Moist and fluffy, this vanilla cake recipe with oil will be your go-to-cake for every birthday or special occasion that comes your way! Find more olive oil cake recipes here.
When you have a food blog, it makes you the go-to person for baking birthday cakes and cupcakes. The same goes with anniversary cakes, baby shower cakes and congratulations-on-anything kind of cakes. Needless to say, I make a lot of cakes.
So when it comes my go-to vanilla cake for any of the above mentioned occasions, I have my personal favorite: a very easy vanilla olive oil cake.
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Why you should bake this cake
I have personally made this cake 100s of times. It really is my go-to recipe for birthday cakes. It is so easy to whip up and the texture is perfect.
You can bake up several layers to make a tall cake, or keep it simple with two layers. I have covered it with frosting and/or fondant and I have kept it simple with whipped cream or frosted a naked cake.
Bake this recipe into cupcakes, a 9×13 pyrex dish or in whatever vessel you can think of. It really is a great versatile vanilla cake recipe.
This particular recipe uses eggs and milk. Because you use olive oil, you can easily make this recipe into a vegan vanilla cake. I give instructions in more detail further below.
Reader’s Reviews
“Excellent cake. I baked all the batter in a nine inch cast iron pan lined with parchment paper for 40 minutes and wow! Best and easiest cake ever. I just lifted it out of the pan with the paper, let it cool and sliced it into two layers. The top was smooth and the cake perfectly done. Thumbs up.” — Tina
Ingredients you need
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- Pantry staples: granulated sugar, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract
- Whole milk: I always have full fat milk in my fridge, so that is what I primarily bake with. Fat adds moisture and flavor to your cake, so don’t be afraid of it. You can use low fat milk or to make it vegan, us almond milk.
- Eggs: When I bake, I primarily use large eggs. You can use flax meal to make this cake vegan. I go into this in more detail below.
- Extra virgin olive oil: If you’ve read my blog before, then you learned your lesson on how to bake with olive oil. Your baked goods are only as good as the ingredients you put into it. Choose a mild tasting olive oil for this cake recipe, not a peppery one. You can also use canola, avocado or any other neutral oil.
Step-by-step directions
- Combine dry ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
- Combine oil and sugar. In a large bowl, using a stand or hand mixer combine sugar and olive oil until combined and mixture resembles wet sand.
- Add milk. Add vanilla and milk into sugar mixture, scraping the sides of mixing bowl and mixing again.
- Add eggs. Mixing on low speed, add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides in between.
- Finish cake batter. In batches, add dry ingredients and mix into wet ingredients until just combined. Again, scrape down sides of the bowl to combine thoroughly. Do not over mix the batter.
- Bake cakes. Coat 2 9-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment paper. Divide batter equally into cake pans and bake until edges are golden, approximately 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. For details on what size cake pan to use, read below.
- Cool cakes. Place on cooling rack to cool before removing cakes from pans. Once cooled, frost as desired.
How much does this recipe make?
Despite my making this recipe literally DOZENS OF TIMES, and despite my explicit instructions in the recipe card explaining what this recipe yields, I still get comments from people that the batter was not enough “for even one cake pan! Hmmph!”
So, I decided to be explicit here in the blog post. The cake pictured with the pink peony on top, was baked in a SIX INCH CAKE PAN. I made this cake for my baby nephew’s first birthday, as well as his baby brother’s first birthday (check out the woodland cake).
You can also use the recipe below to make a 9-inch round 2-layer cake, but the layers will be about 1 ½-inches thick (versus the 3-inch thick 6-inch round cake). The cake with strawberries layered in it and on top of it was baked in two 9-inch round cake pans.
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If you want 2 fat 9-inch layers, you will have to DOUBLE THE RECIPE. You can also bake the cake in 2 8-inch cake pans (which is what I used in the video) and the layers will be about 2-inches thick.
I have mixed feelings about fat layered cakes. First, I love cake, so yeah, the fatter the cake, the more delicious cake there is to savor. But, when I want to spread layers of fruit in between the layers, those fat layers are just too much.
And with people trying to eat healthy, of course eating too much sugary sweets is not good for you. I’m finding more and more of my guests don’t want huge fat pieces of cake. So you decide how fat you want your cake layers to be and adjust the recipe accordingly.
Vegan vanilla cake
As written below, this vanilla olive oil cake contains eggs and milk. One of my baby nephew’s is SUPER allergic to dairy. He’s so allergic that if you have eaten something with dairy on it and you kiss his cheek, his cheek breaks out in hives.
