I baked a cake for you, a flourless chocolate cake! I figured Valentines Day is right around the corner and we needed something sweet around here. It’s been a while since I made something chocolate and the fewer the ingredients for me, the better, so I decided to make this decadent but easy to make cake.
I’ve been waiting for just the right reason for me to showcase these beautiful hazelnuts that I recently received from my friend Cathy who lives in Oregon. Oregon state happens to be the single largest producer of hazelnuts in the U.S.
If you have a hard time finding hazelnut flour near you, you can always buy it online, it’s nice to have it for special occasions, I store mine in the freezer to keep it fresh.
Rich, decadent, fudgy and dense that’s how I would describe this cake, just make sure you buy a good quality dark chocolate it makes all the difference.
I’m not a chocoholic by any means, ( I’ve updated this and that opinion sure has changed! The smell of rich, dark melted chocolate is pretty irresistible, I need to be cooking and baking with it more often than I do. There’s something about dark chocolate, you don’t need much to completely satisfy your sweet tooth, just a little slice will do ya!
Plop a dollop of fresh whipped cream to balance the yummy richness, and shape a strawberry slice into a heart for garnish and this could be hands down your perfect Valentines Day dessert!
- 1 cup toasted hazelnut meal
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 5oz of dark chocolate, chopped
- 4 eggs, separated
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- coco powder for dusting
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 8" springform pan. Set aside
- In a large heatproof bowl over simmering water add chocolate, butter and sugar, melt and whisk until mixture is smooth and glossy. Set aside to cool down.
- In smaller bowl beat the yolks until they break up. Pour into cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in all the ground hazelnuts.
- Beat egg whites and salt into a soft peak then fold into the chocolate mixture ⅓ at a time until incorporated.
- Place batter into your prepared pan and bake 35 minutes or until center is firm and springs back.
- cool and then dust with good quality cocoa.
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
Now you hit my stomach 😉 I’m so in love with this combination of chocolate cake, strawberry and panna 😀 Gonna make this for desert every day !
I can never get enough chocolate in my day (always grabbing a bite of it somehow . . . it’s healthy right? *wink*) and hazelnuts are just perfect when added to chocolate! I’m sure that your Valentine’s Day was super sweet and HAPPIER with this cake, Marie!
I can’t believe how AMAZING this tastes!! I replaced the butter with yogurt – so good! Definitely my new post-workout treat:) greets from italy
Hi Maria, I shall certainly be trying this cake soon. Recently, I tried the Sorbet and Mascarpone dessert. Used a lovely raspberry sorbet and put them in tall stemmed glasses and decorated them with Raspberries and shavings of dark chocolate. Everyone raved about them:) Just two ingredients and s0 easy and quick. Each of your recipes that I have used turns out superb. Thank you, Maria.
Monica (Cardiff, South Wales)
A firm fan.
Hii! Can you tell me pls what’s 5 oz? Can you tell it in g for the chocolate?? Even google couldn’t help..:(Gonna try it on Saturday!!
Sonia, it’s 135g
Thank you very much!!!:-)
Thank you so much for the link, Marie. Your cake looks delicious and I can’t wait to try your recipe. I had a wonderful but too short trip to Chicagoland and can’t wait to go back in the summer. Looking forward to getting together for lunch.
I am a chocoholic and there is nothing better for me than good quality dark chocolate melting… Serious drooling over here!
Hi Marie! I have another question. Can this be made with sugar substitute?
I love flourless cakes, as my daughter-in-law is on a Gluten free diet and she is able to enjoy them, as do the rest of us that are on regular diets. I will have to order some of these fantastic looking hazelnuts from Cathy! Happy Valentine’s Day, Marie!
PS: Carina I have a delicious nutless flourless chocolate cake recipe on my blog if that will help you –seach under my “Recipes” link.
I always read and save your recipes, but have never posted a comment. But I have a question: what can I do if I don’t have access to hazlenut meal? I live in a little town in Wyoming, and I’m sure I can order it online from somewhere, but can I grind halenuts finely enough to use instead of the meal? You know, in case I want to make this the day after tomorrow! V-Day. Thanks.
Carina, Yes you could ground your own hazelnuts, because that is essentially what is is anyway. In case you do want to order in the future the link is in my post, my friend Cathy’s store.
What a great idea, I too want to make this cake. How did you toast the hazelnut meal?
Happy Valentine’s Day to you this week!!
Lynn
Lynn, if it comes toasted, good, but if not put it on a baking sheet at 350 for around 5 minutes or so stirring it frequently
Can this be made with almond flour?
Antoinette, Yes you can my friend just did!
Thank you so much! Love your website!
– Antoinette
You didn’t write how much sugar? It looks delicious!!
Sorry Anne it was 1 cup, I fixed it, thanks for letting me know!
Ok, now I must make a hazelnut cake……….you and Linda both posted them.
This looks outrageous!
Happy V day. xo
When I was in Italy we made some “ugly but good” cookies using hazelnuts. I will have to check out Cathy’s store. As we speak I have a torte caprese in the oven made with almonds. I just need it to cool and then can slice into it. Happy Valentines Day.
Only once or twice a year you need a fix? Oh, if it were only that infrequent for me. This cake fits the bill perfectly — love, love chocolate and hazelnuts together. It seems we both had hazelnut cakes on our minds this week! Happy Valentine’s Day.