Serves: 16

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Have a birthday coming up? Go big with this beautiful, gluten free chocolate birthday cake. Enjoy the nostalgically sweet flavours of silky chocolate, rich ganache,  and natural golf sprinkles.

This recipe may look a little complicated, but we assure you it's an easy one to follow and leaves you with a seriously sexy birthday cake. It's fluffy, moist, perfectly sweet, and loaded with sparkles – all you want in a birthday cake.

Get ready for the ultimate party in your mouth. It’s a crowd-pleasing, slightly addictive dessert for any special occasion, including birthdays, anniversaries, and even for a joy-filled weekend.

INGREDIENTS

For the Chocolate Cake

• 1 + 1/4 cups (360g) light olive oil
• 2 cups (310g) rapadura sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup (35g) cacao powder
• 2 cups (360g) Nodo Plain Flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 1 cup (250mL) milk

For the Chocolate Ganache

• 300g cooking milk chocolate
• 1/2 cup (125mL) thickened cream

To Servce

• Fresh berries
• Gold sprinkles

METHOD

To Bake the Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan-forced).
2. Line the bottom and sides of a 20cm cake pan with baking paper. Set aside.
3. Whisk the olive oil and sugar together.
4. Add the eggs, whisking until just combined.
5. Sift in the cacao powder, plain flour, baking powder and bicarb soda. Fold into the mixture until smooth.
6. Add the milk half a cup at a time, stirring until fully incorporated before adding the next portion of milk.
7. Pour the mixture into the cake pan.
8. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a skewer pierced into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Turn the pan around 180 degrees at the half way mark.
9. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely. 

To Make the Chocolate Ganache

1. Have your cooled cake set up and all of your toppings ready to go before you make the ganache.
2. To make the ganache, snap the chocolate into small squares and place into a large heatproof bowl.
3. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and place onto a medium heat. Stirring intermittently, heat the cream until it just starts to simmer, 3-5 minutes.
4. Carefully pour the warm cream over the chocolate, then stir. The chocolate will gradually melt into the cream, creating a glossy ganache. Continue to slowly stir until all of the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth mixture.

To Assemble

1. While the ganache is still warm, pour it onto the centre of the cake. Use a spatula to gently spread the ganache towards the edges of the cake.
2. Decorate the cake with berries and sprinkles.
3. Enjoy!