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! {
