Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Ingredients

• Serves 8 – 10
• 170 g (¾ cup) sugar, plus extra for sprinkling the pan and the top of the cake
• 125 g (4 ½ oz) unsalted butter, cut into cubes plus extra softened butter for greasing
• 225 g (8 oz) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I use Nestle’s Dessert Corsé chocolat 65% in France)
• 150 g (1/2 cup) Nutella or another hazelnut spread
• 6 large eggs
• 55 g (1/2 cup) hazelnut or almond flour
• 2 tablespoons Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 23 cm (9 inch) springform pan or a regular cake tin
• *Substituting almond butter or tahini for Nutella will make your cake less sweet, but perhaps healthier

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 180°C (350°F)
2. Prepare the cooking pan. Coat sides, but not the base, of the springform pan with softened butter. Add a tablespoon or so of sugar and turn and shake the pan to coat the buttered sides. Tap out extra sugar then line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper. (If you don’t have a springform pan, skip the greasing and sugaring and just line a regular pan with parchment paper that extends beyond the rim of the pan, when the cake is done you can lift it out.)
3. Combine the cubed butter and the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and place over a pot of simmering water. (The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water.) Stir often as the ingredients melt to combine. Remove from the heat and add the Nutella. Stir until you have a smooth, creamy mixture
4. Separate 4 eggs, placing the whites in a large mixing bowl. Combine the yolks with the two remaining whole eggs in a medium size bowl; add the hazelnut flour, cocoa powder and salt and whisk until blended.
5. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer until frothy and starting to form soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon or two at a time, until the whites have tripled in volume, and the peaks are stiff and glossy.
6. Using a large spatula, fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture just until they are combined. Don’t over mix or you will deflate the air in the whipped egg whites.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle with another tablespoons of sugar (this is what is going to make the top crispy). Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides and the top has puffed and started to crack. The center will have a slight jiggle.
8. Place the cake on a wire rack and let it cook completely in the tin before unmoulding. The cake will sink once it is out of the oven, this is normal.
9. The cake is pretty amazing as it is, but a dollop of crème fraiche mixed with a spoonful of Nutella is delicious on the side.