This Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cake has a sophisticated European vibe with ground hazelnuts and dark chocolate. It’s moist, not too sweet, and super delicious any time of day or night.
This rich, nutty chocolate hazelnut cake is a nice way to change up your baking routine. It can stand in for a coffee or tea cake, but can definitely end a meal.
The cake itself has a lovely nutty flavor ~ ground toasted hazelnuts stand in for part of the flour. Bittersweet chocolate and good quality cocoa powder give a deep, rich chocolate presence without being too sweet. And buttermilk and vanilla in the frosting bring out a whole different chocolate ‘personality’. The original recipe calls for two layers, but I like it better as one; it has a nice, chic, Continental vibe to it.
chocolate hazelnut cake ingredient notes
- hazelnuts: I use whole skinned hazelnuts and I toast them first, which really brings out their flavor. Then I grind the nuts (skins on,) in my food processor as finely as I can without taking it into hazelnut butter territory! The skins give added flavor and a touch of bitterness to the cake, but you can use skinned nuts if you prefer.
- chocolate: the recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate for a sophisticated flavor. Bittersweet chocolate has a higher cocoa content and less sugar than semisweet, giving it a deeper, more intense chocolate flavor.
- buttermilk: buttermilk adds tenderness and moisture to the cake, and the acidity gives the frosting a subtle tang, keeping it smooth and not overly sweet.
This cake sits right at the top of my favorite cakes list
The deep, dense chocolate goes really well with the strong hazelnut presence since both have slight bitter undertones. It makes for a very grown-up, balanced flavor profile. The frosting is richly chocolate but fluffy, and makes a lovely contrast in texture.
reader faqs
Yes you can. I’ve also made it with walnuts, which have even better flavor payoff than almonds.
Store the cake tightly covered or under a cake dome at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Yes. Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before serving. Tip: place the frosted cake on a baking sheet and pop in the freezer until solid, then double wrap for freezing.
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Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
Equipment
- 9" springform pan or nonstick cake pan
Ingredients
cake
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup all purpose flour, measure by lightly spooning into your cup and leveling with the side of a knife.
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup finely ground hazelnuts, measure them after grinding
- 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed golden brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granualted white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp buttermilk
icing
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/3 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, or more if needed to stiffen the frosting
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp buttermilk, or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ground hazelnuts for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan (or nonstick cake pan with a round of parchment paper at the bottom.)
- Melt the chocolate on the defrost setting, or 50% power of your microwave. (Or over a bowl of simmering water)
- Mix the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda into a small bowl along with the ground hazelnuts.
- Cream the butter using a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add both sugars and beat until fluffy.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as you go to get everything incorporated evenly.
- Beat in vanilla, then the melted chocolate.
- Add dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk in 2 additions each, beating just until blended after each addition.
- Spread the batter into the pan and take a minute to get it even from side to side. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, Cool cake in pan on a rack. Note: Don’t over bake: this cake goes from moist to dry quickly ~ pull it as soon as a tester comes out with moist crumbs, not clean.
Frosting
- Melt the chocolate gently and let it cool until just warm. Beat the butter until creamy, then mix in the powdered sugar and cocoa. With the mixer on low, slowly add the melted chocolate, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla, mixing just until smooth and fluffy. Add more sugar for a stiffer frosting, and more buttermilk for a silkier texture.
- Spread thickly on cooled cake and top with crushed hazelnuts.
Notes
Nutrition
more cakes made with ground nuts
Mocha Hazelnut Cake
My mocha hazelnut cake has a cloud-like softness with the crunch of toasted hazelnuts ~ serve it for breakfast, brunch, tea time, or dessert!
Flourless Walnut Cake with Fresh Figs
This three-ingredient flourless walnut cake is topped with fresh figs and fluffy whipped cream!
Almond Ricotta Cake
Italian almond ricotta cake is a new favorite of mine, the flavor and texture are irresistible!
Flourless Tangerine Cake
My Flourless Tangerine Cake is made with whole tangerines and almond flour in the Italian tradition ~ it's impossibly moist and bursting with citrus flavor, like biting into a fresh tangerine!
Almond Flour Brownies
Almond Flour Brownies are the most decadent, rich, chocolatey brownies of your dreams ~ and they just happen to be gluten free!
Almond Flour Banana Cake
We all have that one banana bread recipe we swear by. This isn’t that. Almond flour banana cake is softer, more tender, and just happens to be gluten and dairy-free. (You’ll be back for seconds.)
Forgot to rate it!
Thank you Susan!
Made this cake as written, though used unsweetened chocolate, no icing (not a fan of sweet). Delicious! Not too sweet, velvety texture, deep chocolate flavor. Definitely going into my repertoire! Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
I’m considering using black walnut extract instead of vanilla for both the cake and frosting. Bad idea or delicious for a black walnut lover?
Hmmm, sounds pretty delicious to me, but then again, I’ve never had black walnut extract. I need to get some to try, I love the bitterness of walnuts 🙂
Thanks for the quick response! I decided to make a German Chocolate cake with black walnuts instead of pecans and black walnut extract in place of the vanilla. I will let you know how it turns out.
sounds really good to me 🙂
Followed recipe and cake turned out dry. My oven might be to blame. Is your cake usually moist? Otherwise, it was delicious.
It’s an older recipe, Trudy, but I remember loving it. As I recall it’s not super moist, but shouldn’t be at all dry, either. If you suspect your oven is not accurate I highly recommend getting an inexpensive oven thermometer ~ I’ve never had an oven yet that was spot on!
I found that 35″ made a dry cake, even with a gas oven. Also, I used salted butter instead of (reply suggested) salt.
SO. I don’t even like cake, ESPECIALLY not chocolate cake. BUT. I made this chocolate walnut cake for a friend’s birthday….anyhow, when I tried it SUDDENLY THE WHOLE WORLD STOPPED and the only thing that existed was me and this cake and I almost even cried a little because I knew that no matter what else I do in like it will never measure up to making this cake. And I took a few minutes to bask in its glory.
And I NEVER LEAVE BLOG COMMENTS but I had to make an exception because. This cake changed my life. I know I’m exaggerating but I’m also NOT EVEN.
Haha, I’m grinning from ear to ear 🙂
My grandma use to make us a Black walnut chocolate cake so if you like the bitter black walnuts are the way to go in my opinion.
I have only found black walnuts once, I wish they were more readily available, the flavor is amazing!
ps–I also added 1/4 tsp. salt which I think the cake needed.
This is such an intriguing cake thanks to the hint of bitterness from the walnuts–Made it yesterday and fwiw, i needed about 1 /1/2 cups of whole walnuts to create 3/4 cup “flour” plus I still had some left to garnish the cake–I made all the frosting which I amped up with about a tbs. more cocoa, plus more melted chocolate and a bit of instant espresso dissolved in the buttermilk. I wound up not needing it all but am sure I will put it to good use! Since I can’t stand overly sweet anything, I especially loved the idea of using buttermilk as the liquid for the frosting! My cake was a bit crumbly; I think I may had added a bit too much walnut flour which almost turned to nut butter on me and I think it became too compact–so watch out for that if you decide to make this delcious cake!
Thanks for the feedback Yael!
Made this for my Dad’s 50th birthday yesterday. It was LOVED by all. The perfect amount of chocolate without being too sweet! Delicious. Thanks for sharing!!
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday. It was wonderful and all the guests loved it. I also made the Tangerine Poppyseed substituting Tangelos since I couldn’t find any good Tangerine. It was all so good! Thanks for sharing your recipes!