Chocolate and Nut Cake

This summer in Italy - Piemonte - I've eaten a cake made with nuts instead of flour. I really liked it. So when I saw the recipe of a chocolate and nut cake on the net (La Tartine Gourmande), I immediately wanted to try it. I must also say that the pictures from the blog were so inviting... Take a look.

Chocolate and Nut Cake

La Tartine Gourmande

3 large eggs
1/3 cup (80 g) blond cane sugar
a pinch of sea salt
4.5 oz (125 g) dark chocolate, chopped coarsely
6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, diced
1/3 cup hazelnut flour
1/3 cup almond meal
flour, to coat the mold
confectioner’s sugar, to dust

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F and butter an 8-inch (21 cm) round mold. Coat with flour and tap the excess out; set aside.

2. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl. 

3. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and let melt, stirring.

4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with sugar and salt until the preparation has tripled in volume — for 8 minutes.

5. Fold in the almond meal and hazelnut flour.

6. Fold in the melted chocolate.

7. Transfer this batter to the mold and bake the cake for 30 minutes. 

8. Let rest for 5 minutes and unmold carefully.

9. When ready to serve, dust with confectioner’s sugar. The cake should stay moist inside.

NB: My cake looked flatter than the one on the blog's picture. So I was a little worried. But it was very good: light, airy, and moist. Exactly how I was expecting it.