Chocolate Olive Oil Almond Cake
Super moist and soft chocolate cake made with ground almonds and olive oil
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 8 slices
Ingredients
- 6 tbsps cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup boiling water (125 ml)
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (160 ml; see notes)
- 1 cup caster sugar (190 gms)
- 1 and 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
- 3 eggs, at room temperature (I haven't tried an eggless version)
- 1 cup ground almonds (100 gms; see notes)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (60 gms)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 C. Grease a 9 inch springform tin and set aside. You can use a regular round cake tin as well but it's easier to slice the cake in a springform tin.
- Sift the cocoa into a small bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Whisk to combine into a smooth liquid. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or you could use a mixing bowl and hand mixer as well), combine the olive oil, sugar, vanilla and eggs. Beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes until slightly thicker, paler and frothy. You don't need to beat this mixture until the eggs are super thick and airy unlike with a traditional sponge cake, because there's baking soda in this batter which will help it rise anyway.
- Pour in the liquid cocoa mixture and beat to combine. Add the ground almonds, then sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Beat again briefly on low speed to combine until you have a smooth, runny batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin, smoothen the top and bake for 40 minutes until a toothpick poked in the center comes out with moist crumbs, no wet batter. The center will look a little darker than the edges and a little puffy. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes in the oven itself (the center will fall slightly but shouldn't sink).
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin for an hour, then dig in while still warm! Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for 2 to 3 days and then in the fridge for a week. Best eaten at room temperature or lightly warmed up with a drizzle of cream on top! Happy baking :)
Notes
*Olive oil is highly recommended here for the best flavour. You can use a mild or light olive oil if you prefer and though vegetable oil will work, I think that in this comparatively large quantity, the flavour won't be as good.
*I ground 3/4 cup whole almonds in my blender until they were powdery but not super fine. Make sure you don't grind them too long or they'll release all their oils and become almond butter! Store-bought almond flour will have a much finer texture but can be used if you prefer.
*You can use either only almonds or only flour, knowing that the texture with only almonds will be a little denser. Either way, the total quantity of almonds/flour will remain 1.5 cups or 160 gms.
*Original recipe from Nigella Lawson (the comment section has a wealth of information including substitutions!)