Baking with olive oil: common questions
Can you really bake with olive oil?
Yes — it is traditional around the Mediterranean. It makes cakes and tarts moist, carries flavour well, and pairs especially nicely with chocolate and citrus.
What kind of olive oil should I use in desserts?
A milder, fruity, well-balanced extra virgin oil with low bitterness. Save fierce, peppery oils for savoury dishes, where their pungency belongs.
Why use olive oil instead of butter?
Oil keeps cakes moist for days, melts smoothly into chocolate, adds a savoury depth, and — being dairy-free — suits anyone avoiding butter.
Will olive oil make my cake taste like olives?
Not if you choose a mild, fruity oil and follow the recipe. It adds a gentle savoury depth behind the sweetness rather than an obvious olive flavour.
Can I swap oil for butter in any recipe?
Not reliably — the quantities and method differ. Use a recipe written for oil, or expect to adjust, rather than pouring oil straight into a butter-based one.
The mistake I see again and again is people reaching for their best, most peppery oil to bake with, because it is the good one — and ruining the pudding with a bitter, catching aftertaste. Baking is the one place where the fierce oils are wrong. Keep a rounder, sweeter, fruity bottle for the sweet kitchen, use it in a recipe actually written for oil, and finish a chocolate tart with a few raw drops and a little salt. Done that way, olive oil does something butter simply cannot — and your cake stays moist for days into the bargain.
An original olives101 guide to baking with olive oil.