dearest Nigella,
please forgive me, however i just had to write, for i am a little giddy, (not batty nor potty but giddy), and that giddiness is down to you in part. for a few days back i turned the spritely old age of 45 and to celebrate such a milestone and miracle, not to mention i was riding high from my 'drop dead' marvelous moment earlier in the week, i felt there was no cake making mountain i could not climb...
and so it came to be, upon the suggestion of my soul sister Debbie, that i try your lovely chocolate olive oil cake recipe for it was free of things which caused my body distress and yet would still feed my sweet craving soul. my adopted auntie came by to help out with the goings on in the kitchen, for she felt if there was a miracle it should be witnessed. a dairy free gluten free cake which other members of the clan could eat and not follow with remarks such as 'cardboard' and other such descriptive wording, was surely a miracle worth witnessing i think you will agree.
and so we sallied forth. i must tell you before my adopted auntie arrived i had carefully measured out all the ingredients into little bowls as i felt this greatly heightened our chances of success for surely with everything measured in bowls we were one step short of having our own telly program and therefore chances of the cake turning out edible were pretty darn high! one thing, just a small thing and i did fret a little but then told myself "fret not Tif"... i swapped out the sugar you suggested for coconut sugar which i have found to be most accepting for the old body. i like to think you would approve and indeed perhaps see it as a little bit of confidence in the baking department on my behalf, after years of lacking it.
well Nigella, well indeedy! not only did the cake come out of the oven smelling and sounding like a cake but it looked hopeful. (no, actually i don't know how a cake sounds but i imagine its sort of like a sigh, a sigh of happy goodness that warms our toes and our souls with its homemade sweetly goodness) and so the cake smelt and sighed in a way which gave us hope.
i am not quite sure if its colour or texture were quite like yours, i have not had a chance to see a close up picture of your own creation and i thought, why worry about such small itty bitty details.
also why worry there is a small crater line along the top, why indeed...
a few hours later, my lads of three and my adopted auntie's lad of one arrived back from their fishing trip, and our birthday celebrations began in earnest. the day before i had purchased some vanilla ice-cream for those that can and i purchased some coconut vanilla ice-cream for those that cannot. Oh Nigella, i am delighted to report on all accounts your lovely chocolate olive oil cake was a peachy success! we all came to the conclusion it has an almost fudge like texture, not at all too sweet, the coconut sugar made not a single bit of difference to it being edible or not and according to Our #3 it reminded him of shortbread, a chocolate shortbread no less. and i am delighted to report, the word 'cardboard' did not even come into the conversation
yesterday evening, we finished up the last remaining wedge... zapped in the microwave, dolloped with a bit of coconut vanilla ice cream and sprinkled with slices of banana on top. we ate it late at night, in our pajamas and it reminded me of when i first met you years and years ago. when you would wander late at night down to your fridge (never seeming to be alarmed there was a camera crew in your home way past bedtime) and take out some sweet leftover treat and exclaim it was always the very besty best time to eat pudding or cake and now i know, all these years on, how right you were Nigella!
thanking you most kindly for the chocolate olive oil cake recipe and for making my 45th birthday an even bigger treat than it already was
your sincerely
Tif x
