This Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake is rich and a little fudgy but somehow light. With a wonderful nutty flavour from ground hazelnuts it’s a little like Nutella in cake form. What’s more, it’s accidently gluten free.
After first tasting a flourless chocolate cake at a restaurant, I had to recreate it and this one is now a favourite. Along with my Flourless Lemon Cake and Flourless Chocolate Pear Upside Down Cake, it joins a bunch of flourless cakes on the blog.
How do you make a cake without flour?
Actually, it’s incredibly easy to make a flourless chocolate cake. The main body of the cake is made up of ground nuts and eggs. There’s some cocoa and some good, dark Chocolate in there to make it uber-chocolatey and then all the required bits for a gorgeous, can-I-have-some-more-please chocolate cake (aka butter and sugar).
Ingredients in flourless chocolate cake
- Hazelnuts: A large part of flourless cakes is finely ground nuts. In this one I use hazelnuts but you can swap them for the more often used almonds too.
- Cocoa and chocolate: I add both in this recipe to make sure it has an intense chocolate flavour.
- Butter: Is a cake a cake without it.
- Sugar: I recommend just using regular white sugar. If you swap for brown, the cake may be a little too moist.
- Eggs: You’ll use 4 eggs and they are separated. The whites are whipped up to add air to the cake.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract has a wonderful way of intensifying the chocolate flavour.
- Salt: This is also to intensify the chocolate flavour and to add balance.
- Baking powder: This just adds a little lift to the cake.
How to make it
- For my flourless chocolate hazelnut cake, I like to make my own ground hazelnuts or hazelnut meal. This way I can toast (photo 1, before and photo 2, after) them first which adds extra flavour to the end result. You can absolutely use pre-ground hazelnuts though and this will still be delicious.
- After grinding your nuts (photo 3), you’ll start to turn it into a cake by creaming together some butter and sugar.
- Next, you’ll add the egg yolks and a touch of vanilla followed by melted chocolate (photo 4).
- Now you add your dry ingredients and gently mix them in.
- The last step is to beat the egg whites to soft peaks and then carefully fold them into the batter (photo 5).
- Tip it into a lined 8 inch spring form tin and level it out (photo 6), then bake for 45-50 minutes.
Give it time to cool
Once it’s baked, just allow your cake cool almost completely before removing the ring from the springform tin (I love this Le Creuset 20cm spring form tin).
It’s a delicate cake so removing it too early could result in it breaking or cracking. In a cake using flour, the flour develops gluten which helps to hold things together. A flourless cake is much more delicate when it’s still warm as it doesn’t have that gluten to bind it all.
Once cooled though, it holds together no problem.
It’s best to let it cool completely before carefully transferring your perfect flourless chocolate cake to a cake plate.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes you’ll love
- Black Velvet Cake
- Chocolate Mud Cake
- Black Magic Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Pear Upside Down Cake
- Chocolate Meringue Brownie Cake
- Chocolate Mousse Mud Cake
- One Bowl Chocolate Freckle Cake
- Quick Chocolate Bread (Chocolate Loaf Cake)
- Blackberry Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Cheesecake Filling
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Ingredients
- 240 g hazelnuts, skinless (1 ¾ cups / 8.5oz) (notes)
- 200 g white granulated sugar (1 cup / 7oz)
- 226 g unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks / 1 cup)
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 50 g finely chopped dark (50-70%) chocolate, melted (⅓ cup / 1.8oz)
- 45 g unsweetened cocoa (½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Extra cocoa, for dusting
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced. Grease the sides of a 20cm (8 inch) round springform cake tin and then line the bottom and sides with baking paper.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper, then tip the hazelnuts onto the tray in one, even layer. Toast in the oven, shaking the pan every 5 minutes or so until golden all over. Allow the hazelnuts to cool for 5 minutes, then grind them to very fine crumbs in a food processor. Keep an eye on them as if you blend too long, they will release their oil and become wet instead of the dry ground hazelnuts you need.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, then add the vanilla and the yolks, one at time until fully combined and the mixture looks fluffy. Finally add the melted chocolate and mix through.
- Mix the ground hazelnuts, cocoa, baking powder and salt together. With the beater on low, slowly pour it into the butter mixture until combined.
- In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peak stage. Add ⅓ of the egg whites to the batter and mix through. Add the last ⅔ in 2 parts but just fold through in gentle, measured folds until all combined. Keep the mixing to a minimum to keep as much air in the mix as possible.
- Bake for 50 – 55 minutes until the top looks dry and a toothpick comes out with just a moist crumb or two.
- Allow to cool almost completely in the tin before removing. Transfer to a cake plate and allow to cool completely.
- Dust with cocoa right before serving
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (4 teaspoons worldwide)
- For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales like these
are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop). - You can use pre-ground hazelnuts (aka hazelnut meal) to save on time. You can also use almonds or almond meal.
