Rosewater Chocolate Almond Olive Oil Cake with Creme fraiche and Strawberries
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Recipe type: Cake
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10-12
 
A simple gluten and dairy free chocolate almond olive oil cake. Perfect with a range of creamy toppings and seasonal fruit.
Ingredients
cake
  • 150mls Extra virgin olive oil (or mild olive oil), plus extra for greasing
  • 50g organic & fair trade cocoa powder
  • 125mls boiling water
  • 1 tsp rosewater extract (or 2 tps vanilla)
  • 3 medium organic eggs
  • 140g unrefined brown sugar; light muscovado, rapadura or coconut palm sugar
  • 150g ground almonds
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • pinch salt
Topping
  • 200mls organic creme fraiche
  • 225g British strawberries
  • A few pistachios, crushed
Instructions
  1. Grease and line a 9 inch spring form cake tin. I usually grease with olive oil, then line the base and not the sides. If your can tin is old then lining the sides helps with smooth removal. Pre-heat your oven to 170°C.
  2. Put the cocoa powder in a bowl, and whisk in the boiling water till it forms a smooth paste. Leave to cool for 5 mins, then stir in the vanilla extract.
  3. In a separate bowl crack in the eggs, then add the sugar and olive oil. Using an electric whisk, whisk the ingredients together for 1-2 minutes, the mix will thicken slightly. You can whisk by hand by experience has shown that the cake won't rise as much.
  4. Now pour the chocolate mix into the whisked eggs+sugar+oil and whisk again for around 10 seconds until incorporated.
  5. In a separate bowl combine the almonds with the bicarb of soda and salt till the ingredients are well distributed. If you are using flaky salt crumble the flakes between your fingers as you pour them in. Now add this to the rest of the ingredients and stir with a spatula till combined. Pour into your cake tin and ease into the oven. Cook for 35 minutes until the cake wont' give under the pressure of your fingers. My oven is hot, so you may need a little longer to get it fully cooked. Know your oven!
  6. Cool for 10 minutes before easing out of the tin, then leave cool fully before smothering with creme fraiche, British strawberries and a smattering of crushed pistachios.
Notes
Fills 1x 9inch tin. Easily scales up to a 11inch tin to serve 16 ( x4 and divide by 3 i.e 200ml oil, 65g cocoa powder etc)
Recipe by Ceri Jones Chef at https://cerijoneschef.com/chocolate-almond-olive-oil-cake/