Hazelnut Cake Recipe
Description
A moist and flavorful Nutella-inspired cake made with toasted hazelnut, melted chocolate and chocolate chunks. Serve as a dessert or alongside a cup of coffee mid-morning.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (135g) hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed + 2 tablespoons for topping
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar + 2 teaspoons for topping
- ½ teaspoon Morton kosher salt or ¾ teaspoon diamond crystal
- 6 tablespoons (87g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 3 large eggs (150g)
- ¼ cup (64g) buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon (7g) pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 cup (130g) whole-wheat flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 ounces semi-sweet bar chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325ºF (163ºC) with rack set in middle position. Line an 8½ × 4½-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.
- Process 1 cups (135g) hazelnuts, 1 cup (200g) sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor until finely ground into a wet-sand-like mixture, but not a paste, about 1 minute; scraping down sides and bottom halfway through and at the end.
- Pulse 6 tablespoons (87g) butter into hazelnut mixture (12 pulses), then process until the mixture is smooth to touch but grainy looking and shiny, 3-4 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl halfway through.
- Meanwhile, melt 2 ounces chocolate in microwave-safe bowl in microwave on half power in 30-second increments until melted and smooth.
- Stir 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon into melted chocolate; set aside. Chop remaining 2 ounces chocolate into small chunks; set aside.
- Stream 3 eggs (150g) and ¼ cup (64g) buttermilk into batter and process 1 minute. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ¼ teaspoon almond extract; process to combine.
- Add 1 cup (130g) whole-wheat flour, 1 ¼ teaspoons (6g) baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda; pulse just until combined, about 8 pulses.
- Transfer 1 cup of batter to bowl with melted chocolate. Measure out 2 tablespoons of chopped chocolate and set aside for topping. Fold remaining chopped chocolate into chocolate batter.
- Pour half of plain batter into prepared loaf pan. Dollop half of chocolate batter over top. Swirl chocolate batter in with a knife. Pour remaining plain better over top and dollop with remaining chocolate; swirl.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, 2 tablespoons chocolate pieces and 2 teaspoons sugar over top. Transfer to oven and bake until cake is tall, browned, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 65–72 minutes.
- Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around cake and use parchment overhang to lift cake out of pan; transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.
Notes
The cake will slightly fall in the middle due to the heaviness of the chocolate, but don’t worry, the cake has a wonderful moist crumb—the slight indentation is just fine!
To easily remove the cake from the pan, line the pan with parchment paper sling and leave a couple inch overhang. The overhang can then be used as “handles” to easily pull the cake out of the tin.
It’s important to use the correct size loaf pan! Use a 8½ × 4½-inch loaf pan. If a large loaf pan is used, the cake will come out shorter.
How to Toast Hazelnuts: arrange hazelnuts in an even layer on a baking sheet. Toast in a 350ºF oven until fragrant and golden, 15–25 minutes, shimmying the pan occasionally for even toasting.
Removing Hazelnut Skins: It’s important to remove the skins from the toasted hazelnuts before blending them up for the batter. Once the nuts are toasted and cooled, transfer them to a kitchen towel, fold the towel over top and shimmy them around to remove the thin skins.
Many of the skins will rub off, but there will also be a handful of nuts that still have skin intact. Use your fingers to rub them off, if possible. If the skins won’t budge, don’t worry about it. A few with skins are OK!
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice (1/8 recipe)Calories: 450kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 10gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 163mgSodium: 865mgFiber: 3gSugar: 31g
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