A new trend in cake baking has been around lately and seems to be very popular: that is using olive oil as a main ingredient instead of butter! Comments are more than enthusiastic and everyone is talking about the advantages of baking a cake with olive oil: You get a different, fruitier taste and the most essential, the cake remains moist for more days.
Olive oil cakes are really great with citruses such as lemon, orange or even pomegranate, the fruits having the acidity that matches perfectly with the olive oil. But what about chocolate? Does it match with olive oil? Well, seeing the excitement with which this Nigella Lawson cake has been accepted by foodies all around the world, then yes, it’s a thrilling combination!
This cake served with vanilla ice-cream can be your Christmas dessert for this year!
Olive oil chocolate cake (Nigella Lawson recipe)
Ingredients
150 ml esti extra virgin olive oil (plus more for greasing)
50 grams cocoa powder, first sift then measure
125 ml boiling water
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
150 grams ground almonds [or substitute with 125 grams all purpose flour]
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
200 grams caster sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
Preheat oven at 170°C. Grease a 22 cm spring-form cake tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.
Measure and sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or jug and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolate-y paste. Add in the vanilla extract, whisk then set aside to cool a little.
In another bowl, combine the ground almonds (or flour) with the bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt.
Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment Start with medium speed and beat vigorously for about 3 minutes until it turns into pale opaque colour.
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 ground almond (or flour) mixture.
Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared cake 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.