Mini Chocolate Olive Oil Cakes

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (from NIGELLISSIMA) can be made with ground almonds (almond meal) to give a gluten and dairy free cake. It may be possible to make these in cupcake form and we would guess that the batter would be enough for 10-12. However as the cake is gluten free it tends to sink a little on cooling and this can be more marked with cupcakes, leaving them with indentations at the centre. We would suggest that the indentaion could be hidden with whipped cream, but unfortunately this is not an option if you need to serve the cake to those who are dairy free. If you did want to try in cupcake form then you would need to fill the cupcake cases about half full with batter and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the centre of the cucpakes comes out with a few damp crumbs attached. Cupcakes tend to stale more quickly than whole cakes so we would suggest making them only 1-2 days in advance, or you could freeze them in airtight containers.

It may be easier to make a whole cake that can be sliced up and served at the reception and the cake will serve 8-12. A whole cake can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in a cool place in an airtight container. It can also be frozen wrapped in a double layer of clingfilm and a layer of foil for up to 3 months. We would suggest that the cake is left on the base of the springform pan for extra support. To defrost the cake unwrap it and leave at room temperature for 3-4 hours.