When I decided to make olive oil cake, it had nothing to do with not wanting to use butter. Far from it…I am a big fan of butter (particularly butter that’s organic from grass-fed cows) and that’s not changing anytime soon.
It’s just that I’ve been seeing olive oil cakes all over the blogosphere lately, and I really wanted to see what all the hype is about. That, and it’s my “O” recipe day today, so it seemed like the perfect time…
I couldn’t leave well enough alone and just make a basic olive oil cake, though. Interesting as this does sound, I wanted to try something a little more decadent and came up with this great chocolate almond fig cake that actually has no grains or dairy. If the idea of the figs doesn’t work for you, just leave them out for a delicious dense flourless chocolate cake.
If you don’t have almond flour and you don’t want/need the cake to be gluten-free, you can use 2 1/2 cups of organic all-purpose flour.
Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Figs
Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped dried figs
1/3 cup brandy
1 1/4 cup sugar (I usually use organic sugar, but this time I used “sugar in the raw”)
3/4 cup organic cocoa powder
3 cups blanched almond flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. Himalayan or sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
4 eggs, preferably organic and free range
Olive oil and flour for the pan
Confectioner’s sugar, preferably organic, for dusting the finished cake- optional
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously oil a 9 inch springform pan with olive oil and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or waxed paper. Oil the paper and dust it lightly with flour.
In a small saucepan, boil the figs with the brandy for several minutes, until the liquid has cooked off. Set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients (sugar through salt). Mix to combine. Add the olive oil, mix well, and then the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add the figs and mix until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Put the pan on a rack and carefully run a paring knife around the inside edge to release the cake. Let cool for 10 min. Using a second rack to sandwich the cake pan, flip the pan over. Carefully lift the pan from the cake, gently peel off and discard the paper liner, and let the cake cool completely before serving with the optional dusting of confectioner’s sugar.
More olive oil cake inspiration from around the web:
Fine Cooking’s Dark Chocolate Cake
Olive Oil Cake from Matt Bites
Chocolate Olive Oil Cake from Ciao Italia
And a nice one about chocolate fig cake:
Chocolate Fig Cake from Constant Chocolate
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This recipe looks delicious! I have put an olive oil cake on the menu several times over the past five years with no success. I couldn’t sell it. It was an italian orange and olive oil cake with orange muscat essencia. Perhaps the solution is chocolate – it some many times is the answer!
I think your cake sounds great, but yes, chocolate may be the answer.