Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Torte

I am a huge fan of chocolate and nuts, so when Bryan asked for a chocolate dessert, I quickly knew I wanted to make a torte since he has never tried one and he has all sorts of fancy gadgets like a food processor which I don’t have in my own apartment.

Although I do have another Hazelnut torte recipe, I wanted to try this flourless version from Epicurious.

Bryan: What, there’s no flour in this? *poke*
Chef Uy: Nope!
Bryan: But…where does the cake come from??? What sort of witchcraft is this??

The secret is the ground up roasted hazelnuts 🙂

Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Torte

Ingredients
Torte:
6 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
chopped 1 cup hazelnuts (about 4 ounces)
2/3 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
5 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients
Ganache:
4 ounce fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F.

Torte: In a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth, and cool. Spread hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan and toast in oven until they begin to turn pale golden, 10-12 minutes. Cool hazelnuts completely. Discard any hazelnut skins that rub off easily and transfer nuts to food processor; grind mixture fine.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and remaining 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in vanilla, salt, and melted chocolate. Beat in hazelnut mixture until combined well. In another large bowl with cleaned beaters beat whites with a pinch salt until they just hold stiff peaks. Fold in whites gently but thoroughly. Spread batter evenly in springform pan and bake in middle of oven 25-30 minutes. Cool torte completely in pan on a rack and remove side of pan.

Glaze:Put chocolate in a small metal bowl. In a small saucepan bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate. Stir glaze just until completely smooth and let stand until thickened slightly, about 20 minutes. Spread glaze evenly over top of torte.

Garnish top and bottom edge of torte with chopped hazelnuts and let torte stand until glaze is set, about 2 hours.

As always, I mix unsweetened chocolate to make it darker. This has a light cakelike texture. For next time, I might bake it a little less than 1/2 hr so it’s more molten in the center.

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