I love to cook with local and organically grown ingredients and produce as much as possible. But when it comes to certain ingredients, one has to resort to using ingredients pertaining to other countries.
Take olive oil for instance, which is a prime ingredient in today’s cake. Olive oil is produced in Spain, Italy and Greece and we all know what good quality olive oil can do to a mediterranean meal. The same rule applies to other ingredients like hazelnuts, chestnuts and other ingredients which are not indigenous to our country. They have to be used to produce certain flavour combinations.
So this cake was made with European olive oil and local ingredients like flour, sugar, almonds and cream.
This cake is unbelievably moist and soft with an intense chocolate flavour. If you are skeptical about olive oil in a cake then don’t be as this one has no pronounced smell of the oil although the oil lends a lot of flavour and softness to the cake.
If you want to know more about this cake and how I went about doing this post, then I have some news for you. I am going to be conducting a workshop in the Annapoorna World Of Food Fair at the Bombay Exhibition centre, Mumbai on 26th September 2012 between 03:00-03.45 pm, where I'm going to talking about DivineTaste and my approach to foodwriting/blogging and food photography in general.
I was given a recipe to showcase as part of the programme for “ European Quality Foods: Eating With Your Five Senses†which is sponsored by the European Union, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment of Spain and the Spanish Food and Beverage Industry Federation (FIAB). You can also stay tuned for updates and pictures through my facebook and twitter feeds.
I adapted the recipe to be eggfree and made some other modifications apart from simplifying a few steps.
If you love dark chocolate or potent chocolate flavours then this is perfect for you. Despite being egg free it holds its shape well and like I said earlier has a soft and moist texture with exquisite chocolate flavours.
You could serve it plain with coffee or tea or do a frosting for a more elaborate version. Either ways it won’t disappoint!
Chocolate And Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cake Recipe
You can make this cake plain or stir in almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts or raisins into the cake mixture before baking. You could also dust the cake with some icing sugar.
 Ingredients:
70 gm (10 tbsp) cornstarch
150 gm plain flour (1 cup + 1 tbsp)
28 gm (4 tbsp) cocoa powder
150 gm (1 cup) icing sugar or fine sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
100 gm (3/4 cup) ground almonds
20 ml (1 tbsp +1 tsp) clarified butter or melted butter (can substitute with ghee)
60 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
50 gm dark chocolate, chopped
200 ml cream (I used 25% fat, you can also use 35% fat)
100 gm (1/2 cup) inverted sugar or golden syrup*
1 tsp vanilla extract
125 ml (1/2 cup) water
 Method:
Grease and line an 8†square or a 9†round tin with greaseproof paper.
In a bowl assemble all the dry ingredients except the powdered almonds, the cornstarch, flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar, baking powder and soda and sieve together to make the mixture uniform and lump free.
In a saucepan, heat the clarified butter and when it melts completely stir in the olive oil. Put in the chopped chocolate and turn off the heat. Whisk with a spoon until the chocolate melts. Stir in the cream and whisk again.
In a large bowl put in the golden syrup and the chocolate mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and the water.
Add the ground almonds and mix with a hand blender or a whisk if you have strong hands. (Or use a food processor).
Heat the oven to 175 C/350F.
Slowly mix in the sifted dry ingredients little by little and beat until you have a smooth mixture. Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, reducing the temperature to 150 C/300F after 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before turning it over a rack to cool. Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing it.
Makes one 8†square or a 9†round cake.
Recipe adapted from "European Quality Foods: Eating With Your Five Senses"
* The golden syrup adds a lot of moistness to the cake. If you don't have access to it, try making your own.
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oh first to comment! in few minutes i will be baking your dates cake. wish to try this cake too some time in future. All the very best for your workshop.
Hey Anushruti, the cake looks really rich and moist! Best with a cup of coffee…
the cake is looking so soft and moist. will try to make a vegan version.
all the best for your workshop.
ohh my looks so good!!! Chocolate cake anytime!!!
Hey that cake looks awesomeeee…..Jus one question can i replace Invert Sugar with Honey to get the same results?
I have tried the egg less chocolate cake recipe from your blog..it was 'so moist', yummy and also looked perfect!
the photos here are amazing!
Vasumathy: 🙂 Awesome! Thanks for your wishes. Hope your cake turned out well.
Anamika: Agree!
dassana: This recipe can be easily veganized. Let me know how it worked!
Priya: Yes..you can't go wrong with it atleast most of the times.
Bhavana: I generally don't use honey for anything which involves heating it as according to Ayurveda heated honey creates "ama" or toxins in the body. I use honey only in recipes when I don't have to heat it. You can try making your invert sugar solution by bringing a mixture of two parts granulated sugar or sucrose and one part water to a boil and then reducing the heat to a low simmer for five to seven minutes until the solution becomes clear.
