Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Espresso Frosting
[Vegan]

— The cake will stay fresh in a covered container at room temperature for a day or up to 3 days in the fridge. If refrigerating, allow the cake to warm to room temperature before serving. — The cake can be baked in an 8-inch square pan, or an 8- or 9-inch circle pan. An 8-inch circle cake will be slightly taller and will take up to 5 minutes longer to bake. — To make a 6-inch cake that serves 4 to 6 people, simply halve the recipe for both the cake and frosting. — There are two types of unsweetened cocoa powder available in stores: natural and dutch processed. Natural cocoa has a reddish-brown color and an intense bittersweet chocolate flavor. Dutch-processed cocoa is much darker in color, resulting in baked goods that appear almost black (as pictured above), with a slightly less bitter flavor, similar to an Oreo cookie. For this recipe, either type works, so use whichever you prefer. — Espresso powder is sold in the baking aisle of many grocery stores and online. It is simply made of coffee beans that are very finely ground, allowing you to add coffee flavor to baked goods without affecting the texture. — The crushed or ground coffee beans add a delightful subtle crunch to the frosting, but if you prefer a perfectly smooth frosting, feel free to omit them. — To make this recipe gluten-free, simply substitute the all-purpose flour for your preferred brand of 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour, which can be found in grocery stores and online.