Chocolate Olive Cake

A year or so ago, I got really obsessed with the idea of making a chocolate olive oil cake for fall. Why is it a fall and not a spring or summer cake? I cannot answer this. I can only tell you that I made one I'd read a lot about but ended up underwhelmed. I've been asked before what I do when I bake something that comes out all wrong and I think it's important that I eradicate any thread of an esteemed opinion you might have left for me with this: I have a tantrum. I stomp out of the kitchen in a huff, or at least the mental equivalent of it, and I'm crabby and cranky and resent the recipe that should have been better and the loss of time I could have been doing anything else. (Like cleaning out my closet.) (Let's pretend I wouldn't make 100 other cakes before getting around to it.) When I get past that, I rarely take another stab at it again the next day; we need some space. It's usually "later," i.e. whenever the craving strikes again or I think I have a fresh way to go about it. This time it took a year and it was a little of both. The cake base is vegan and makes for an excellent layer cake. The glaze is vegan if you use dairy-free chocolate chips. I made it with water, not coffee, and can promise you it's still full of flavour. With coffee, I'd probably be in heaven.

Cake:
1½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached (195 g)
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted if lumpy (60 g)
1½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. fine sea salt
¾ cup granulated sugar (150 g)
¾ cup dark brown sugar (145 g)
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (120 mL)
1½ cups water or coffee (355 mL)
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar or white vinegar (15 mL)

Glaze:
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (135 g)
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder (10 g)
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (45 mL)
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup, for shine (20 g)
1-2 pinches flaky sea salt

Make the Cake:
Preheat an oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4). Line the bottom of 9" round cake pan with a fitted round of parchment paper and coat the bottoms and sides with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Add brown sugar and olive oil, and whisk to combine. Add water and vinegar and whisk until smooth.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is springy and a tester inserted in the center comes out with just a few sticky crumbs (but not wet or loose batter). Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then cut around it with a knife to ensure it is loosened and flip it out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.

Make the Glaze:
Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, olive oil, corn syrup, and salt in a medium bowl and microwave to melt, in 15-30 second incrèments, stirring between each until just melted. Whisk until smooth. Pour over completely cooled cake and use spatula to gently nudge it down the sides.

Storage: At room temperature for 2-3 days and up to a week in the fridge. On day 4 in the fridge, ours was as moist as day one, basically a miracle.

Makes 8-12 servings.