Chocolate Orange Marble Cake with Spider Web Icing

INSTRUCTIONS

To make chocolate-orange cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with a parchment paper round on the bottom. Grease the parchment paper and sides of the pan with butter and flour.
2. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and water to a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine until smooth.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and orange zest. Add the Zucchi Orange-Flavored Extra Virgin Olive Oil and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture. Using a mixer, beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and frothy, about 4-5 minutes.
4. In another large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients and milk to the liquid mixture, alternating between 1 cup of dry ingredients and ¼ cup of milk at a time. Beat on low speed, just until a pourable batter forms and there are no longer any visible bits of flour. Do not overmix.
5. Measure out 2½ cups of batter and add to the chocolate mixture. Stir together until the batter becomes dark brown and homogeneous in color.
6. At this point, you will have two batters: the chocolate orange batter and the plain orange batter. Pour a third of the orange batter into the bottom of the greased cake pan. Then pour a third of the chocolate batter over it. Repeat with the rest of both batters. No need to swirl together the batters, they will naturally marble themselves in the pan.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, until a toothpick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Once cooled, flip the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely before topping it with the ganache.

To make the chocolate ganache:

1. While the cake cools, prepare the ganache. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream just until it starts to bubble.
2. Add the chopped chocolate to a heatproof bowl and pour in the heated heavy cream. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined.
3. Stir in the orange olive oil. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes before using.

To decorate the cake:

1. Once the cake is cool, pour the chocolate ganache on top. Using an offset spatula, spread it across the entire surface of the cake.
2. Add the white chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stirring halfway through, until melted. Transfer the melted white chocolate to a small piping bag.
3. Pipe the white chocolate in a spiral, starting from the center of the cake and working your way outward to the edge of the cake. Take a toothpick or skewer and drag it through the web, starting from the center, and dragging it in a straight line to the edge of the cake. Repeat this process until you’ve created lines all around the cake and the white chocolate appears like a spider web.
4. You can add little spider decorations on top of the cake using either chocolate spiders (made from a mold) or plastic spiders (to be removed before eating!).Note: When working with the ganache and white chocolate, you’ll want to work quickly while the chocolate is melted. If you wait too long in between steps, the chocolate will cool and harden.