I saw Nigella Lawson making this recipe on tv and thought I would make it for Valentine’s day for my beau. It doesn’t rise that high, which I imagine is because of the density of the mixture. You could if you wanted to make two and layer it but there’s no real need. It’s so luscious that you only need a smallish slice. I loved it, it has a brownie like consistency. It gets extra brownie points (pardon the pun) for being gluten free and if you don’t melt chocolate over it like I did, it’s also dairy free. Just double check the cocoa that you use as it may contain dairy. I made a little change to the recipe by adding half olive oil and half coconut oil.
Ingredients
- 150 ml regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)
- 50 grams good-quality cocoa powder (sifted)
- 125 ml boiling water
- 2 teaspoons best vanilla extract
- 150 grams ground almonds (or 125g plain flour / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour)
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 pinch of salt
- 200 grams caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
Method
1.Preheat your oven to 170°C/gas mark 3/325ºF. Use some oil spray to grease your 22-23 cm/ 9 inch cake tin. Line it with parchment paper.
2. Add the sifted cocoa powder to a bowl and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolatey viscous consistency.
3. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool while you are getting on with the rest. In another bowl, mix the ground almonds (or flour) with the bicarbonate of soda and pinch of salt.
4. I used a hand held mixer because I don’t have a freestanding one. Either way, add the sugar, olive oil and eggs into a mixing bowl and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes you have a pale yellow coloured cream mixture.
5. Turn the speed down and add the cocoa mixture little by little. Do the same with ground almond (or flour) mixture. Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour the chocolate mixture into the baking tin.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks a little bit soggy still. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin. Remove from the tin after the 10 minutes. You can top it with melted chocolate and some fresh fruit or pistachios. For a bit of a change I served it with some vanilla flavoured Greek yogurt. It cut through the delicious dense chocolate.
– See more at: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/CHOCOLATE-OLIVE-OIL-CAKE-5551#sthash.fhQTcIGW.dpuf
delishuss
Delishuss Blog 
These look so, so delicious! I have almond meal and was looking for great recipes to try – this totally fits the bill. Thanks for the recipe! Can’t wait to try it soon. Also, I’m so in love with your photography! Can I use cane sugar instead of caster sugar and coconut oil or avocado oil instead of olive oil? How many servings is this?
Hi cookiesnchem,
Yeah, it was pretty luscious. I’ve never worked with sugar cane before so I’m not sure how sweet it would be. Worth a try maybe. I definitely think a different oils would work the same way as olive oil. It creates that nice density. Thanks for your feedback regarding the photography, I’m getting there. I tend to have eaten the dish before I have time to photograph it or it’s late so the shots are always dark.
I think you would get about 8-10 good servings out of this recipe.
Hey! Thanks for answering all the questions in such detail. 🙂 Does olive oil impart a significantly olive-ish flavour? The density is so important when it comes to chocolate cake – I completely agree! And I am SO with you about devouring everything before having the desire to take any photos, haha.