The other day I was making
brownies for a bake sale for my son’s swim team. Nothing special, just plain box brownies; but
I started thinking about why it is that the only time I use oil in baking is in
box brownies. All the other baking I do
calls for butter. Was this just because
it makes something as simple as box brownies, even simpler? Curious as to why
that is, I searched on finecooking.com (one of my favorite websites) J to see what they had
to say about it. It turns out that I was
missing out on quite a bit of interesting baking recipes! But as true with many
ingredients, it seems that all oils are not created equal. Not that this was any surprise to me from the
cooking end of things, but it seems to have a difference in baking as well.
T\According to the article that I read , The Secret Ingredient for Tender Cakes, by Leslie Revsin, “the olive oil versions were moister and had a more tender, refined crumb (I’ve since learned that olive oil contains natural emulsifiers, which improve moisture and texture), but even more striking was their richer, deeper character,” than cakes made with vegetable oil. Curiosity compelled me to give this a try. The article had a link to a recipe for a dark chocolate cake made with olive oil. Sounded good to me! I did make a few changes to the recipe. I got the idea, as did another baker, by their review at the bottom of the original recipe, to substitute blood orange infused olive oil for the plain olive oil because I like the combination of dark chocolate and oranges. The flavor is just enough, without overpowering the chocolate in the cake. My olive oil came from Sedona Olive Oil Company, that I purchased on a recent trip to Sedona, Arizona. If you have a chance, you really need to check them out. Another really good place for this is Fiore Artisan Olive Oils and Vinegars. I discovered them on a trip a year ago to Bar Harbor, Maine. Both of them have outstanding selections of artisan olive oils and vinegars. (And they didn’t even pay me to say that!)
Anyway, back to the recipe. I only had Hershey’s cocoa powder on hand, a mixture of regular and dark chocolate cocoa powder. I used both and was just a little shy of half a cup, so I melted a few dark chocolate squares and added that to the mixture. After reading the note about the size of the pan, I went with a 9” round cake pan. It made the cake a little thinner, so I reduced the baking time a little as well. I baked it for 45 minutes, but probably could have taken it out a few minutes sooner. My edges were not burnt, by any means, but were a little crispier than I would have liked. I also played around with the powdered sugar that I put on top of the cake. I added just a hint of cinnamon and chili powder to the sugar, not a lot, just enough to cut some of the sweetness. I would not recommend using frosting on this cake unless you have a huge sweet tooth. The cake is very sweet without frosting. It was very moist, almost fudgy. Not quite like what you get in a flourless cake because there is flour in this recipe, but moister than a regular cake made with butter.
It turned out amazing!! I gave each of my kids a piece and just told them it was chocolate cake; otherwise they never would have tried it. It was a huge hit! More than that, I loved it! This will definitely be a recipe that I make again and again. Perfect with a cup of tea, (or coffee) or a cold glass of milk!
The recipe listed here is with the changes that I made. For the original recipe and the nutritional information, follow this link.
Dark Chocolate
and Orange Olive Oil Cake with Cinnamon Chili Powdered Sugar
Olive oil and flour for the pan
1-1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) cocoa powder (I used a mix of Hershey’s regular and special dark)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2/3 cup orange olive oil
1-1/3 cups sugar
1-1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) cocoa powder (I used a mix of Hershey’s regular and special dark)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2/3 cup orange olive oil
1-1/3 cups sugar
Cinnamon Chili Powdered
Sugar -
1/4 cup confectioners'
sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp chili powder
Position a rack in the middle of the oven.
Heat the oven to 325°F. Generously oil an 9-inch round cake 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 about 1/2 cup of
water. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder through a strainer over a small bowl.
Stir 6 Tbs. of the boiling water into the cocoa until it's smooth and glossy.
Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside to cool slightly. In another
small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs and yolk, olive oil, and sugar. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium-high speed until thick, lemon colored, and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the warm (not hot) cocoa mixture until it's well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it but with no wet batter, about 40-45 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 minutes. 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, dust the top of the cake with the Cinnamon Chili Powdered Sugar.
