Fig And Chocolate Olive Oil Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make the cakes: Brush a 6-cup muffin pan with olive oil and dust with flour. Whisk the cocoa powder and 1/4 cup hot water in a small bowl; let cool slightly. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in another bowl.
• Combine the sugar, egg and egg yolk, vanilla and lemon zest in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed until pale and thick, about 1 minute. With the mixer running, drizzle in the olive oil. Add the cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.
• Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Bake 10 minutes, then top each cake with a fig half and continue baking until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs, 8 to 10 more minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack, 20 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pan and let cool completely on the rack.
• Make the glaze: Put the chocolate, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until smooth.
• Top the cakes with the glaze, a drizzle of honey and more pepper. Quarter the remaining 6 fig halves and arrange on top.

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Grease your springform pan with a little oil and line the base with parchment paper.
• Measure and sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or pitcher and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolatey, still runny (but only just) paste. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then set aside to cool a little.
• In another smallish bowl, combine the almond meal (or all-purpose flour) with the baking soda and pinch of salt.
• Put the sugar, olive oil, and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes, until you have a pale-primrose, aerated, and thickened cream.
• Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when all is scraped in, you can slowly tip in the almond meal (or all-purpose flour) mixture.
• Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very center, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
• Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its pan, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the pan. Leave to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a dessert.