Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

 

Everyone seems more concerned with their diet these days. We’re bombarded with messages about nutrition on a daily basis with most of it conflicting. Quite a few of these are directed at food which, let’s be honest, is the more fun stuff. Cakes, biscuits and the like. Due to my love of baking this does cause issues as I only use butter, never margarine, and I won’t scrimp on full fat milk so some feel that they are unable to indulge. The Thew (my husband) avoids wheat and refined sugar so he’s immediately out of the tasting circle although he will sometimes have a slice of a gluten free cake if he’s feeling crazy!

There are those who are allergic to certain foods and these people have my sympathy. Not only do they not get to eat delicious desserts and cakes but the substitutes are generally fairly below average. There is a very lovely girl at my work who is allergic to dairy so when I saw Nigella’s Olive Oil Chocolate Cake I immediately thought of her. I make Nigella’s Clementine Cake, which is gluten free and is delicious, so I had high hopes.

The cake can also be gluten free but I didn’t have enough ground almonds at home to do that. It was raining outside as well so I wasn’t going to pop out and get some more. What you get for your effort is a wonderfully moist chocolate cake that is simply stunning for the minimal work that goes into it. I may try adding some ginger to this next time - this is a cake that encourages experimentation.

Ingredients

150ml regular olive oil

50g cocoa powder (I use Green and Blacks as its fab)

125ml boiling water

2 tsp vanilla extract

125g plain flour (or 150g ground almonds)

½ tsp bicarb of soda

200g caster sugar

3 large eggs

1.     Preheat the oven to 170°/GM3. Grease a springform tin with oil and line the base.

2.     Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl and add the boiling water. Whisk until smooth, add the vanilla, whisk some more and set to one side. Now it looks tempting to dip your finger in and try some. Warning - just because it looks like melted chocolate, doesn't mean it tastes like it!

3.     Combine the flour, bicarb and a pinch of salt and leave to one side.

4.     Put the sugar in a bowl with the eggs and olive oil. Whisk until very aerated and thick – this takes 3-4 minutes with a hand held mixer.

5.     Add the cocoa mixture followed by the flour mixture, beating together after each addition.

6.     Pour into your tin and bake for about 40 minutes.

7.     You can eat hot or cold so let cool for a few minutes if you want to eat it hot, or cool completely if you want it cold. I had it cold but I imagine that for those who aren’t allergic to diary, some double cream would do well with it.