Chocolate and clementine olive oil cake

It’s an uncomplicated cake, as comforting as a friend’s hug or a warm cup of tea. The crumb is soft, almost moist, with a thin, crisp top.

A few years ago, I went looking for my chocolate cake, the one I could call Giulia’s chocolate cake. I was after something I could throw together without thinking, almost with my eyes closed, guided more by scent and texture than by precise measurements. I wanted an everyday cake: unpretentious, reliable, and deeply satisfying.

Little by little, I grew f…