Mint chocolate cake

Ever eaten those thin, square, minty after-dinner chocolates? Well, I’ve been told this is the cake version of them! It is a moist, rich and satisfying cake that can also be served as a warm pudding with ice cream or cream. You can use different oils in the mixture, too – coconut is a favourite of mine and rapeseed also works.

SERVES 10-12

130ml light olive oil, plus extra for greasing 200g dark brown soft sugar 3 large eggs 30g cocoa powder (with a high percentage of cocoa solids) 100g mint dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces 140ml boiling water 10 fresh mint leaves, chopped 125g ground almonds 25g plain flour (see tip) ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda pinch of salt 100g white chocolate, to decorate ● Preheat the oven to 160C fan (180C/350F/gas 4). Lightly grease a 25cm springform cake tin and line with greaseproof paper. ● Put the oil, sugar and eggs in the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on a medium speed for about 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. ● Combine the cocoa powder, mint chocolate and boiling water in a bowl or jug and stir until the chocolate melts. Mix in the mint. Whisking the egg and sugar mix on a low speed, slowly pour in the chocolate mixture in a steady stream. Keep whisking until combined. Add the ground almonds, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix with a spatula. It will be very runny but this is fine. ● Pour the mixture into the tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with just a few sticky crumbs adhering. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. ● Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Drizzle the chocolate over the cake to decorate. TIP To make this a gluten-free cake, simply omit the flour and increase the ground almonds to 150g.

VISIT YOUMAGAZINE. IE FOR THREE MORE RECIPES: CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT BROWNIES, LEMON & BLACKBERRY DRIZZLE LOAF AND CORNFLAKE TART – ‘ THE ULTIMATE SCHOOL DINNER PUDDING,’ SAYS CANDICE