I received so many wonderful birthday wishes on this blog, I can’t thank you all enough. I put up that post on a whim and it got a much greater response than I expected. Who knew I had so many foodie friends? I suppose it speaks to the power of food and its ability to connect us all, despite our differences. I suppose it also speaks to the power of the internet and its ability to connect us all, regardless of distance. For me, it took a quiet birthday and made it all the more special.
The following day was my actual “celebration”. I had my choice of restaurants and I chose Bertucci’s. I know we foodies are supposed to disdain chains in favour of the independent, chef-run restaurants, but I’ve developed a healthy appreciation for family chains. See, I have kids. And even relatively well-behaved kids, such as mine are, are always slightly loud and somewhat embarrassing in public. A chain restaurant like Bertucci’s gives me peace of mind. I know what I am getting into when I go, and the staff know what they are getting into when they take the job. The food is unspectacular but consistent, the service is quick and I don’t have to worry that I am foisting my children on folks looking for a quiet, romantic dinner. Bertucci’s, being a pasta chain, might seem like an unlikely choice for a diabetic, but I have a great meal picked out there. Tuscan chicken wings and grilled tuscan veggies. Both are very good and easy on my glucose levels.
We came home to presents and my birthday cake, baked by yours truly. I dreamed up this cake a few weeks ago and was very much looking forward to seeing how it played out. Two layers of coconut flour-based chocolate cake, with a layer of chocolate hazelnut cream and crunchy toasted hazelnuts and topped by a dark chocolate ganache. Would it live up to the cake in my imagination? Could a low carb, gluten free layer cake possibly be any good? Would my kids like it? Actually, who cares about the kids…as long as I liked it, I’d consider it a success.
The Results: And a success it was. And not just in a “well, it’s pretty good for a low carb, gluten free cake” way. Nope, this was really good cake all around. Thank goodness, as I really was looking forward to it and would have been horribly disappointed if it hadn’t worked out. The layers of cake were moist and held together well, the hazelnut cream in the middle was delicious, and you can’t go wrong with chocolate ganache. Perhaps my only complaint is that I wanted more hazelnut flavour. I’d bought a bottle of hazelnut extract and added to both the cake layers and the chocolate ganache, but it really didn’t come through. Only the hazelnut cream in the middle had any real hazelnut flavour. Still, I loved it and would recommend this cake to everyone, not just diabetics, low carbers and celiacs!
This is by no means the lowest carb dessert I’ve ever made, but hey, it was my birthday. I’d consider this a controlled indulgence.
Hazelnut Crunch Layer Cake
Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 eggs
1 tsp vanilla or hazelnut extract
1/2 tsp liquid stevia extract
3/4 cup almond milk
Hazelnut Cream:
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and husked
2 tbsp vegetable or nut oil
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp erythritol, preferably powdered
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup whipping cream
Chocolate Ganache:
5 oz high % cacao chocolate (I use Lindt 85%)
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup toasted, husked hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
For the cake, preheat the oven to 350F, and line two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Grease paper and sides of pan.
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together coconut flour, erythritol, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a larger bowl, beat eggs with vanilla or hazelnut extract and stevia extract until frothy. Add butter/cocoa mixture to eggs and beat until combined. Add half of coconut flour mixture and beat on low for a few moments, then add almond milk and beat in thoroughly. Add remaining coconut flour mixture and beat on low, then use a rubber spatula to stir and make sure all ingredients are well combined.
Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops are set and tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then flip out onto wire rack to cool completely.
For the hazelnut cream, grind hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground and beginning to clump together. Add remaining ingredients and continue to process until creamy and smooth, scraping down sides of processor with a rubber spatula as needed*.
In a small bowl, beat whipping cream until it forms soft peaks. Stir in hazelnut mixture until fully combined.
Spread hazelnut cream on one layer of cake, then sprinkle with 2 tbsp of chopped, toasted hazelnuts. Top with second layer of cake.
For the ganache, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until completely smooth. Pour about half over the top of prepared cake and spread with an offset spatula. Pour remaining ganache over top of prepared cake and spread to the edges, allowing some ganache to drip down the sides. Sprinkle with remaining chopped hazelnuts.
*Note: this is essentially homemade nutella. I made a larger batch of it a few days ahead, and when it came time to make the cake, I used about 1/2 – 3/4 cup to mix with the whipped cream. If you make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge, you will want to bring it to room temperature, or even a bit warmer by heating gently in your microwave, before mixing it into the whipped cream.
Serves 16. Each serving has a total of 9.9g of carbs and 3.9 g of fiber. Total net carbs (minus fiber and erythritol) is 6g.
Nikolina says
Will it work with a 26 cm pan?
Carolyn says
A square pan? It should but you may need to adjust the baking time.
