E’s Cake (Chocolate Hazelnut Torte) Redux

It’s E’s birthday, so I went back to this Harris family classic and made some tweaks to E’s favorite.  Gotta say that none of the pictures I got are amazing, so *ahem* I just may need to make the cake again!

It’s an elegantly delicious cake or can be a bunch of mini-cakelettes.

Since it’s a torte, it’s naturally gluten-free, so it’s naturally perfect.

At a first glance, this may look like Nigella Lawson’s Nutella cake. Look closer–it’s actually substantially different, and we like this a lot better. It’s much lighter and more chocolate-y: win/win! Due to the eggs and dairy, it’s been many years since I’ve eaten this, but I still remember how delicious it is. Enjoy!

E’s cake

• 2 egg yolks
• 8 egg whites, whipped to stiff peaks
• 13 oz jar of Nutella
• Softened stick of butter
• generous ½ cup hazelnut or almond meal (measure after grinding) ideally freshly ground in the food processor
• 5.2 oz 70%+ dark chocolate, melted*
• 1 Tablespoon Frangelico or other gluten-free alcohol (or water)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch salt

*A little under one 1 cup of dark chocolate chips should work as well. If there were such a thing as 7/8ths of a cup, that’s what you’d be shooting for.

Preheat your oven to 350-degrees.

Grease and line an 8 inch pan or 4 mini springform pans with parchment or wax paper.

Separate 8 eggs, reserve 2 yolks and do something yummy with the rest. (pudding? Creme brulee? curd?)

Baker’s note: Timing is key–you want the eggs to be at stiff peak form about the time the rest of the batter is ready and waiting so that it doesn’t fall, so make sure the chocolate batter is underway while/before you start whipping the eggs.

In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs whites and salt until they form stiff peaks.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, then add Frangelico, 2 egg yolks, and ground hazelnuts.

Fold in the melted chocolate, then mix in 1/3 of egg white.Gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time. They won’t incorporate perfectly, no worries.

Pour into the prepared pan and cook for 50 minutes-1 hour or until the cake’s beginning to come away at the sides. Cool on rack.

Yes, it will fall. The other way to look at it is that the cake is creating a great space to hold the frosting/ganache. There, doesn’t that sound better?

Glaze with a simple ganache or a chocolate frosting, chocolate decorations, hazelnuts…go crazy.

I assume a dairy free chocolate hazelnut spread & Earth Balance will work for a dairy free version, but since there are so many reasons I can’t eat this any longer so I’ve never bothered.

Gluten-free or not, this is one seriously elegantly delicious cake.

*A little under one 1 cup of dark chocolate chips should work as well. If there were such a thing as 7/8ths of a cup, that’s what you’d be shooting for.