Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (Vegan)

Set out to make a cake made with olive oil to see what it would taste like. One bowl. No eggs. No dairy. Vegan. [Ed. note: Vegan? Chocolate cake? Is this allowed?] Why yes! Yes it is. In fact, because of the olive oil it's so incredibly moist, with a deep dark-chocolate flavor, it made me swoon. [Ed. note: Taking notes.]

This has been called a Wacky cake or Depression Cake (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_cake), as during those years milk, sugar, butter and eggs were either expensive or scarce. Now my love of cake-making with oil instead of butter runs deep. I have baked many a cake with grapeseed or canola oils (both flavorless), but this was my first foray into using olive oil. The result is a far more moist dessert that keeps exceptionally well. Deb of Smitten Kitchen says, "On day four in the fridge, ours was as moist as day one, basically a miracle."

Using olive oil, for some strange reason, just never seemed right. I think of olive oil as being savory, but I was wrong. It truly works here.

NOTES:

• The cake base is vegan. The glaze is vegan if you use dairy-free chocolate chips. I made it with regular chocolate chips as that is what I had on hand.
• I doubled the amount of glaze as I wanted the whole cake to be covered not just the top.
• Cake keeps in the fridge for up to one week!
• When measuring your unsweetened cocoa, highly recommend weighing it on a scale or fill your measuring cup by using a spoon. Do not use your measuring cup to scoop with or you'll use far too much cocoa powder and that will result in a very dry, chalky cake.

Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen
Number of Servings; 8-12

Ingredients
Cake

• 1 ½ cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa, any variety, sifted if lumpy (NOTE: Do not scoop with your measuring cup. First aerate with a spoon and then fill measuring cup with a spoon and level off with a knife.)
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• ¾ cup (145 grams) dark brown sugar
• ½ cup (120 ml) olive oil
• 1 ½ cups (355 ml) water or coffee (coffee was used here)
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cider vinegar or white vinegar

Glaze (this amount will make a nice glaze for the top of your cake. If you want the whole cake covered-double this amount.)

• ¾ cup (135 grams) semisweet chocolate chips 
• 2 tablespoons (10 grams) cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (20 grams) light corn syrup (for shine)
• A pinch or two of flaky sea salt

Directions
Cake

1. Heat oven to 350 °F. Line bottom of 9-inch round cake pan with a fitted round of parchment paper and coat the bottoms and sides with nonstick cooking spray.
2. 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, whisk until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes (don't overbake!), or until 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.

Glaze

1. Combine chocolate, cocoa powder, olive oil, corn syrup, and salt in a medium bowl and microwave to melt, in 15-30 second increments, stirring between each until just melted.
2. Whisk until smooth. Pour over completely cooled cake and use spatula to gently nudge it down the sides.
3. Cake keeps at room temperature [Ed. note: ROOM TEMPERATURE] for 2-3 days and up to a week in the fridge.