This rich and fudgy chocolate hazelnut cake is made in under 1 hour! Naturally gluten free, this recipe uses hazelnut flour (or ground hazelnuts), eggs, sugar, chocolate, and butter. This easy cake bakes up in a 9-inch springform pan, and is incredible served with whipped mascarpone and seasonal fruit.
If you're a fan of European torte-style cakes such as this almond flour chocolate torte, you're going to love this rich and fudgy chocolate hazelnut cake.
I originally developed this recipe for my Alternative Baking column in GFF: Gluten-Free Forever Magazine in support of my cookbook that's all about baking with gluten-free flours.
This naturally gluten-free chocolate cake has the feel and appearance of a flourless chocolate cake, only with a bit more heft and depth from hazelnut flour or ground hazelnuts. It's made with 7 ingredients, 20 minutes active time, and a 40 minute bake. It's easy enough to whip up on a weeknight, and elegant enough to serve for a special occasion. It makes an ideal Passover dessert since it's free of grains and leavening too!
Here's what one happy reader had to say about it:
5-Star Reader Review
“This was so easy, well instructed and unbelievably more-ish. Wow.”
—Katherine
I like topping slices with whipped vanilla mascarpone and seasonal fruit – pomegranates or poached pears in the cooler months, raspberries or fresh figs in spring and summer. Or for extra chocolate goodness, swirl it with dairy-free chocolate ganache flavored with a splash of hazelnut liqueur if you like. (Yum!)
This tender cake is similar to a sliceable fallen chocolate soufflé when served warm. At room temperature, it has a rich, fudgy crumb. The cake is best the day it’s baked, but leftovers keep well, refrigerated airtight, for 3 days.
Key Ingredients
This chocolate hazelnut torte is made with just 7 ingredients.
- Semisweet chocolate forms the base of this cake, so be sure to use one you like the flavor of. I tested this recipe using chocolate with 60-65% cacao mass, so that percentage range will work best here. My go-to brands are Guittard and Tcho, but any good-quality baking chocolate will work.
- Hazelnut meal (or ground hazelnuts) add their warm flavor to this cake. You can use almond meal instead, or try other ground nuts such as pecans or walnuts. (I'm also curious to try this cake with ground sesame seeds for a halva vibe – yum!)
- Eggs give the cake structure and lift.
- Butter adds richness, but you can use vegan butter for dairy-free.
- Sugar adds sweetness. You can sub coconut sugar by weight for the portion that's whisked into the batter, but it's best to stick with granulated sugar for whipping the egg whites.
Method
This recipe makes one 9-inch single-layer cake, or about 10 servings. It takes 20 minutes of active time to make the batter and 40 minutes to bake. Be sure to leave time to let the cake cool to warm or room temperature before serving it.
This cake can be made a day or two ahead if you like, and it can also be frozen successfully.
Note that these process photos are from making this almond flour chocolate torte, but the two recipes look nearly identical in their steps. I've shared these photos here to help with the process.
However you serve this gluten-free chocolate hazelnut cake, I hope you love it as much as I do!
Bojon appétit, my sweets! If you make this, I’d love to know. Please leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
Rich & Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Cake
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature, yolks and whites separated
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks, 170 g) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
- 10 ounces (283 g) semisweet chocolate (ideally 60 to 65% cacao), roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
- ¾ cup (150 g) organic granulated sugar, divided use
- 1 cup (112 g) hazelnut flour (or ground hazelnuts)
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Serving Suggestions
- whipped mascarpone
- seasonal fruit
- cocoa powder, for dusting
Instructions
Prepare Things
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF.
- Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
- Bring your eggs to room temperature so they will be easy to fold into the cake batter. To do this quickly, place them in a bowl and cover with warm (not hot) water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then remove and dry.
Make the Batter
- In a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water, combine the butter and chocolate. Stir occasionally until the mixture is nearly melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until completely melted and smooth.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the sugar, the hazelnut flour, and the salt to eliminate lumps. Whisk the hazelnut flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, then add the vanilla and finally the egg yolks.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the remaining ¼ cup sugar and continue whipping until the whites just hold soft peaks (when you pull the whip out and turn it upside down, the egg whites should form a peak that flops over). Don’t overwhip or the whites will be difficult to incorporate into the batter and will make a denser cake.
- Stir one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until just combined, then gently fold in the remaining two-thirds until no streaks remain.
