Chocolate and olive oil cake - a match made in heaven

Today is Mother's Day in England so we made our favorite cake combination of luscious chocolate and fresh raspberries.  This is by far our favorite chocolate sponge cake recipe!  It is moist and light and fluffy and simply heavenly.  We use it for all special occasions and can't get enough of it.  We ice it with different icings and decorations but the base of our chocolate cake always uses this reduced animal fat sponge.  Compared to cake sponges that use butter, this sponge is more elastic and moist, ie. it gets less crumbly and dry.  The reason is that butter solidifies at room temperature whereas extra virgin olive oil does not.  In addition you get a healthier, low in saturates fat with beneficial antioxidants in it.  

And here is the recipe for the CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (355 F).

INGREDIENTS

Mix the following dry ingredients in a bowl:

1 cup caster sugar 

1 cup all purpose flour (if you would like to substitute this with gluten free flour, it works well, we have tried it, but you need to increase the amount of liquid - either the milk or the water - by an additional 1/3 cup, as the GF flour absorbs more moisture)  

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder (1 tsp if using GF flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl mix:

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso powder

with 1/2 cup of boiling water until dissolved - let cool slightly

In a third bowl mix the following wet ingredients:

1 large egg, beaten

1/3 cup Opus oléa extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup full fat milk or buttermilk or plant milk of your choice if you want to keep it vegan (in which case, increase the amount of Opus oléa by 1 tablespoon) 

METHOD

Use a round cake pan with a 7 or 8 inch diameter or a square pan 8x8 inches (21x21 cm).  Prepare your cake pan by lining it with baking paper and lightly oiling it if you wish (we sometimes skip the oiling part).

Combine your now cooled bowl of chocolate mix with your bowl of already combined wet ingredients and then use a handheld whisk to slowly whisk in the dry ingredients until well combined.  You will end up with quite a liquid batter.  Pour the batter in your prepared pan and place in the oven for about 35 minutes (or 40 min depending on your oven). 

Take out of the oven and let cool completely before you remove it from the pan and remove the baking paper.  Place on a plate large enough to hold it and ice with the icing of your choice.

We have experimented with many different types of icing in the past, from buttercream to avocado- and tofu-based ones and they all work beautifully.

Use berries or other fruit or fresh flowers or anything else that tickles your fancy to top your icing.

 To buy Opus oléa extra virgin olive oil click here