Kerstin says
Hello,
I’ve a question. I’ve discovered this low carb blog a few days ago and I’m really looking forward to try one of this amazing recipes. But I’m a little confused because of the quantitative indications. How big should one cup be to get enough batter for the cake? How much gram or ounces of flour do I need for this cake? 2/3 cup seems very little to me if you take a regular cup. Could anybody explain it to me?
Thanks a lot.
Kerstin
Carolyn says
It is a standard American cup size and I can tell you’ve never worked with coconut flour before. Trust me, it absorbs SO much moisture. If you do more than the amount indicated here, you will have a stiff batter that won’t spread and your end result will be awful.
Kerstin says
Thanks for your answer. I’m from Austria and in our recipes there are mostly quantitative indications in gram. So for me it’s new not to know how much I need to take exactly ;-). I think a standard American cup is a tea cup?
Thanks again.
Amy Folger says
I made this cake and it was awesome!
I was wondering if there is other nutrition
information for this cake, especially
calories?
Thanks.
Carolyn says
Sorry, it’s quite an old recipe and I haven’t had time to go back and do all the calcs on this. You can enter all the ingredients into something like myfitnesspal to get a reading on it.
Abbey says
can I use regular sugar instead of erythritol for this recipe?
Carolyn says
Absolutely!
Pamela says
Hello fellow Torontonian! I have been consumed by your recipe and writing since starting a low carb lifestyle recently. I actually don’t think we can get Swerve in Canada yet (maybe put in a good word for us up here) but I waited until my CBS trip (that is cross boarder shopping for non Canadians) and picked up my order then proceeded to make this lovely creation of chocolaty goodness. I made it for my Birthday sans nuts but it turned out great. A little less sweet then expected even with the addition of a sprinkling of powdered swerve on the layers and a swerve and water syrup brushed on the layers. For the non lowcarb peeps the at first turned their noses up but after a few bites (and the addition of whipped cream)they actually enjoyed it! Many thought the cake was great not too sweet and you really got the chocolaty flavour. Thank you for your wonderful recipe. And thank you for this site! It mAkes lowcarb exciting and fun!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Pamela. And you can in fact get Swerve in Canada, through Low Carb Canada (a website). I wanted to order it for my mum, but they wouldn’t accept it because I am in the US. Annoying, but anyway…
Pamela says
Thanks for the tip on Low Carb Canada! When I don’t have time to take a trip south I will definitely check them out.
Thank you again for all your recipes!
Ena says
I tried it and I love it. I added more erythritol to the chocolate dressing. In the beginning the cake tasted like eggs but after leaving it in the fridge for a while it tasted good. You may need to add more erythritol to the cake as well.
Victoria Meyers- Vaccine Survivor says
Substitiutions? What about sugar or honey? also can the butter be subbed with coconut oil?
Carolyn says
Sure, feel free to try both those substitutions. I can’t guarantee them since I haven’t tried them myself.
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
omg this looks amazing! So glad I have finally found your site!
Letizia Golosa says
You had me at hazelnut!!! This cake looks divine!!!!
A little bit of everything says
So happy to hear you had a wonderful Birthday.
We also used to go to local restaurants but after I had Tiffany, we not visit the chain ones since they seem to care more about family with small kids and don't give you the look when your baby throws the food on the floor (it happened once, i was so embarrassed wish I could hide under the table)
The cake sounds heavenly. Love your home made Nutella version.
I'll have to give it a try soon. Thanks
Peter says
Happy belated birthday Carolyn! Everything about this cake is an arrow of love in my wife's heart.
Yes, that's right, with these kinds of ingredients I have a direct route to her heart. truth be told, I already do, but oh this cake will make her melt!
Thank-you, I can't wait to try this.
~Peter
Sommer J says
Happy belated birthday, Carolyn!!!! This cake looks amazing!! What a great cake to bake for yourself. I love chocolate and hazelnuts together…so does my youngest- he turns 2!
I understand why you would go to a chain restaurant. I try to avoid restaurants on a whole because 2 of my 3 are ok behaved. my youngest thinks he is a ninja and I am starting to believe so, too. He can not keep still…and he LOVES carb *sigh* glad you had a great day! This recipe will make a lot of people's day I am sure 🙂
A Little Yumminess says
Happy birthday! With this cake any birthday would be happy. You are such a talent in the kitchen
Jennifer says
Happy Belated Birthday greetings. What gorgeous photos! You amaze me!
Malli's Mint and Mimosas says
An Absolutely gorgeous cake!! The chocolate lover in me is wanting to take a bite:)
Julia says
Happy belated Birthday! And your cake looks absolutely super-delicious!
Dimah says
Wow!!! That looks incredible
All That's Left Are The Crumbs says
I love the combination of hazelnuts and chocolate. I think the hazelnut is a very underutilized ingredient, which is a shame. I haven't heard of Bertucci's but it certainly sounds good. I am glad that you enjoyed your birthday.