Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
Hey, Whiskers!
I'm always looking for a different way to do chocolate cakes, as my mom loves the classic fudgy brownie a little too much sometimes. I don't like baking with butter or margarine I leave that to my siblings and their cookies. I have found that olive oil actually works quite well with desserts as it has an inherent floral note that works well to balance both sweet and the bitterness of the chocolate. I chose this recipe by Nigella Lawson as she is the queen of delicious recipes with just the basic pantry ingredients. I used only regular flour rather than the almond flour she prescribed, as it is quite expensive here in Israel, the texture turns out less dense but still delicious. I would love to make this cake again and make an orange thyme or basil jam to go with it, but that's me and my obsession with fruits and herbs. This cake is perfect as it has a fudginess to it without it being overly dense. The cake batter will be super watery before baking, but that is how its supposed to be, its part of the deliciousness after baking. Make sure to not over bake, check the cake as you get close to the time. Enjoy, till next time. Keep whisking up love and happiness to those around you
Sam
Makes: 9x13 cake
INGREDIENTS
METHOD
I'm always looking for a different way to do chocolate cakes, as my mom loves the classic fudgy brownie a little too much sometimes. I don't like baking with butter or margarine I leave that to my siblings and their cookies. I have found that olive oil actually works quite well with desserts as it has an inherent floral note that works well to balance both sweet and the bitterness of the chocolate. I chose this recipe by Nigella Lawson as she is the queen of delicious recipes with just the basic pantry ingredients. I used only regular flour rather than the almond flour she prescribed, as it is quite expensive here in Israel, the texture turns out less dense but still delicious. I would love to make this cake again and make an orange thyme or basil jam to go with it, but that's me and my obsession with fruits and herbs. This cake is perfect as it has a fudginess to it without it being overly dense. The cake batter will be super watery before baking, but that is how its supposed to be, its part of the deliciousness after baking. Make sure to not over bake, check the cake as you get close to the time. Enjoy, till next time. Keep whisking up love and happiness to those around you
Sam
Makes: 9x13 cake
INGREDIENTS
- ⅔ cup regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)
- 6 tablespoons good-quality unsweetened cocoa (sifted)
- ½ cup boiling water
- 2 teaspoons best vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
METHOD
- Preheat your oven to 170°C/gas mark 3/325ºF. Grease a 22 or 23 cm/ 9inch springform tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.
- Measure and sift the unsweetened cocoa into a bowl or jug and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolatey, still runny (but only just) paste. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool a little.
- In another smallish bowl, combine flour with the baking soda and pinch of salt.
- Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you have a pale, aerated and thickened cream.
- Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when all is scraped in you can slowly tip in the flour mixture.
- Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
- Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding.