Chocolate Hazelnut Cake — The Most Indulgent Cake You’ll Ever Make
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There are cakes that are pleasant and there are cakes that are unforgettable. Chocolate hazelnut cake belongs firmly in the second category — the kind of cake that silences a room the moment it’s sliced, that prompts people to put down their forks and simply stare at what they’re eating for a moment before continuing. It is a cake built entirely around the greatest flavour combination in the confectionery world: dark chocolate and toasted hazelnut, two ingredients that seem designed by nature to exist together.
The pairing of chocolate and hazelnut has centuries of history behind it. In 19th century Turin, the shortage of cocoa led confectioners to stretch their chocolate with ground hazelnuts from the Piedmont region — a necessity that accidentally produced something more delicious than the original. That discovery eventually became gianduja, which eventually became the spread that now occupies a permanent place in the world’s collective consciousness. This cake takes that same fundamental combination and builds it into something layered, deeply textured and completely extraordinary.
What makes this cake different from a standard chocolate cake is the hazelnut flour worked into the batter — it adds a richness and density that wheat flour alone cannot provide, and a subtle nuttiness in every bite that makes you search for another forkful before the first one has properly landed. The ganache is silk. The toasted hazelnuts on top are not decoration — they are essential.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This chocolate hazelnut cake delivers on every level a great cake must reach. The crumb is dense and moist rather than light and airy — this is not a cake for people who want something delicate. The ganache poured over the top sets to a glossy finish that looks patisserie-professional but requires no technical skill. The toasted hazelnuts scattered over the surface add crunch against the silky ganache and chewy crumb. And the flavour — that deep, rounded combination of dark chocolate and roasted nut — is so complete and satisfying that a single slice feels genuinely indulgent rather than merely sweet.
It keeps exceptionally well, improving for the first 24 hours as the flavours deepen. It travels beautifully to dinner parties. And it requires no piping bags, no special equipment and no patisserie experience — just a bowl, a tin and the patience to let it cool before pouring the ganache.
Ingredients
Serves 12
For the cake:
- 200g (7 oz) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, roughly chopped
- 150g (⅔ cup / 1⅓ sticks) unsalted butter, cubed
- 200g (1 cup) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 120g (1¼ cups) hazelnut flour (or whole hazelnuts blitzed to a fine powder)
- 60g (½ cup) plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 30g (3 tbsp) good quality cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
For the chocolate ganache:
- 200g (7 oz) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, finely chopped
- 200ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) double cream (heavy cream)
- 1 tbsp (15g) unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp golden syrup or corn syrup (for shine)
To finish:
- 80g (½ cup) whole hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- Flaky sea salt (optional but recommended)
Method
Step 1 — Toast the hazelnuts
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Spread the whole hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for 8 to 10 minutes until the skins crack and the nuts smell deeply nutty. Wrap in a clean tea towel and rub vigorously to remove most of the skins. Allow to cool, then roughly chop. Set aside.
Step 2 — Make the cake batter
Keep the oven at 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a 23cm (9 inch) round cake tin. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, stirring until completely smooth. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar into the warm chocolate mixture until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Sift in the hazelnut flour, plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Fold gently until just combined.
Step 3 — Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes until the top is set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with moist crumbs. Do not overbake — the cake should feel slightly underdone when it comes out. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4 — Make the ganache
Place the finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just begins to simmer — do not boil. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes without stirring. Add the butter and golden syrup then stir slowly from the centre outward until completely smooth and glossy. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes until slightly thickened but still pourable.
Step 5 — Finish and serve
Place the cooled cake on a wire rack set over a tray. Pour the ganache over the centre of the cake and let it flow naturally to the edges and drip down the sides. Scatter the toasted hazelnuts over the top. Finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Allow the ganache to set for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Tips for the Perfect Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
Toast the hazelnuts properly. Raw hazelnuts have a mild, almost bland flavour. Toasted hazelnuts are deeply aromatic, complex and nutty — the difference is enormous. Eight to ten minutes in a hot oven transforms them completely.
Don’t overbake. This cake continues cooking from residual heat after it leaves the oven. Pull it when the centre still has a very slight wobble and the skewer comes out with moist crumbs rather than completely clean. An overbaked chocolate hazelnut cake is dry; a properly baked one is dense and fudgy.
Cool completely before the ganache. Pouring ganache over a warm cake causes it to absorb into the surface rather than sitting glossily on top. The cake must be at room temperature — ideally refrigerator cold — before the ganache goes on.
Make your own hazelnut flour. If you can’t find hazelnut flour, simply process whole toasted hazelnuts in a food processor until they reach a fine crumb. Stop before it becomes hazelnut butter.
Variations Worth Trying
Chocolate hazelnut cake with coffee. Add 1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder to the melted chocolate and butter. Coffee amplifies the chocolate flavour without adding any coffee taste to the finished cake.
Salted caramel version. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of good quality salted caramel over the ganache before it sets, swirling it gently with a toothpick for a dramatic marbled finish.
Individual fondant cakes. Pour the batter into buttered individual ramekins and bake for 12 to 14 minutes for molten chocolate hazelnut fondants — serve immediately with crème fraîche.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Chocolate hazelnut cake keeps at room temperature under a cake dome for up to 4 days — it improves significantly on day 2 as the flavours develop and the crumb settles. Refrigerate for up to 6 days — bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Freeze unganached cake for up to 3 months wrapped tightly in cling film. The ganache can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated — rewarm gently over a bain-marie to restore its pourable consistency.
What to Serve Alongside
A generous spoonful of crème fraîche or soured cream alongside cuts through the richness beautifully. Vanilla ice cream alongside a warm slice is the most indulgent option. A scattering of fresh raspberries on the plate adds acidity that lifts the whole thing. A strong espresso or a glass of Amaretto alongside makes the occasion feel properly celebratory.
The Cake That Earns Its Place
Some cakes are made once and forgotten. This is not one of them. Chocolate hazelnut cake earns a permanent place in your repertoire immediately — the cake you make for birthdays, for dinner parties, for no reason at all except that you want something genuinely worth eating. Dense, glossy, deeply flavoured and completely unforgettable.
Prep time: 25 minutes | Cook time: 32 minutes | Cooling time: 1 hour | Total: 2 hours | Serves: 12
