Hazelnut Cocoa Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until fragrant and golden brown and skins are loosened. Rub nuts in a clean kitchen towel to remove skins, then coarsely chop.
• Brush a 9-by-2-inch square cake pan with butter. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter parchment, then dust with flour, tapping out excess. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingers, work butter into mixture until it has the texture of coarse meal. Remove and reserve 2/3 cup of mixture.
• Make a well in center of remaining mixture in bowl and add eggs, whisking to break up, then add yogurt and vanilla. Whisk to combine into a batter (you might see some small specks of butter; that's okay). Scrape about three-quarters of batter into prepared pan, then whisk cocoa into remaining batter. Dollop evenly over top and swirl with a toothpick or skewer.
• Return reserved flour-butter mixture to bowl and stir in hazelnuts until a granola-like mixture forms. Sprinkle over top of batter in pan, squeezing to create clumps. Bake until top of cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes.
• Using overhangs, lift out of pan and transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Cut into 12 squares. Cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the springform pan by coating it in a thin layer with 2 tablespoons of the softened butter. Add the cocoa powder to the pan and tap the sides to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Discard any excess cocoa powder. Put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven on the center rack until just fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a kitchen towel to stop them from cooking. Use the towel to rub off the skins. Set aside to cool. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Fill a 1- to 2-quart pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a bare simmer over medium heat. Place the dark chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl and set it over the pot and simmering water (this is a bain-marie). The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Let the chocolate melt, and then stir gently. Remove from the heat when melted.
• Chop the hazelnuts into small pieces using a chef's knife or a food processor. Make sure you don't turn them into powder. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer with the salt until they are almost at stiff peaks. Try not to over-whip. Mix together the remaining 5 tablespoons butter with the chocolate hazelnut spread in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in the espresso. Add the yolks and stir briskly to combine. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts and melted chocolate. Add one-fourth of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate hazelnut mixture and stir to lighten the batter. Then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter in 3 additions. Don't over-fold. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
• Bake on the center rack of the oven until the sides of the cake start releasing from edges of the pan, 40 minutes. This cake is almost a hazelnut fudge, so no need to poke with a toothpick to check if the inside is ready or not. The cake will come out of the oven nice and fluffy and souffled, but it will deflate to half the size during its cool-off period. Serve garnished with some powdered sugar and whipped or cream or gelato, if using.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Spray 8 small custard cups or souffle dishes with nonstick spray. Place on baking sheet.
• Heat chocolate and butter in large glass bowl resting over a pan of boiling water until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs 1 at a time, so that the eggs do not cook. Stir in Hazelnut extract and flour.
• Divide batter evenly among prepared and nonstick sprayed custard cups, about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full.
• Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 minute.
• Invert cakes onto dessert dishes and top with a little hazelnut liqueur and a spoonful of nutella on each lava cake.
• Serve immediately, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and chocolate shavings.