Easy Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
The batter’s going to look wrong. Thick, almost like cookie dough, and the first time I made this I was sure I’d messed up the measurements. I hadn’t. It loosens as soon as the whipped egg whites go in: stir the first half in pretty hard, then fold the rest gently until you can’t see any white streaks. That’s what gives the cake its light, open crumb.
The hazelnut flour is the other half of it. It adds a toasty, roasted flavor you don’t get from chocolate alone, and it keeps the cake from drying out. This is the kind of cake you slice at four in the afternoon with coffee. I bake mine in a swirl pan because it looks fancy for zero extra work, but a plain 9-inch round is fine.
An easy chocolate hazelnut cake with no frosting and no fuss. It's barely sweet, so the dark chocolate comes through first. One pan, about 35 minutes in the oven, and it keeps for three days on the counter if you wrap it well.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment. If you use a fluted or swirl pan, butter every ridge and dust it with flour so the pattern releases cleanly.7 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 cup hazelnut flour, 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Put the butter and chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until completely smooth, then take the bowl off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes. A microwave works too: heat in 30-second bursts, stirring between each.3.5 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
- Separate the eggs, dropping the yolks into a small bowl and the whites into a large, spotlessly clean one. Beat the whites with an electric mixer on medium-high until they form stiff peaks that stand straight up when you lift the beaters, about 3 to 4 minutes.4 large eggs
- Stir the sugar and hazelnut flour into the warm chocolate mixture. Add the yolks one at a time, mixing well after each. Sprinkle in the flour, baking powder and salt, and stir just until no dry streaks remain. The batter will be very thick at this point, which is exactly what you want.1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 pinch salt
- Add half of the whipped whites and stir them in firmly with a rubber spatula to loosen the batter. Add the remaining whites and fold gently, cutting down through the center and turning the bowl as you go, until no white streaks are left. Stop as soon as it looks even so the air stays in.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed and a toothpick in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Start checking at 30 minutes if your pan is wider than 9 inches.
- Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge, turn it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition
Notes
Almond flour or finely ground walnuts can replace the hazelnut flour at the same weight. A light dusting of powdered sugar is all this cake needs.
You might also like our Flourless Chocolate Cake.
made this for book club and it was gone in like 20 min. the batter was so thick i thought i messed up lol but once the whites went in it loosened right up. used my fluted pan, took 38 min
good cake, not too sweet which i like. couldnt find hazelnut flour at my store so i blitzed whole hazelnuts in the food processor, bit coarser but still tasty. next time ill add a little more salt
my grandkids call this the swirl cake now. dusted it with powdered sugar and served it with vanilla ice cream after sunday dinner, not a crumb left