Chocolate Celebration Cake (Printable Version)

Deeply chocolatey olive oil cake with ganache frosting and hazelnut praline for stunning celebrations.

# Components:

→ Cake

01 - 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
03 - 2 cups granulated sugar
04 - 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
05 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
06 - 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
07 - 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
08 - 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
09 - 3 large eggs, room temperature
10 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
11 - 1 cup hot brewed coffee

→ Ganache

12 - 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
13 - 1 cup heavy cream
14 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

→ Hazelnut Praline

15 - 1 cup toasted hazelnuts, skins rubbed off
16 - 3/4 cup granulated sugar
17 - Pinch of sea salt

# Method Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
02 - In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
03 - In another bowl, whisk olive oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture and combine until just blended.
04 - Slowly add hot coffee while whisking until batter reaches a smooth, thin consistency.
05 - Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake 35–40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
06 - Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
07 - Place finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until just simmering, then pour over chocolate. Let sit 2 minutes. Add butter and stir until smooth and glossy. Cool while stirring occasionally until thickened to spreading consistency.
08 - Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a small saucepan, heat sugar over medium heat, swirling until melted and amber-colored. Remove from heat, stir in hazelnuts and salt, then quickly spread onto prepared sheet. Cool completely, then break into shards or chop coarsely.
09 - Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with one-third of the ganache. Top with the second cake layer and cover top and sides with remaining ganache. Decorate generously with hazelnut praline shards.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The olive oil keeps the cake impossibly tender while the coffee deepens the chocolate so it doesn't taste one-dimensional.
  • Hazelnut praline on top gives you that crackle and surprise factor that makes people think you spent all day on this.
  • It's sturdy enough to transport to a party but fancy enough that no one questions whether you actually made it yourself.
02 -
  • If your ganache breaks or looks grainy, it's usually because the chocolate was too hot when you mixed it; next time, let the cream cool for 30 seconds before pouring and stir more gently.
  • The praline will harden as it cools, and that's when you break it into shards—if you try to break it while it's still warm, it'll stick together in a clump instead of shattering.
  • Room temperature ingredients make a bigger difference than you'd think; cold eggs and milk don't incorporate as smoothly into the batter, creating a denser cake.
03 -
  • Always use a long serrated knife to slice through layers, and dip it in hot water between cuts for clean edges—this prevents crumbs from dragging through the soft chocolate.
  • If you're making this ahead, bake the layers a day early, wrap them tightly, and frost the next day when everything is completely cool; chocolate ganache spreads more cleanly on cold cake.
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