This is such a pretty beautiful cake and surprisingly easy to make – the combination of chocolate and hazelnut is such a wonderful marriage. We added almond essence but if you don’t like that almond note just leave it out.
Chocolate Hazelnut loaf cake
This is such a pretty beautiful cake and surprisingly easy to make – the combination of chocolate and hazelnut is such a wonderful marriage. We added almond essence but if you don't like that almond note just leave it out.
Takes 1 hourhour
Serves 8
Ingredients
150gself raising flour
100ghazelnuts
150gcaster sugar
120 mlnon dairy milk
120gplant based butter
2tbspground flax seeds
pinchsalt
1/2tspalmond extract
Chocolate Coating
200gdark chocolate
80gplant based butter
50ghazelnuts for garnish
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Add the ground flax seeds to a bowl and add in 6 tbsp of water and mix well and leave to sit to make a flax egg which will help bind the cake together.
Add all the hazelnuts (150g) to a baking tray and put in the oven for 15 mins until golden. Remove from the oven and add to a dry clean tea towel and bring the ends of the towel together so the hazelnuts are all covered. Carefully rub the hazelnuts in the towel until the skins come off the nuts. Remove ⅔ of the nuts without their skin and add to a food processor and blend until they reach a coarse flour like texture.
Add the butter to a saucepan and melt at a medium temperature.
In a large bowl add the flour, hazelnut flour, sugar, pinch of salt and mix. In the saucepan with the melted butter add the soaked flax seeds, almond extract if using and non dairy milk and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
Line a 1lb baking tin with baking parchment and pour in the batter ensuring to smoothen the top.
Bake in the preheated oven at 170 degrees for 45-50 mins until the skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool fully.For the chocolate coating, cut the butter into cubes and add to a clean saucepan. Cut the chocolate into small pieces and add to the butter. Heat on medium heat stirring constantly until melted.
Carefully pour over the cooled cake ensuring you have a full coating.
Take the remaining toasted hazelnuts and cut in half and carefully place around the cake, any remaining hazelnut dust sprinkle over the top until it looks like the picture. Cut and enjoy, this is a real beauty!
