Fudgy Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

An eggless fudgy chocolate hazelnut cake that’s also fuss-free and perfect for the times when you want something fancy without too much effort!

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Let me preface this article with a confession – I’m a super lazy baker. And I don’t mean it like “I’m bored to clean up today” – I’m more like “I’ll bake a cake but let me see how many ingredients I can skip without changing the taste entirely” way.

It’s really a daily conundrum for me. I can’t go a day without baking and yet the thought of bringing out a hundred ingredients and putting them back to make a recipe feels like such a bother! And so I’ve become that baker that will find shortcuts wherever possible. When someone tells me “your recipes are so simple with easy ingredients” – which is quite often – I’m secretly thinking to myself “It’s not simple baking, it’s lazy baking” 😀

This recipe here is the outcome of one such lazy day of baking. I had some roasted hazelnuts at hand that needed to be used and I didn’t want to make praline or granola or any of the usual recipes I use hazelnuts in. And so I decided to powder and use it in a cake.

Honestly I wasn’t sure what I was going for when I made this but I had at the back of my mind loosely the idea of a fudgy brownie like texture and thus I decided to skip the baking powder and baking soda and see what happens.

When I poured the batter into the pan I said a little prayer that it comes out well. Half way into the baking I peeped into the oven and nothing had happened. The batter still looked kind of runny and by that point I had lost hope that my trial was going to end well. But then magically the batter started to transform. I could see it rise and then fall just a little to settle into a perfect flat top. I said my second little prayer when de-moulding the cake thinking it was going to fall out into a goey mess. But voila! Out came this beauty perfectly stable and smelling amazing!

A little sprinkle of cocoa powder on top and we were digging into it like nobody’s business! Fudgy, dense, chocolatey, nutty – like eating a brownie but better! Adding the hazelnuts really elevated the cake to another level and the flavors are strong enough for the cake to not need any additional garnishes or frosting. However, if you’d still like to, a good ganache or my chocolate fudge frosting will go well with the cake.

So how did I make this? Using only –

• Flour – I used all-purpose. Because the cake doesn’t have any ingredients providing much structure, I don’t think whole-wheat will work well here.
• Hazelnuts – I lightly roasted the hazelnuts to bring out more flavour and then ground them to a powder. To roast the hazelnuts, spread them on a baking tray and roast them at 150 degree C for 15-20 minutes. You could also dry-roast them on a pan on low-medium heat. Once the nuts are cool, place them in a processor or mixer and grind till you get a coarse but fine powder. I honestly think almonds will also work as a great substitute here. You could use ready almond flour or just grind the raw almonds to a powder and use. 
• Chocolate – I used a 54% dark chocolate but you could use upto 70% or even milk chocolate for the recipe. Substituting cocoa powder will not work very well here.
• Butter – Regular salted Amul butter
• Sugar
• Milk

After this it was a simple process of melting the chocolate and butter, adding the rest of the ingredients and mixing to form a smooth batter and baking. Easy right? It almost feels like i’ve forgotten some ingredients but honestly this is all it needs. No fancy condensed milks, or rising agents, or egg substitutes. Simple honest baking! Just the way I like it!

 

You could add vanilla or other extracts for extra flavoring if you like but honestly, this cake doesn’t need it. It’s best eaten warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or even just a dusting of powdered sugar or cocoa.

If you try this give me a shout-out in the comments below or on Instagram @loveandflourbypooja

Other chocolate recipes you may like to try

• Eggless Chocolate Cake
• Eggless Chocolate Pudding
• Eggless Brownie Cookies
• Eggless Nutella Mug Cake

For measurements in grams, check out this ready reckoner.