Chocolate Olive Oil Birthday Cake
Asked by Annielou. Answered on 29th September 2013
Full question
I love Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake and would love to make it for my son's birthday party, but it would be handy to make in advance. Is it OK to freeze? Many thanks!
I have made this cake previously (yum) as my grandaughter is allergic to all dairy products. My daughter has asked me to make a duck shaped cake for her 1st birthday next month, so I need to make 2 or 3 layers using a 21cm x 31cm baking tray. I have tried baking for 40 minutes but the cake is too dry. Do I need to change the quanties of ingredients? Please help, thank you. Yummycakes.
Our answer
Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (from NIgellissima and also on the Nigella website) is popular and it does freeze well. Once the baked cake is completely cold wrap it tightly in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a layer of foil. Freeze the cake for up to 3 months. To thaw the cake, unwrap it and let it stand at room temperature for about 3 hours. You may like to freeze the cake on the tin base for additional protection.
Unfortunately for a shaped cake it can be difficult to convert a cake recipe for a larger tin and making the cake in a 21 x 31cm tin creates two problems. One is the amount of batter and the second is the baking time for a larger cake and a rectangular tin. Scaling cakes is a complicated process and we have not tested this cake in other sizes so we regret that we cannot give advice on this. However as a rule of thumb, a 23cm/9-inch round cake will work in a 20cm/8-inch sqaure tin so you could try making the cake in this type of tin instead and using this square as a base for cutting out a duck shape. With square tins the corners of the cake can cook slightly more quickly so you may like to carefully rotate the pan after 30 minutes of baking time.
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What 1 Other has said
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Posted by stev1 on 25th January 2022
Show more commentsA duck has lots of curves...why not make the cake as directed in a round pan, but make several. Then, using a pattern you made on a large sheet of paper (to scale) figure out the most efficient way to cut and fit the cakes into the duck shape. Icing works for glue where the pieces fit together. as for the bits left over, trust me, leftover chocolate cake is never a problem