‘Girl Meets Farm’: Molly Yeh’s Chocolate Olive Oil Cake With Candied Bacon is Love at First Bite

Food Network star Molly Yeh likes to replace the butter in her recipes with olive oil. It adds a deep richness to baked goods as well as a moistness that other fats can not duplicate. However, there are certain cases where the taste is enhanced even further by the addition of fruity oil. The Girl Meets Farm star’s Chocolate dessert, an Olive Oil Cake topped with candied bacon is decadent, delicious, and will become the dessert of your dreams upon the first bite.

What other baked goods has Molly Yeh substituted olive oil in?

Yeh tweaked a beloved after-school treat: blondies. Blondies are brownies without cocoa, turning them dark brown in color and giving them a rich chocolate flavor. This rich and gooey dessert includes no butter. Instead, the blondies get their tender consistency from olive oil. 

Yeh spoke lovingly of this easy, dreamy dessert on her blog “My Name Is Yeh.”

“They’re so easy to make and more casual than a cake. They stay fudgy in the fridge, so you can keep them longer and eat them at a moment’s notice, no reason required.”

Chocolate Olive Oil cake topped with candied bacon is rich and decadent

The dry ingredients for Chocolate Olive Oil cake include flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, baking powder, and soda.

The liquid ingredients include over a cup of olive oil, an equal amount of milk, eggs, almond extract, and orange juice, which lends a fruity element to the chocolate flavor.

While Yeh uses loaf pans to create a layer cake, this treat can also be baked in a round cake pan or whatever deep pan you have on hand in the kitchen. Lining the bottom with parchment paper will result in less mess upon the removal of the cake.

This dessert can be topped with either a homemade or store-bought whipped topping.

In order to make candied bacon, it is essential you use a thicker cut variety. According to Food Network chef Alexandra Guarascelli, all you need is thick-cut bacon, black pepper, and light brown sugar.

The benefits of baking with olive oil

Baking with olive oil instead of butter, margarine, or vegetable oils, dramatically improves the quality of fats you’re consuming.

Using extra virgin olive oil cuts saturated fat and promotes good cholesterol while adding depth of flavor and moistness to baked goods.

These types of baked goods are typically moister and a bit denser, resulting in firmer cakes, muffins, quick bread, brownies, and granola.

However, the only time olive oil is not an acceptable substitute for solid fats is in recipes that require creaming of butter and sugar, or when the fat needs to stay solid, as in a frosting.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network star’s blog, My Name is Yeh.

Girl Meets Farm airs Sundays at 11 a.m. EST on the Food Network.