Low Carb Flourless Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake

I have been really enjoying the cream cheese muffin recipe from LCF for my breakfasts. I am currently debating between making another batch today or decarbing another yummy looking recipe thats a cross between cheesecake muffins and cake and yes you guessed it, it involves chocolate ;)

But anyway, last week I had something different for breakfast, something chocolaty and something surprisingly not rich despite all the 85% lindt chocolate, yet very satisfying!

But be warned, it is calorie dense and it is not ultra low carb, so do what I do and make it a meal such as breakfast, or save it for a treat. I cut mine into 12 slices, you could cut yours into 16 if you want, I have worked out the counts for both. The original cake is said to store in the fridge for 2 weeks. Do not eat this straight out of the fridge, always bring your peice down to room temperature first, I like to bring mine down to room temp then quickly put it in the oven just long enough to make the ganache all goey (shown in photo). I was thinking for the US visitors that you could probably bring the carb count down some more by using unsweetened bakers chocolate and a little extra sweetener, over here lindt 85% is the lowest you can find. Plus you could experiment with other sweeteners to bring the carb count down. Let me know how you go, we have a thread for it here. This is a de-carbed recipe by Belinda Jeffery and she is my new found favourite chef!


Low Carb Flourless Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake

serves 12 - 16, American conversions in brackets.

180g Lindt 85% broken into smallish peices (6.3 oz)
5 large eggs, separated
240g hazelnuts (8.4oz)
1 cup splenda or equiv (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
120g unsalted butter, cubed (4.5oz)
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 180C (356F) and roast hazel nuts for around 10-15 minutes until skins start to split, turn off oven and cool for a few minutes then grab a handful and rub them in your hands so the skins come off, don't be afraid to take them out early if you need. Remove skins as best as you can but don't worry if they don't completely come off. Chuck these in the freezer for a while so they get really cold and then grind them in small batches being careful that you don't grind them too much or they will start to turn into a paste!

Preheat oven to 180C (356F)

Place chocolate, butter in a big metal bowl and melt. I like to do this over just boiled water, but you could just do it on the stove over simmering water. Sometimes I will need to replace with freshly boiled water near the end just to smooth it out more. Stir in splenda and let chocolate cool

Whisk egg whites with salt until soft peaks form and set aside.

In a small bowl give the yolks a quick whisk then add the yolks to the chocolate whisking as you go, then add the hazelnuts. Stir in one third of the egg whites then fold in half of the remaining egg white and then the other half.

Scrape into a greased spring form pan and chuck in oven for around 30-35mins until centre is firm and springy. Cool in pan.

Ganache

250g lindt 85% (8.8oz)
125g butter (4.4oz)
50ml water (1.7 fl oz)
You could add say a tablespoon off splenda to take the edge of if you need

Melt the same way as before until smooth being careful not to over heat, immediately remove once smooth. You might not need to use it all (if you don't it will help bring down carb count if needed), just store the rest in an airtight container and chuck in fridge or eat it by the spoon like I did :p

Let ganache cool until a thick consistency then spread over cake. Belinda suggests doing a crumb coat first where you spread a thin coat over first, chill and then re-coat. This is said to help achieve a smooth coat.

Counts for cake with Ganache:

12 serves

per serve:

494 cals
10.5g protein
47.4g fat
10.3g carbs

16 serves

per serve:

403 cal
8.6g protein
35.5g fat
7.7g carb