Description
Incredibly light and soft for a nut cake, this flourless chocolate hazelnut torte will be the winner of any dessert table.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 125 g 4 1/2 oz good quality dark chocolate
- 125 ml 1/2 metric cup; or 1/2 US cup + 1 tsp fresh whole cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking (bicarb soda)
- pinch salt
- 65 g 1/2 cup corn starch
- 100 g 1 cup ground hazelnuts
- 125 g 1 cup unsifted powdered (confectioners’ or icing) sugar
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
- sunflower oil or baking spray for the pan
- additional powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 360°F / Gas mark 4 with a rack in the middle position. Prepare a 22cm (8 – 9?) springform cake pan by greasing with sunflower oil or baking spray.
- In a double boiler or bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate together with the cream, stirring gently until smooth.
- Once the chocolate has melted, remove from heat and transfer to a clean bowl and allow to cool a little, about 5 minutes.
- Add the vanilla extract, baking (bicarb) soda, salt, corn starch, ground hazelnuts and powdered sugar, and combine well with a spatula.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until light and foamy.
- Using a spatula, fold the beaten eggs into the chocolate mixture until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the pan, put in the middle of the oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Remove pan from oven, place on a wire rack and run a fine bladed knife or plastic spatula around the edge to loosen, then allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
- Keeps for several days under a cake dome at room temperature.
Notes
You could substitute reduced fat cream or half-and-half, but the cake may not be as moist due to the lower fat content
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Baking, Cake, Chocolate