Ingredients

• 140 g regular olive oil (plus more for greasing)
• 50 grams good-quality cocoa powder (sifted)
• 120 g boiling water
• 2 teaspoons best vanilla extract
• 150 grams ground almonds
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 200 grams caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
Ganache
• 75 g unsweetened rice milk
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 100 g roughly shopped dark chocolate(70%)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325ºF/170°C. Grease a 21 cm/ 8-9inch springform tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment.
2. Measure and sift the cocoa powder into a bowl or jug 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.
3. In another bowl, combine the ground almonds with the baking powder and a pinch of salt.
4. Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into a big bowl and beat together vigorously with an electric hand mixer for about 5 minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream.
5. 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 ground almond mixture.
6. Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.
7. Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. Leave to cool completely.
8. Ganache: Bring the rice milk and coconut oil to a boil in a small sauce pan. Put the chopped chocolate in a small bowl and pour the hot rice milk over. Stir until the ganache is smooth and velvety. Let cool for 15 min.
9. Transfer the cake to a cake stand and spread the ganache on top of the cake with a rubber spatula.

Notes