Bake with olive oil

Olive oil has long been regarded as one of the stars of Mediterranean cuisine, and for good reason. Not only does it add a delicious flavour to your dishes, but it also offers health benefits. In this article, we will explore the many ways to use olive oil in cooking, as well as its health benefits.

Olive oil in your everyday cooking

Olive oil is incredibly versatile in the kitchen. Here are a few ideas for incorporating it into your dishes :

- Dressings and marinades: Use extra virgin olive oil to make homemade dressings. Mix it with balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey and fresh herbs for a delicious dressing. It can also be used as a base for marinades for meat or fish.

- Pan-frying: Virgin olive oil is excellent for cooking over a medium heat. It adds a subtle flavour to sautéed vegetables, scrambled eggs and grilled meats.

- Bread and dips: Serve extra virgin olive oil with fresh bread for dipping. Add herbs, Parmesan or chilli for extra flavour.

- Oven cooking: Use olive oil to coat vegetables before roasting them in the oven. This gives them a crispy texture and a delicious flavour.

- Finishing touch: A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over a pizza, soup, pasta or seafood dish can instantly enhance the flavour of your meal.

Like all unrefined oils, olive oil can be safely heated to high temperatures: the smoke point of olive oil is 210°C.

Olive oil, your healthy cooking asset

• Rich in polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that protect your cells
• Contains oleocanthal a natural anti-inflammatory found exclusively in olive oil, which inhibits inflammatory enzymes and may help reduce the effects of chronic diseases
• A "good" fat, unlike butter or margarine helps reduce bad cholesterol and saturated fats in your recipes
• High in vitamin E, which supports heart health and even extends the freshness of baked goods like breads and muffins

Substitute olive oil for butter

Butter to Olive Oil Conversion Table

1g butter = 0.9ml olive oil

Olive oil for desserts and baking

In most dessert recipes, extra virgin olive oil can replace butter or margarine. Since butter contains 82% fat (it also contains water, casein, lactose and other lactic ferments), unlike oil (99% fat), it will be necessary to adjust your recipe to the ratio of 3 portions of oil to 4 portions of butter.

Example: if your initial recipe mentions 400g of butter, you need to reduce the dose to 300g, or 270ml of olive oil.

Substitution works particularly well for recipes for madeleines, cakes, desserts, ice cream, etc.

However, this substitution process will not work well for puff pastries or if the recipe requires a lot of butter-sugar creaming to obtain very light cakes in texture or to make glazes (the fat must indeed remain solid when mixed with the sugar).

Our advice is to proceed with a progressive substitution, in order to adjust the proportions, texture and taste of your recipe as well as possible.

Converting vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed oil to olive oil

If your recipe calls for vegetable oil, sunflower oil or rapeseed oil, you can definitely replace these oils with premium extra virgin olive oil. Any dessert recipe that calls for vegetable oil as an ingredient is a perfect choice for olive oil. In these recipes, the substitution would be a one-to-one ratio. Imagine how the sweet and delicious flavour of gourmet olive oil will enhance the taste of a chocolate or carrot cake!

Choosing a quality extra virgin olive oil

Making the decision to incorporate olive oil into your baking recipes is best done using high quality extra virgin olive oils such as those offered at Oliviers&Co. Using poor quality olive oil is like cooking with a wine you wouldn't drink. Cooking with olive oil is not only healthier for the heart, but also particularly tasty, as the smoothness of the oil allows all the flavours of the other ingredients to come through. As chefs know, poor quality oils can bring a rancid aftertaste that will affect the taste of your dishes and desserts.

Try adding extra virgin olive oils to your recipes and see how your guests react when they taste your creations with the delicious, nuanced flavour that only gourmet olive oil can provide.

Cooking with our aromatic olive oils

Oliviers&Co has created unique aromatic olive oils by simultaneously pressing herbs, spices, citrus fruits... with freshly harvested olives.

At Oliviers & Co we use a traditional milling method, the stone mill, to extract the oil from the olives. This is done within a 24 hour period in a cold press to reduce oxidation and retain the highest quality of polyphenol, antioxidant, vitamin and above all flavour content.

Added to your cakes and cakes, they will flavour your sweet recipes with delight.