Deliciously tender low carb hazelnut cake with chocolate chips and a sugar-free chocolate glaze.
As you read this, Hurricane/Megastorm/Frakenstorm Sandy is barreling up the East Coast, and we are all under orders to stay home and hunker down. My kids have no school of course, much to my chagrin. We spent a restless Sunday already cooped up too much indoors, and I am kicking myself now for not getting them outside more while I could. It was wet, but not so much that we couldn’t have run around a little more and worked out some of that excess energy. Another day at home inside with all three is going to tax all of my inner strength. It always sounds like a charming prospect, everyone cozy at home, snuggling together while a storm rages outside. But those of you with small children know the reality, which is more along the lines of little monkeys swinging from the chandeliers while harried, exhausted parents try to come up with yet another activity to burn up half an hour and keep them from bickering and tearing the house to shreds.
I know I shouldn’t complain. I know that many of you are likely in the same position and feeling much the same way. And those of you directly affected by the storm and its chaos, I hope and pray you are safe and sound. I hope we all are. I hope we all get through this as unscathed as possible. And for those of you cooped up with small children, if your house hasn’t fallen due to wind and rain, I hope it hasn’t been completely torn apart by your kids! I know that this is serious and dire, and I shouldn’t joke about how my kids drive me crazy in the face of a national emergency. But humour gets me through good times and bad, so I will throw myself upon your mercy and hope you will forgive me.
And then I will distract you with cake. And what a glorious cake it is. Really, truly glorious. I originally envisioned it as a loaf cake, and I also envisioned it with cocoa powder in the batter, to make it chocolate all the way through. But as is my wont, I changed horses mid-stream and found myself buttering a bundt pan and chopping up chocolate to sprinkle throughout. I skipped the cocoa powder for the batter, and I am glad now I did. I find that hazelnut flour can easily be overpowered in flavour, and I wanted the hazel-nuttines to shine through. To that end, I emphasized it as much as possible, going with some hazelnut oil and hazelnut extract in addition to the flour.
And then, of course, I made a rich chocolate ganache and drizzled it over the top of the cake and down the sides. And I got the action shots to prove it. There is something about bundt cake that cries out for glaze. I’ve seen them without glaze, but I’ve never made one myself. Indeed, I think I would be incapable of making a bundt cake without glaze. Truth be told, the flavour of this cake was so good, it would have been fine without the chocolate glaze. Less decadent, yes, but really good nonetheless. But I just couldn’t resist the pull of chocolate oozing down the sides. Which took it from tea cake to dessert in a matter of moments.
And I’m thinking that as long as Sandy hasn’t knocked out my power, making this again would be a very productive use of my day.
Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups hazelnut flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
- ⅓ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ½ cup Swerve Sweetener or granulated erythritol
- ¼ cup hazelnut oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon hazelnut extract
- 20 drops stevia extract
- ½ cup almond milk
- 1, 3.5- oz high cacao chocolate bar gluten-free, chopped
Chocolate Glaze:
- 5 tablespoon butter
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 2 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener or powdered erythritol
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 15 drops stevia extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoon hazelnut oil
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a bundt pan very well, making sure to get in all crevices.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together hazelnut flour, whey protein, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and Swerve until lightened. Beat in hazelnut oil, eggs, hazelnut extract and stevia extract.
- Beat in hazelnut flour mixture in two batches, alternating with almond milk, until well combined.
- Stir in chopped chocolate.
- Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until browned and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan 20 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze:
- Melt butter, chocolate, and powdered Swerve together in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth.
- Stir in cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and stevia extract. Mixture will thicken considerably.
- Stir in hazelnut oil until mixture smooths out and is pourable.
- Pour over cooled cake and let set 1 hour.
Rebecca says
Love this recipe. I know it’s an old one and I’m late to the game. But it’s still fabulous. I use a monk fruit/allulose blend and no Stevia. I haven’t bothered with the hazelnut extract either. The flour and oil seem to impart enough of a hazelnut flavor. Just delicious. I am looking at converting it to a dairy free recipe for my cousin who has a severe allergy. Any suggestion for a substitute for the whey protein? She is not vegan. Much appreciated. Your recipes are great.
Carolyn says
You can use egg white protein (pretty expensive these days!) or a plant based protein (as long as it’s not green in color… a few of the pea proteins are).
Lane says
I too just found your recipe today. I just baked a single layer chocolate cake and my daughter would like a chocolate frosting. Now, since I want to be lazy today, I was wondering if I could use some keto chocolate hazelnut spread on it.
Carolyn says
Sure, sounds good.
Ann says
This hazelnut cake is absolutely delicious and on point. Wowwww! It’s tender, moist and full of hazelnut flavour. I didn’t have the hazelnut extract and it was still amazing. The chocolate glaze takes it over the top!! Love all your recipes!
Anu says
I can’t believe this recipe is 8 years old and I have only just found it – what a treat! Hazelnut and chocolate are two of my favourite flavours so I knew this had to be made asap, and I sourced most of the ingredients beforehand. The only thing I could’t get hold of was hazelnut extract and I didn’t have any almond milk on hand, so I diluted 12ml double cream with water to make up the 1/2 cup of almond milk required, and it seemed to work fine. For the hazelnut extract, I used vanilla extract instead, as recommended, and I don’t think it made a noticeable difference. My glaze wasn’t half as gorgeous as yours, but oh my goodness, the whole thing put together is SO delicious! I sprinkled some crushed hazelnuts on top (basically to mask my ugly decorating… how I could mess up the appearance of something like a simple glaze is beyond me.. lol) so the end result looked quite acceptable, and it was delicious eaten on its own as well as with some creme fraiche. Oh I should add I did increase the sweetener (erythritol and Stevia) in both the cake and the glaze to suit our tastes, and also added 1 tablespoon of yacon syrup to the glaze… divided between 12 servings it was totally worth the extra carbs! This cake has one of the best crumbs I have ever had in a low carb cake and is neither too dry nor moist (I baked for 40 minutes)… just wonderful. I wish I had some keto vanilla ice cream to go with it! Thankfully, I do have your book, so if I don’t inhale the cake too soon, I might just make that ice cream in time! Thank you so much for this great recipe – bundt cakes are so much fun.
Kathy Hildebrand says
Hi, I can’t eat erithrotol. if i use powdered stevia in a smaller amount for the swerve, will it throw off the moisture balance?
Carolyn says
It should be fine for the cake… but I think the glaze is going to be awfully bitter with just stevia. Stevia and chocolate don’t do well together!
Angela P. says
Hi Carolyn,
Let me start by saying I absolutely love your recipes. Could you please tell me what is your go to stevia drop brand is? I purchased a few in the past and I threw them all out, really bad taste… Anyways, greatly appreciate it..
Carolyn says
Well I don’t really use it anymore, to be honest. My son has appeared to develop an allergy. But I used to use NuNaturals. You can use that or you can simply sub another 1/4 cup Swerve.
Nadine says
Hi! I am hoping to try this delicious looking cake for a friend with gestational diabetes. Does your nutrition calculation include the ganache?
Thank you!
Carolyn says
Sure does!