I absolutely love chocolate cake, there's nothing better than treating yourself and getting, as they say "chocolate wasted". I've been thinking of different type of chocolate cakes, I'm used to the sponge sandwiched in-between ganache variety but thought I would try something slightly different. With a jar of Nutella in my cupboard that needed to be uses asap, I wanted a lovely chocolate hazelnut cake and whilst I'm using the famous chocolate hazelnut spread, the pairing of ground almonds made this cake a refreshing and "lighter" change to all the chocolate cakes I have used. The results is a light, incredibly chocolately, moreish and velvety cake. I found it difficult, if not impossible to stick to one slice, so 3 slices later, I can tell you, you will adore this.
Recipe for Flourless Nutella Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
5 eggs, separated
130g butter, softened
200g Nutella
200g ground almonds
130g caster sugar
For the Ganache
100g dark chocolate
2 tbsp semi skimmed milk
50g icing sugar
You will need a 9 inch spring form tin and a hand held mixer.
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and using a hand held mixer, whisk until soft peaks are formed. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs yolks and whisk again. Fold in the Nutella, ground almonds and finally the egg white until the cake mixture is glossy and chocolatey. Pour the mixture in the cake tin and bake on the top shelf of the oven for 30-35 minutes. To check whether the cake is cooked, insert a skewer, in the middle and this should come out clean.
Leave to cool on a cooling rack and get on with making the icing. In a saucepan, gently heat the dark chocolate, milk and icing sugar, be careful not to burn and the chocolate should be glossy. When the cake is cooled, pop in the fridge for 15 minutes, this to make the cake extra cold and prevents crumbs when pouring the ganache on top. Pour the chocolate ganache over the top and smooth with the palette knife. Enjoy.