michelle picker cooks

Italian in style and dotted with pieces of dark chocolate this cake is glazed with an apricot jam. Perfect for afternoon tea!

Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Grease a spring-form cake tin and line the bottom with baking paper. In the mixer, cream 100g (3½ oz) of butter and ¾ of a cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Incorporate 4 eggs (one at a time), ¼ of a cup of olive oil, and 2 teaspoons of orange zest. Beat for a couple of minutes. Whisk or sift together 1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and (if you haven’t used salted butter) ¼ of a teaspoon of salt. On low speed, incorporate the flour mixture in a few batches. Fold in 100g (3½ oz) of ground hazelnuts and 85g (3 oz) of roughly chopped dark chocolate by hand. Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake tests clean. Cool in the pan. When completely cooled, remove from the cake tin and spread with apricot jam. Serve with cream.