Bake
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake until puffed and cracked and the center is firm, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature or slightly warmer.
Serve
- When the cake is cool, release the sides of the pan, slide the cake onto a cutting board, and slice into wedges using a sharp chef’s knife dipped in hot water and wiped clean between each cut.
- Serve with toppings of your choice.
Notes
- In place of hazelnut flour (aka hazelnut meal), feel free to use almond flour, almond meal, ground hazelnuts (toasted or not), or other ground nuts such as pecans or walnuts.
- To make the cake dairy-free, use vegan butter and omit the salt if the butter is salty.
- It's fine to use coconut sugar for the cake batter, but it's best to use granulated sugar for whipping the whites.
- The cake can be baked 1-2 days before serving. Store covered at cool room temperature or in the fridge (but bring to room temp before serving)
- The cake can be covered and frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost before serving.
- Leftovers keep beautifully for up to 5 days in the fridge, or frozen for up to 1 month.
Kel says
I adore your recipes! They are wonderfully explained. Please, please make a GF, DF layered chocolate cake recipe with raspberry jam. I really would like to see your take on it. It would be a plus if it has chocolate ganache and frosting. Thanks!!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Aw thank you Kel! So glad you're enjoying the recipes :)
I love this idea. I've added it to my list of recipes to develop, thank you for the suggestion!
In the meantime if you want to give it a go, you could make 2-3 layers of this coconut flour chocolate cake or the dairy-free version of this teff flour chocolate cake. Spread raspberry jam between the layers (do you envision something creamy in there too? Maybe whipped coconut cream with some cocoa powder whipped in?) and top with dairy-free chocolate ganache.
Do let me know if you experiment!
xo,
A
Andrea Eisenberg says
Wow. This was certainly a rich, deep, fudgy chocolate cake. Made it for my stepdaughter's birthday and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought about adding a little espresso to it - next time!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, I'm so glad the cake was a hit - what a lucky stepdaughter! Love the idea of adding espresso here - please let me know if you try it that way. Yum!
Samreen says
Loved the cake though I ran out of chocolate chips. I had 1 cups of ch.chips so put in 1/2 cup of cocoa powder to the butter.
Also since I am off sugar, I put in 3/4 cup of Erythretol (Costco).
One of these two alterations made the cake less fudgy and more crumbly. Flavor was great though.
Do you have a recipe with just cocoa powder and Erythretol? I can’t even do dates. Eggs n butter r ok.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Samreen,
So glad you loved the flavor of this cake! I think the cocoa powder was likely the culprit since it's much more dry than chocolate chips and acts more like a flour in recipes. If you wanted to, you could try making this cake using sugar-free chocolate sweetened with erythritol or similar.
For a cake that uses cocoa and not chocolate, you could try making my maple-sweetened coconut flour chocolate cake. I'm curious whether Lakanto maple syrup made with monk fruit could work in place of the maple syrup, though it might take a bit of experimentation to get it just right.
Or you could try my teff flour chocolate cake made with cocoa powder and use erythritol instead of brown sugar.
Let me know what you try next!
Katherine says
This was so easy, well instructed and unbelievably more-ish. Wow.
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Beth Bylsma says
HI, This recipe looks fantastic, I was just wondering if I could swap the chocolate out for a hazelnut spread? What do you think? Thanks
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Hi Beth,
Great question! My concern would be that since hazelnut spread is soft at room temperature whereas chocolate is solid at room temp, the batter might be too liquid and not bake or set properly. However, if you want to experiment, you might try a half batch and bake the cake in a smaller baking pan, like a loaf pan lined with parchment. Please let me know if you try it!
Liza says
This recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate and 3/4 cup sugar. Isn't this too much sugar? Shouldn't the 3/4 cup sugar be added when you have Unsweetened sugar? You also mentioned I the body of this post under Key Ingredients that Bittersweet Chocolate is the base for this cake. Can you please clarify the exact type of chocolate + sugar combo needed for this recipe?
Alanna Taylor-Tobin says
Oh good catch - that should say semisweet chocolate in Key Ingredients, I updated it. I usually make this with chocolate that has 65% cacao mass, so it's right on the border between semisweet (60%) and bittersweet (70% and higher). I found 3/4 cup sugar to be the right amount of sweetness, but you can try decreasing that if you want a less sweet cake. Let me know what you try!