Swap Butter for Olive Oil in Tulles, Brownies and Cakes
You may think of olive oil as an exceptionally “zesty” cooking oil, but its fruity, herbal flavor can add surprising depth to all types of desserts.
Adding this delicious butter to sweets is not as easy as replacing butter one by one, but it is not that difficult. According to baking connoisseur Alisa Medrich, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Choose recipes that require liquid fat: Look for recipes that use ghee, such as brownie or Medrich chocolate almond cake, and use “ 10-15% less butter than required” to prevent greasy results.
- Choose a recipe that complements the flavor of the butter: chocolate, nuts, fruits, and all sorts of flavors work well with olive oil, so don’t be afraid to tweak the flavor.
- You may not get a ton of browning: nothing browns better than butter, so olive oil may not be the best choice for crispy cookies. The only exceptions are the super-delicate tulles, which Medrich notes “have had great success with extra virgin olive oil tulles” and that “they come out wonderfully golden brown and totally crispy”.
If you need a recipe to get started, try the aforementioned chocolate cake (link below), or try customizing the classic Genoise cake or pound cake . Olive oil brownies also sound downright decadent in their most sophisticated manner, especially when sprinkled with a few giant flakes of crispy salt.
Yes, you can substitute olive oil for butter in desserts! (But careful) | Food52