Chocolate Olive Oil Cake-A Gluten-Free Dessert

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake Made By Jeannie

Gluten-Free and Yummy!

My family enjoys this yummy, delicious, melty, and chocolaty dessert! I first baked this cake about 10 years ago when I walked into Williams Sonoma and saw Nigella Lawson's new book, Nigellissima. I loved watching her on the Food Network and was eager to own one of her cookbooks. I picked the book up with excitement to see the beautifully curated photos, and the recipes were perfectly organized and clearly written in the simplest form.

Then I saw the dessert section, so aptly named Sweet Things. Nigella expressed her desire for desserts, so I knew this section would be gooood! Then, I saw this recipe, and I was hooked! The cake was a healthier option for me- a flourless, non-dairy-based, rich chocolate cake full of flavor. This couldn't be, especially for me, a new mom who had to restrict her diet while pregnant due to gestational diabetes. I avoided all things sweet for months. Almond flour cake, who knew?

Immediately, I put my new baby in her car seat and drove home excited to make this cake. I have been making this cake for years, and everyone enjoys it!

Baking Tips

• Use really good olive oil to enhance the flavor of your cake.

• Use a finer brand of cocoa powder to enhance the chocolate flavor, or add a little coffee to the cocoa mix.

• Make it a lemon Olive Oil cake—substitute the cocoa powder for fresh lemons and lemon zest.

• Use a heart-shaped springform baking pan for Valentine's Day or small ramekins for individual servings.

• Garnish with fresh berries and a little scoop of ice cream.

• Serve warm or cold, it's all good.

• Use vanilla bean paste rather than vanilla extract

Recipe: Lawson, Nigella. Chocolate Olive Oil Cake. Nigellissima Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes

INGREDIENTS

Yields: 8-12 slices

• ⅔ cup regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)

• 6 tablespoons good-quality unsweetened cocoa (sifted)

• 2 teaspoons best vanilla extract

• 1½ cups almond meal (or 125g plain flour / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour)

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1 cup superfine sugar

• 3 large eggs

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 325ºF. Grease a 9-inch springform tin with olive oil and line the base with baking parchment.

2. Measure and sift the unsweetened cocoa into a bowl 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.

3. In another smaller bowl, combine the almond meal with the baking soda and a pinch of salt.

4. 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 3 minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated, and thickened cream.

5. 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 mixture.

6. Scrape down, 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 center, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.

7. 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.