Olive oil cake is one of those kinds of cakes that you are starting to see more and more of recently. Almost every cafe in Los Angeles sells an olive oil cake, or some variation on one. However, I don’t really see chocolate-olive oil cakes often – funnily enough, olive oil gelato with chocolate and sea salt is one of my favorite things to snack on, so I am surprised by the lack of chocolate olive oil love here. I wanted to do these elegant ladyfinger-shaped chocolate cakes, scented with olive oil, and finished with a whipped chocolate ganache. However, I did not want to just do a sheet cake, or commit to an entire layer cake. So instead, I used these cool silicone eclair molds that my dear friend, Shari(from season 10 of Masterchef) gifted me! What was cool about the ovular-rectangular shape of the molds is that it gave these cakes a long(almost Twinkie-like) shape that allowed for a more caramelized surface area for the cake. So we had a cake that was toasty at the edges, but gooey and fudge-like in the middle! Oh and the best part? These are 100% vegan! But they are so decadent and filling that you would never know.

There are really just two actual components to these cakes: the cakes themselves and the whipped ganache that goes on top of them. The cake really is not terribly complex to make. They do use a technique with creaming the oil, sugar, and flour together first, like a pie dough, then adding in the wet ingredients – this results in a sturdier cake crumb from the gluten development, but with fluffy edges. The centers of the cake are a little gooey, while the exterior is light and crispy, making for a great textural contrast within the cake itself. With the ganache, the fat content in the olive oil works beautifully here to add a grassy note to the ganache, and the ganache, despite not having cream or butter, still whips to a beautiful frosting-like consistency. I topped the cakes with some crunchy chocolate wafer balls, just to add some fun texture and another shade of brown, because let’s be real here, you can never have too much brown on your chocolate cake. I found these olive oil cakes to be extremely addicting, and I ate about 4 of them within an hour after assembling them.

Makes 12 mini cakes:
For the cake batter:
3oz olive oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
a pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup black cacao powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp instant coffee powder

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Sift into that the flour, cacao powder, baking soda, and baking powder, and fold everything together until a crumbly mixture forms. In another container, mix together the soy milk, vinegar, and coffee powder. Whisk that into the crumbly flour-oil mixture to form your batter – this should be lump-free. Divide the cake batter into silicone petit gateau molds – I was gifted silicone eclair molds, so I used those! Bake the cakes at 350 degrees F for 18 minutes. Transfer the cakes to the freezer, fully freezing them before attempting to unmold them.

For the olive oil ganache:
1/2 cup dark chocolate
1/4 cup soy milk
1oz olive oil
a pinch of salt

In a pot, melt everything together until fully combined and smooth. Transfer the ganache to the refrigerator and allow it to firm up, chilling it down for at least 20 minutes. Whip the ganache until soft and spreadable. Transfer to a piping bag outfitted with a star tip and pipe onto the tops of the chilled down cakes.

For garnish:
Crunchy chocolate balls

Sprinkle the chocolate balls on top of each cake to finish.