Chocolate Olive Oil Cake Substitutes

Asked by eilisbarbar. Answered on 20th March 2015

Full question

Can I substitute natural yoghurt for some of the olive oil in the Chocolate Olive Oil Cake and, if so, how much? Also, can I substitute baking powder for the baking soda and, again, how much? Many thanks.

Can I use honey instead of sugar in the chocolate olive oil cake? Miakovid.

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (from Nigellissima and on the Nigella website) is a wheat free and dairy free cake so is made with olive oil and ground almonds (almond meal). As baking is a balance of ingredients in specific ratios we would not recommend using either yogurt or honey in the cake as substitutes. Yogurt has a lower fat content than the oil and more water, so it will affect the texture of the cake. Sugar adds structure to the cake and using honey will again affect the texture of the finished cake. It may be possible to substitute a couple of tablespoons of sugar with honey but as we have not tried this we regret that we cannot guarantee the results.

Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda act slightly differently and are not substitutable for each other. Baking powder contains bicarbonate of soda but also cream of tartar and you may find that the cake will not rise sufficiently.