Chocolate cake with pistachio hearts and PDO huile d’olive de Provence – olives maturées

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

In a saucepan (or microwave), melt chocolate over a low heat. Remove from heat, add 100 g of olive oil. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks (reserve the whites), sugar and vanilla sugar. Add flour, stirring regularly.

Whip the egg whites until stiff.

Divide the dough:  1/3, 2/3.

To the third of the dough, add 30 g of olive oil, pistachio paste and the pistachio aroma. Stir in 1/3 of the egg whites.

Pour this mixture onto a baking sheet (2 to 3 cm thick) and place in the oven for a few minutes (the dough should barely colour).

Pour the chocolate-olive oil mixture into the rest of the dough, while mixing gently. Add the remaining of the egg whites.

Oil and flour a fluted ring cake tin. Pour 1/3 of the chocolate dough into the tin.

From the baked pistachio cake, cut out hearts with a cookie cutter.

Place the hearts vertically in the chocolate dough, squeezing them tightly against each other (pay attention to the positioning of the hearts, depending on which side of the cake is up). Cover with remaining chocolate dough.

Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes at 200°C.

Olive oil with PDO:

We advise you to use a traditional-tasting PDO huile d’olive de Provence – olives maturées (matured olives) for its sweetness and aromas of black olives, candied fruit, undergrowth and/or toasted bread. You can also use PDO huile d’olive de la Vallée des Baux-de-Provence – olives maturées and PDO huile d’olive d’Aix-en-Provence – olives maturées.