Chocolate olive oil cake
Chef:
Nigella Lawson
Prep:
25 mins
Cook:
40 mins
This is a perfect cake for those with a wheat or dairy intolerance.
150ml regular olive oil, plus extra for greasing
50g cocoa powder, sifted
125ml boiling water
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g ground almonds
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
200g caster sugar
3 free-range eggs
Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 325F/gas mark 3
Grease a 23cm/9in springform 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, chocolatey, still runny (but only just) paste.
Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool a little.
In another smallish bowl, combine the ground almonds 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 (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about three minutes until you have a pale-primrose, 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 ground almonds 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 dessert.
Serves
8-12
Preparation Time
25 minutes
Cooking Time
40 minutes
Main ingredients
Eggs, Sugar
Recipe Type
Cakes & Baking, Dessert, Entertaining, Cake Stall
Special Info
Dairy free
Level of Difficulty
Medium
If you want a lighter crumb, rather than a squidgy interior, and are not making the cake for the gluten-intolerant, then replace the 150g ground almonds with 125g plain flour. This has the built-in bonus of making it perhaps more suitable for an everyday cake.
