Butter In Chocolate Cloud Cake

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Cloud Cake (from NIGELLA BITES) is a type of "fallen" chocolate cake that is made by baking a flourless chocolate mixture. The cake sinks back as it cools, and the indentation is usually filled with whipped cream.

It may be possible to make the cake with oil instead of butter but it would not be a direct swap and you would probably need to adjust the ratios of chocolate, eggs and oil, to make sure that the cake rises during baking and also firms up as it cools. As we have not tried the cake this way, we are unable to give advice on the adjustments needed. However, we would recommend trying Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake, which can be made either with regular flour or in a gluten-free form with ground almonds (almond meal). Nigella's Lemon Polenta Cake can also be made with a mild olive oil instead of butter (see the notes at the bottom of the recipe for the substitution) for a dairy-free and gluten-free cake.