This keto chocolate torte is made with heart-healthy walnuts. It’s one of the densest, moistest, richest low carb cakes you will ever eat. A little sliver is enough to satisfy!
Before we dive into this delicious recipe, we need to ask ourselves a very important question. A very important question, indeed.
What is the difference between a cake and a torte? See, I told you it was of the utmost importance!
When I first created this rich and chocolatey keto dessert, I automatically called it a torte. For no other reason than it simply seemed like a torte, rather than a cake. And it turns out I was onto something.
While there really is no clear definition of a torte, it’s usually a dense, rich cake made with ground nuts rather than flour, and with little to no leaveners like baking powder soda. They can have multiple layers with jam or buttercream or they can be a single layer.
This Keto Chocolate Torte definitely falls into the rich dense cake category. Yum!
Why you will love this recipe
If rich, sweet, chocolatey desserts are your jam, then this Chocolate Walnut Torte is for you!
It’s an easy one-layer keto chocolate cake that looks elegant enough for any occasion. And if you don’t like walnuts, you can use pecans, hazelnuts, or almonds. You can even use sunflower seeds if you need to be nut-free!
Prefer dairy-free? You can do that too! Simply replace the butter with any oil and swap the whipping cream for coconut cream.
And this amazing keto chocolate torte has only 3.8g net carbs per slice.
Ingredients you need
- Walnuts: I love walnuts for the base of this chocolate torte, but you can also do pecans, hazelnuts, almonds, or sunflower seeds.
- Sweetener: I prefer Swerve Sweetener for almost all of my baking, but any sweetener you like can work. Do be forewarned that the baking time may change if you use allulose.
- Cocoa powder: I recommend a good Dutched cocoa for a deep chocolate flavor.
- Butter: This chocolate torte would also be good with coconut oil or walnut oil.
- Unsweetened chocolate: I use Ghirardelli or Guittard, as I find that Baker’s brand tends to seize badly.
- Whipping cream: Use heavy whipping cream for the ganache, or unsweetened coconut cream for a dairy-free version.
- Sugar-free dark chocolate: This is not the same as unsweetened chocolate so make sure you don’t mix them up. I like ChocZero or Lily’s for this ganache.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, vanilla, baking powder, salt.
Step by step directions
1. Grind the nuts: In a food processor, process the walnuts until finely ground. Add the sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
2. Melt the chocolate: In a large saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then whisk in the vanilla extract. Add liquid and whisk until mixture smooths out.
3. Bake the torte: Stir in the walnut mixture until well combined. Spread the batter in prepared baking pan and bake 20 to 30 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still looks slightly wet.
4. Make the ganache: In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to just a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit to melt 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth.
5. Glaze the cake: Cool another few minutes to thicken, then pour the glaze over the cake, smoothing over the sides of the torte. Sprinkle the top with walnut pieces and chill until the chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes.
Expert tips
Make sure you line your cake pan with parchment so the torte is easy to flip out. But you still want to grease the both the pan and the parchment paper.
Don’t panic if your chocolate seizes and becomes gloppy when you add the eggs. This is very normal! It will smooth out as you add the warm liquid. Add only enough liquid until it’s smooth again.
Don’t overbake this torte. You want the edges to be well set, but the center should still look a bit wet. It will continue to cook a little after it’s out of the oven.
More delicious recipes with walnuts
Keto Chocolate Walnut Torte Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Torte:
- 5 ounces raw walnuts
- ¾ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 tablespoon walnut oil (or 2 more tablespoon butter)
- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 4 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 4 tablespoon leftover coffee or water warm, but not hot
Glaze:
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate chopped
- ⅓ cup walnut pieces
Instructions
Torte
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease a 9-inch round baking pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the paper.
- In a food processor, process the walnuts until finely ground. Add the sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
- In a large saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then whisk in the vanilla extract. Add liquid one tablespoon at a time and whisk until the mixture smooths out.
- Stir in the walnut mixture until well combined. Spread the batter in prepared baking pan and bake 20 to 30 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still looks slightly wet.
- Remove and let cool 20 in the pan, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the parchment paper.
Ganache
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to just a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit to melt 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth.
- Cool another few minutes to thicken, then pour the glaze over the cake, smoothing over the sides of the torte.
- Sprinkle the top with walnut pieces and chill until the chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes.
Bette says
What is “Rigoto” cake? Is this something new?
Carolyn says
Not sure what you are referring to. Do you mean Ricotta Cake?