– This almost flourless chocolate torte cake is intensely chocolatey and bonkers with hazelnuts. –
Hey you. Yeah, you hiding there in the corner, behind the big bag of flour. You really think you can’t make fancy desserts? Well, guess what – I don’t believe you. I don’t want to hear how none of the cakes you make turn out. Pssh. Let me show you a “fancy” chocolate cake recipe so easy that I made it when I was eight years old. (It’s just as easy as these Double-Chocolate Pecan and Butterscotch Cookies or this lovely Chocolate Sour Cream Pie with Pecans.)
You heard me. Are you going to let an eight year old outbake you?
I didn’t think so.
Enter: the Almost Flourless Chocolate Torte Cake
This almost flourless chocolate torte cake recipe is one of the easier cakes you can make. It’s low in flour so there’s not much worry about overworking the gluten, and the only part that even remotely resembles “intermediate level” is melting the chocolate. (Which is still crazy easy.)
If the idea of roasting hazelnuts gives you the cold sweats, skip the roasting altogether and use 3/4 cup of pre-ground hazelnut flour instead. You can also use almond flour if that’s what you’ve got on-hand. This cake may sound fancy, but it’s actually incredibly low maintenance.
Once you’ve got the chocolate and nuts squared away, all you have to do is mix a bunch of stuff in a bowl and pour it into a greased pan. Really, that’s all there is to it. Despite the lack of complexity involved in this almost flourless chocolate torte cake recipe, the end result is an elegant, decadent dessert that will impress everyone at your dinner table. A quick but gorgeous dusting of powered sugar on top makes it look like you just stepped out of culinary school.
Guess what? You now look like a total baking ninja. Sweet!
This almost flourless chocolate torte cake is a classically dense, rich dessert. The darker the chocolate you use, the more intense it will be. I prefer 64% chocolate, though you could use 70% if you like, or semi-sweet, or even milk chocolate if that’s what in your pantry.
The hazelnuts round out this cake with a perfectly toasty flavor, while a big, sloppy kiss of vanilla provides a sweet aroma to balance out all that dark chocolate. I add a pinch of cinnamon for a little something-something, and if you like, you could even double that amount for a little something-something extra.
Regardless, it’s pretty tough to screw up this cake. It might even survive overbaking, but I wouldn’t push it too far.
Almost Flourless Chocolate Torte Cake
Ingredients
- 6 ounces of dark chocolate (65-70%) chopped
- 5 ounces (1 heaping cup) whole hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 whole vanilla bean
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Powdered sugar for garnish
Instructions
- Set the oven rack to the middle of your oven, and preheat to 400°F (204°C). Grease an 8-inch round springform pan with butter and set aside.
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Start by setting a small pot of water to boil on the stove. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low and set a heatproof bowl into the pot so that it rests on top and does not fall in. Add the chocolate to the bowl and stir constantly until completely melted. Remove the chocolate from the heat and allow to cool completely.
- Spread the nuts evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. When the oven is at temperature slide the baking sheet into the oven. Roast nuts until they are fragrant and take on a nice golden brown color, about 6 minutes. Watch them carefully and don't let them get too dark! Remove nuts from oven and allow to cool completely. Lower oven temperature to 350°F (176°C).
- Using a dry, rough washcloth, rub the nuts together to remove most of the skins. Transfer the nuts to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they form a semi-fine powder, about the texture of coarse sand, 10 to 12 short pulses. Do not over chop, or you'll end up with an oily, separated mess.
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise. Use the knife to scrape the tiny vanilla beans from the inside of the pod, adding them to the butter. Reserve the spent pod for some other use.
- Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating each until mixed. Add flour, salt, and cinnamon, beating for another 30 seconds. Pour in the ground hazelnuts and scoop in chocolate, beating until well mixed, about 1 minute.
- Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out with just a few streaks of matte-looking chocolate, about 30 minutes. The middle may still look a little underdone, which is fine as long as the toothpick isn't covered with what looks like wet chocolate batter. Once done, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a cooling rack.
- Once the cake is cool, carefully remove the sides of the pan. Invert the cake onto a serving platter and remove the parchment circle. Let sit for 20 minutes before dusting liberally with powered sugar for garnish. Serve immediately or seal in plastic before storing in the refrigerator. If serving the torte later, wait until just before you serve to dust with powdered sugar.
Nutrition
This content was originally posted on FearlessFresh.com.