Chocolate, Olive Oil and Pinot Noir Cake

Equipment: Grease and line 2 x 20cm loose-bottom cake tins (see Cook’s note).

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Cake: Sift the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Add the chocolate and use a large fork to whisk to combine. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the pinot noir, coffee, vinegar and olive oil. Whisk to combine into a wet batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the tins and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins.

Icing: Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water – don’t let the bowl touch the water. Stir until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and stir in the olive oil. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and cool, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, or until the icing is thick enough to spread onto the cooled cake.

To assemble: Top one of the cakes with 3-4 heaped tablespoons of icing and gently spread out to just meet the edges. Place the second cake on top and dollop the remaining icing on before spreading and topping with nougat.

Cook’s note: If you don’t have two tins, you can take turns baking the cakes; just make sure you re-grease and line the tin after the first cake. Alternatively, you can halve the mixture and make one cake. If you find you have too much icing, keep it in the fridge for when you need a quick sauce for ice cream.