You can easily substitute the milk in this recipe with almond milk. I have done it many times and the cake still turns out beautifully. It is a little smelly, but I have found that is the case when baking with almond milk!
My baby nephew is also allergic to eggs. I have made this olive oil cake vegan by substituting regular eggs in this recipe with flax eggs. The vegan version of this cake is not as yellow as what is pictured here. But my little nephew and everyone who tried it, loved the cake and flavor.
The basic ratio for the flax seed egg is 1 tablespoon of flax seeds and 3 tablespoons of water to replace 1 egg. This recipe uses 3 eggs, so triple this amount. You will have to grind the flax seed into powder and whisk it with the water before adding to the cake batter.
If you have already ground flax seed, then use 2 ½ teaspoons of ground flax seed and 3 tablespoons of water for 1 egg. I have written a separate post with explicit directions on making a vegan vanilla cake here.
Recipe tips and FAQs
Here are just a few more tips on successful baking. A few I am totally guilty of forgetting myself, so it’s a great reminder for me, too!
- Make sure your baking powder isn’t old. Please don’t blame the blogger because you used old expired ingredients. Yes, I am speaking from experience. What a difference a brand new can of baking powder can make!
- Measure your pans. Make sure you know what size cake pans you are using. I have grabbed my 8-inch pans thinking they are the 9-inch ones many times. I am constantly measuring them because these companies do not put the pan size on their darn pans! Duh!
- Baking strips. For even baking and to prevent that dome from creating Mount Olympus on your olive oil cake, use these baking strips. You wrap them around the sides of the pan and it help distributes the heat evenly while baking. I have a set and yes, I do forget to use them. Doh!
Have I inspired you to bake with olive oil yet?! My friend Beth from OMG Yummy has a fabulous olive oil shortcake made with roasted strawberries. I also have her wonderful Marble Loaf Cake recipe, which is also made with olive oil.
And if you want to keep it simple, don’t frost your cake! Serve it with some fresh berries and some of my creamy and fabulous olive oil lemon curd.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: If your cake is frosted, I suggest storing any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. If unfrosted, you can keep it covered on the counter for up to 3 days or refrigerate for longer.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Wrap in foil, parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze for up to 4 months.
Does this olive oil cakes taste like, well, olive oil? Your baked goods are only as good as the ingredients you put into it.
Do not choose a peppery olive oil to bake this olive oil cake. Do not chose a cheap olive oil to bake this olive oil cake.
DO use a late harvest, mild flavored extra virgin olive oil to bake this cake. And it won’t taste like olive oil.
Save the butter for your butter cream frosting. Taste the oil by itself and remember this is the flavor that will be added to your cake. For this vanilla cake, I chose a mild olive oil. Some olive oils even have a buttery flavor profile. Either would great in a cake.
ABSOLUTELY! I regularly bake with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter. I do this for bread, scones, cookies, muffins and yes, even cake. Baking with oil not only yields a moist muffin, scone or cake, but it can also add flavor, depending on the flavor of your olive oil.
If you have a recipe that uses butter, there is a simple ratio to use if you want to substitute it with oil. It is a great starting point for when you are making substitutions. For every cup of butter, swap out and use ¾ cup of olive oil.
Vanilla Cake Recipe with Oil
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Coat 2 9-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, using a stand or hand mixer combine sugar and olive oil until combined and mixture resembles wet sand.
- Add vanilla and milk into sugar mixture. Scrape the sides of mixing bowl and mix again.
- Mixing on low speed, add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides in between.
- In batches, add dry ingredients and mix into wet ingredients until just combined. Again, scrape down sides of the bowl to combine thoroughly. Do not over mix the batter.
- Divide batter into prepared cake pans and bake until edges are golden, approximately 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Place on rack to cool before removing cakes from pans.
- Once cooled, frost as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Will it taste like olive oil ???
Hi Bob-
If you choose a mild flavored olive oil, it will not taste like olive oil. As I mentioned in the post above, it’s all about which olive oil you choose. You can read more about this here: https://familyspice.com/how-to-bake-with-olive-oil/
If you choose a peppery oil, the flavor will come out in the cake. So taste the oil on it’s own. If the oil is rancid, your cake will taste terrible.
Laura
If you do the 2 6-inch cake pans, does that change the baking time? Thank you!!
Hi Amy-
With 2 6-inch pans, the cake layers will be thicker. Check the cakes after 20 minutes, then gauge how much longer it will take to bake. If super jiggly, check again in 10-15 minutes.