Sannidhi: Thanks for your feedback!
Lovely cake! I can totally imagine the flavors working very well here… the almond meal and olive oil will make it heavenly!
Thanx a ton!! Really helpful…will do that
Can never have too many chocolate cake recipes! Looks awesome!
What is the purpose of the cornstarch in the recipe?
Hey Anushruti, do you have any recommendations for subsituting the butter & cream to make it a vegan cake? More olive oil & soy cream? Do you think it would work?
Hi Anushruti
I am a fan of all your recipes!
In the method for this cake in paragraph 4 it says to add vanilla extract and water.
How much water do I add as there is none in the ingredients?
Thanks
Chinmayie: The almonds definitely add a lovely crunch to the cake.
Amee: Cornstarch works as a binding agent and also give a little lightness to the cake.
Emma: I think more olive oil and soy cream or milk would definitely work!
Bhavna: thanks for pointing that out. The recipe is updated!
Hi
My family does not like the smell of olive oil. Can I replace it with regular cooking oil?
The cake looks heavenly. Can't wait to try it!
sudha: yes you can replace it with any neutral oil like ricebran or sunflower oil.
I love dark chocolate and This looks perfect! All the very best for your workshop 🙂
Anu, can you include some microwave baking recipes for cakes?
I own neither a convection nor a combo unit.
Made this cake. It is Divine Tasty! Only problem I had was it was too soft and crumbly. Got only a few pieces neatly cut the rest was crumbled. But tasted just yum. Not sure if I cooked it too long to make it so soft.
Almond meal, Olive oil..waiting to bake one for myself to indulge! This looks so chocolaty and delicious.
Anu, Luscious cake and a beautiful texture!
I personally do not like to use extra virgin olive oil in any "heating process" like cooking or baking as it has a very low burning point and free radicals are formed when used at high temperatures which are bad for health.
Organic butter or any other neutral cooking oil can be substituted here without much compromise on texture and taste, right?
Utbt Kids: I'm sorry I don't use a microwave oven and am against using it!
Poornima: Mine was soft but not crumbly. Did you leave it in the tin for sometime before turning it over? And also this cake has to be sliced after it is completely cool or else it would be crumbly.
Radhika: Ofcourse you could replace the oil with the butter or any other cooking oil.That EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) is not suitable for heating is not yet fully established and the Spanish people have been cooking and frying with EVOO for thousands of years. If cooking with olive oil, I would rather use EVOO than the refined or processed varieties of olive oil.
the cake looks lovely… is it essential to put ground almonds, wont that give s strong almond flavor??
shriya: It gives a lovely crunch to the cake and adds flavour and yes chocolate and almond pair well!
Hey Anu,
A quick question. I am planning to bake a Black Forest cake soon. Can I use this chocolate cake for it? Will this one being soft make the end product too soggy?
Remya
Remya: I don't think this would make a good base for a dark forest cake. Try my eggless chocolate cake or eggless chocolate ganache cake for the same.
Hi Anushruti,
Am I glad I have found your blog! Here's a question – in all the recipes where you have used Dark Chocolate, am I right in thinking that it is cooking chocolate that you've used? Also, where the recipe calls for 400 or 397 ml of condensed milk, would it hurt to use just 350 (it comes here in 350 ml tins!)?
Thanks so much!
SNS: Yes its cooking chocolate. You can use 350 ml, but use 50 ml + 2tbsp sugar additionally!
Hi Anushri,
I am glad that my random search on eggless baking led me here. I must say that this cake looks so lusciously yummy. The way you have described the cake and its making and your photography skills are laudable.
How do we replace the all purpose flour with wheat flour (or our Indian atta). I somehow feel guilty to bake with maida for my lil one. And I have never been able to perfect the art of baking with Wheat flour. BTW I use a microwave oven in convection mode n not the electric oven. Expecting a response from you!!!
Thanks,
Nithya.
Hi Anushri,
It is me again. Missed to ask one more thing. Can the cooking chocolate be replaced with cocoa powder here?
Thanks,
Nithya.
Nithya: You could replace the plain flour with whole wheat flour. I never bake or recommend doing so in a microwave but there are people who have used my recipes to successfully bake in a microwave oven. Hope this helps.
How could I make cupcakes with this recipe? Pls sister let me know
Looks so pretty. Pls let me know how to bake this as cupcakes
Kani: You can pour the batter into cupcake moulds and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Which brand of EVOO you used here
Pls let me know
I dont stick to any particular brand when it comes to EVOO. I go for whatever best is available in the store at that time.
woow looks good