Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

What's interesting about this cake is that it barely has any flour: only a couple tablespoons. Ground hazelnuts serve as a binding dry ingredient. The cake is not overly sweet and reminds me of European desserts. With hazelnuts and chocolate being two main ingredients I was expecitng it to taste a bit like Nutella. It didn't. It tasted like a mildly sweet, mildly chocolatey... cake. Don't expect brownie-like richness here either.

I lifted the recipe from Baking Illustrated, and those guys think that chocolate ganache would be an overkill. I think, however, that nice, glossy chocolate glaze (the type made with corn syrup, not necessarily rich ganache) would work well and give it a little more substance.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

1 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned (by rolling them between towels)
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup (200 gr) sugar
1 stick (110 gr) butter, softened
5 large eggs, separated, plus 1 egg yolk
6 oz (170 gr) dark chocolate - the best quality you can afford - melted and cooled
1/4 teaspoons salt
powdered sugar for dusting, if desired

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease (I use spray) a 9-in (23 cm) springform pan.

Process hazelnuts, flour and 1/4 cup of the sugar in food processor until finely ground. With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining sugar until fluffy. Add all yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in hazelnut mixture and chocolate.

In a separate bowl, whip eggs whites and salt to stiff peaks. Carefully fold 1/3 of the egg whites into chocolate batter, then another 1/3 and remaining egg whites. Be careful not to deflate the batter.

Bake 45-50 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack and dust with powdered sugar before serving.