Laura
I am making this cake for my moms birthday. I just pulled the cakes out of the oven and they turned out amazing so far! I subbed soy milk for the whole milk since I don’t eat dairy and it seemed to work great. I also subbed avocado oil for the olive for a more neutral flavor and bc it what I prefer to use for cakes. I was happy to find an oil based vanilla cake recipe that was easy to down size and could be made dairy free. I WAY prefer oil cakes over butter cakes bc they… Read more »
Can I use vegetable oil instead of olive
Hi Aubrey-
Yes, you can. Just make sure it has a neutral flavor and hasn’t gotten old or rancid. Otherwise, that bad flavor will show up in your cake.
Laura
I usually use recipes that have butter & oil but I was out of butter and found this recipe in a pinch (i’m a professional baker). This recipe is great. The only thing I did different was the instructions..I combined the oil and sugar, added the eggs one at a time with the vanilla. Then added the flour,salt,baking powder mix alternating with the milk…came out perfect!
Hi Dani-
I seriously love how my olive oil cakes have turned out and don’t use butter in baking much. So glad you liked the cake.
Laura
Delicious! We used water instead of milk for my son who can’t have dairy (and I can’t have non-dairy milk). It was super yummy!!! Thank you!
Hi Taryn-
So happy to hear you all loved the cake! I haven’t tried it with just water so I’m glad it worked just as well. Thank you for sharing!
Laura
Just curious as to why you can’t have non dairy milk? I’ve heard of lots of ppl who cannot have dairy (myself included) and certain non dairy milks like nut milks due to allergies but never someone who cannot have ANY non dairy milks. I use soy milk personally bc it’s the closest in nutrition to dairy milks. That’s what I used for this recipe 🙂 but they have so many non dairy milks now adays and you can even make them yourself with just a nut milk bag and a blender. I even use my nut bag to make… Read more »
Yes, you can use non-dairy milk for this recipe. I have a vegan version of this cake that I make regularly for my young nephew who is allergic to dairy and eggs.
https://familyspice.com/vegan-birthday-cake/
Laura
Excellent cake. I baked all the batter in a nine inch cast iron pan lined with parchment paper for 40 minutes and wow!
Best and easiest cake ever. I just lifted it out of the pan with the paper, let it cool and sliced it into two layers. The top was smooth and the cake perfectly done. Thumbs up.
Hi Tina-
Thank you for your kind words. This is my go-to vanilla cake for everything!
Laura
Can I use canola oil instead of olive?
Hi Devora,
Yes, you can use canola oil instead of olive oil.
Laura
Hi Laura! I would love to make this cake as it doesn’t have any butter, but I want to make it so that cake has 3 layers, 6 inches. Basically, how much batter do I have to make so it is enough for 3 6inch baking pans? Thank you in advance!
Hi Charlene-
If you want thick layers like the picture of the cake with the flower on it (that’s a 6-inch round cake) then you will need 1.5 times the recipe for 3 layers. Hope you enjoy it!
Laura
Not my recipe obv but I made it in 6 inch cake pans due to it being for my moms birthday and only her, my sister, and I will be eating it and for 2 6 inch cake pans I halved the recipe so if you want normal layer sizes and wanna do 6 inch pans I would recommend multiplying the recipe by 3/4 to be able to do that. I’m a baker by trade so that’s just my profession opinion. Good luck!!
Hi, I only have 1 9inch round pan. Could I bake the whole cake in it at once instead of making layers?
Hi Cheyanne-
You should be fine, but I haven’t tried it. Be sure that the batter doesn’t fill up past the halfway-two thirds mark on the pan. It will have to bake longer, so be sure to check using a toothpick or bamboo skewer. And once baked and cooled, you can slice it in half to make it two layers, if you want.
Laura
Hi. Just made the cake. It turned out lovely. Just a question, can I use self raising flour instead of all purpose flour? And if I can will I need to leave the baking powder out. Thank you.
Ann
Hi Ann-
I’m so glad you liked the cake. I don’t usually use self rising flour. I found this article from King Arthur Flour useful:
“To substitute self-rising for all-purpose flour, look for recipes that use baking powder: about ½ teaspoon per cup of flour, minimum.”
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/09/09/substitute-self-rising-flour-purpose-flour
Laura
Please how can I make frosting
It depends on what kind of frosting you want to make. For basic buttercream I whip 1 cup softened butter then mix in 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2-4 TBS heavy whipping cream (depending on how soft you want your frosting). If you look at my other cake recipes, I also have cream cheese frosting and chocolate ganache frosting.
Laura