12 of Our Best Oil-Based Cake Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What makes a cake more moist, oil or butter? ›

Why does oil give cake superior texture? Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.

Baking a cake from scratch requires the right ingredients for the best result. Choosing vegetable oil is the best option for baking moist, delicious baked goods. Canola oil, the most common vegetable oil used in baking, doesn't add a strong flavor.

“Vinegar is a secret ingredient that can make your cakes light and fluffy.” One of the great things about using vinegar in cakes is that it's versatile.

Baking with oil not only requires less work, and results in fewer dirty dishes, than butter, but it also produces tender, moist baked goods that get better with age and boast an impressively long shelf-life.

Crisco® all-vegetable shortening will make your cakes moist, pie crusts flaky, and cookies soft and fluffy, with 0g of trans fat per serving*. One look, and you'll see why we've got butter beat.

The oils which should be avoided for cooking are oils like soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, and safflower. These oils have unstable fats and will decimate the nutritional properties of your food. Oh, and they'll give you a big fat health risk in the meantime.

Olive oil wins in taste and flavor, and it is a versatile oil to keep on hand for many different cooking applications, including frying. However, sunflower oil's mild taste and higher smoke point makes it a good choice if you are baking or working at extremely high cooking temperatures.

It depends on your personal preference and the recipe you're following. Generally, butter is the more traditional choice for cakes, as it lends a rich flavor and moist texture. However, some recipes may call for oil instead, as it can create a lighter and fluffier cake.

First and foremost, the secret to a moist cake lies in your ingredients. You need to use ingredients that help retain the moisture in the cake. Some bakers swear by using buttermilk or sour cream in their cake batter, while others opt for yogurt or mayonnaise.

What adds richness to cakes? ›

In addition to its delicious taste, butter adds richness and flavor to your baked goods. Different types of butter are available, but salted and unsalted butter are the two most commonly used in baking.

Baking tip #2: adding milk to your box cake mix in place of water adds a dense texture to your dessert leaving it moist and flavorful like a homemade cake. Or, if you prefer, you can add buttermilk, giving your cake a tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness.

The leavening power of baking soda is about three to four times stronger than baking powder. This means that you need a lot less baking soda in your recipes. If a recipe calls for baking soda and you only have baking powder, you need to use the right baking soda to baking powder conversion.

When substituting vegetable oil with butter in a recipe, the conversion ratio is not always one-to-one. However, as a rough estimate, you can use the following guideline: 1/2 cup vegetable oil is approximately equivalent to 1/2 cup (1 stick or 8 tablespoons) of butter.

What about substituting oil for butter? Depending on the type of oil, it can add complex flavor and welcome moisture to your baked goods. A good rule of thumb is to replace about 3/4 of the butter in a recipe with olive, canola, or vegetable oil. (If the recipe calls for 1 cup butter, use ¾ cup oil.)

Cake mixes almost always call for vegetable oil as their fat; needless to say, butter has a lot more flavor than vegetable oil, and it makes for a much better texture. Just replace the oil with an equal amount of melted butter, and you'll get a drastically better cake with a more complex flavor.