- I love this Le Creuset 20cm spring form tin
are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
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38 Comments on “Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake”
In your recipe description you specify using an 8”(20cm) springform, but in the actual recipe you call for a 9”(22cm) pan. I didn’t notice this before I baked and used a 9” pan. My cake baked in under 45 minutes-luckily I had checked it after 25 minutes and realized it would be done sooner!
Thanks Diana. I’ll fix the post so that it all matches.
It’s an excellent cake. I made it for a gluten-free friend’s birthday and everyone loved it. Like a Ferrero-Rocher chocolate but better quality!
So happy you love it, Linda.
I really want to make this cake for my bff but do i need to use hazelnuts?
Hi Amar. You can use almonds too.
If I use almond meal, how much do I need as your measurements are for whole hazelnuts
Hello Jane, it will still be 240g.
amazing recipe! i loved it, my family loved it!! i would make it again and again for any occasion, can add raspberries on top!!!
can i add shredded coconut in the cake?
Hi Suzana, So happy you all loved it. The more coconut you add the more it will dry out so I wouldn’t add too much.
Hi, I’m very interested to make this cake. I have made torts caprese before (with almonds) and my celiac partner loved it. I’m wondering if it would work if I were to top your flourless chocolate hazelnut cake with a salted caramel drizzle? Thank you
Hello Julie, yes that definitely works.
Hi! I do not have a spring form pan, is it ok to do in a regular round cake pan?
Yes, a regular cake tin will work.
I would love to make this but would like to leave out the hazelnuts to make it nut free. Will it still turn out?
Hello Fran. This cake is flourless and the nuts make up the ‘flour’ part of the cake, so you can’t leave them out in this recipe or you’ll have no body to the cake. If you’re after a gluten free and nut free cake, try my friends chocolate sour cream cake.
Hi Marie, this recipe looks amazing! Could I substitute the butter with oil instead? Thank you in advance!
Hello Jecari, I’m sorry, but I haven’t tested this one with oil. Most cakes I’d say yes but being a flourless cake, I’m not sure of what difference it might make.
I really want to make this cake for my bff but do i need to use hazelnuts?
Hi Aurora, you can use almond meal / almond flour instead
Can I use almond un hazelnut meal?
Yes, you sure can 🙂
Hi Marie, this looks absolutely delicious, thanks for sharing! Unfortunately I don’t have cocoa powder, is it possible to replace it with semi-sweet baking chocolate?
Hello Jamie,
I haven’t tested this but it’s a possible solution. Please do let me know if you try and it’s successful.
1. If you have any hot chocolate / hot cocoa mix you could use that instead. Same amount as the cocoa but remove 6 teaspoons of sugar.
2. To swap the cocoa for semi-sweet chocolate – use 40g of melted dark chocolate and only use 1+3/4 sticks (198g / 7oz). Removing some of the butter makes up for the moisture and fat content of the added chocolate.
Hope that helps
Yummy! Made it for Passover dessert and served it to some very picky eaters. They loved it! Only thing is that it was a bit crumbly, didn’t hold together very well. Husband said it was a little dry. Maybe I over baked it? Would love some advice.
Hello Diane, I’m so happy you loved it. The dryness would come from over-baking. Just make sure to test 3-5 minutes before any recipe suggests (due to all ovens varying) and it’s ready when there are a couple of crumbs sticking to a toothpick when you pull it out.
What if I can’t find a skinless hazelnut? Is it okay to just use hazelnut with skin?
Hello, yes they will be fine. You can toast them in the oven and rub the skins off if you like too.
This was an incredibly fudge rich cake with a perfect brownie crisp top!
Can you tell me how to store it – fridge or pantry, and how long it will last?
Hello Marilla, store it in the fridge but let it come to room temperature before you eat it. It will last 3-4 days in an airtight container
FYI…. Adding coffee / espresso is a good way to intensify chocolate flavor
It sure does, thanks Darrin
Another good recipe. I added 1/2 tsp of Hazelnut extract and truvia blend 1/2. Ground my own hazelnuts.
Followed all the steps as written. Chilled well to set.
The reason I changed the all regular sugar to Truvia blend is because I’m gifting the Flourless Almond Lemon Cake and the Hazelnut Chocolate Cake to my uncles co-workers who are diabetic.
However, this cakes are so good either way.
Thanks again Marie.
Thanks so much, Monina. My parents are also diabetic so they don’t get to eat a lot of my desserts. This information is truly helpful to myself and other readers too 🙂
Baked this cake and it is really good. Kind of like baci cake.
That’s a great description. Thanks Lorraine ?
I’m a sucker for a good chocolate dessert. Even though I love my gluten, this cake looks absolutely amazing, and the hazelnut sounds heavenly!
Thanks so much Trang 🙂