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.
Wendy Shelledy says
I make this every year for my birthday (tomorrow). Its my favorite! But be warned: its probably the richest, darkest, most decadent thing you ever tasted!
Kate says
This was amazing!! Hubby doesn’t love walnuts so I used almond flour (weighed it out) and it came out so good and fudgy with such a depth of chocolate flavor. I was worried I overlooked as it wasn’t wet on top but it was still fabulous. All your recipes are always so successful.
PennyC says
I just made this cake, and it looks incredible, but I just realized that I never used the coconut oil (sub for walnut oil). I’m reviewing the recipe now, and I still don’t see where it would be used. Help!
Ellen says
I made this for my anniversary and even my teen said it was really good. Now that’s success! Used Ghirardelli cocoa and unsweetened chips. I used Lily’s for the ganache. It was excellent!
Julee Tarver says
Absolute perfection. I am surprised that so people had issues with this cake. I used Swerve Granular. Like Carolyn I do not get an aftertaste. I weighed my walnuts, used a really good Dutch Cocoa powder and I always use Choc-Zero dark baking chips. It is amazing recipe, thank you!
Carolyn says
Great to hear!
Wendy Shelledy says
making this for my birthday!
Colleen Prusha says
So rich. So good. Perfect sweetness. Easy to make and 10 star worthy. I made this the same day I made the lemon blueberry cake (also 10 star) and we could not decide which one was better. I served half portions of each together, 2 days in a row and we still couldn’t decide our favorite. I froze the rest in 1 portion pieces for easy access daily. I followed the recipe as written. I may take it out of the oven a minute or 2 earlier next time. I think erring on the side of underdone is better than overdone. Thanks for these wonderful recipes, Carolyn!
Stacy says
Carolyn, does this mean either 2 tablespoons of walnut oil or 4 tablespoons of butter? Looks delicious!
Carolyn says
No, it’s 1/4 cup butter AND 2 tbsp walnut oil or two more tbsp butter.
Julia says
Great recipe! I am not very good with baking, but this was easy and it turned out very well. Thank you!
Diana says
The tbsp of coffee is the liquid to smooth out the chocolate/egg/butter mixture??
Carolyn says
Yes… watch the video, it will show you.
Aggie Ny says
Does anything else enhance the chocolate flavor besides coffee?
I do not like the taste or smell of coffee. Thank you
Carolyn says
You can skip it.
Olivia says
If you use walnut flour instead of walnuts, what would the measurement be for that you think?
Carolyn says
I can’t say for sure but I suggest googling the weight of a cup of walnuts and figuring it out from there.
Jay says
The Swerve left a terrible aftertaste. Did not care for this recipe…too chocolate also. I didn’t know there was such a thing as I love chocolate. Maybe another sweetness would work but won’t waste the ingredients again.
Carolyn says
Sorry it didn’t do it for you! But please do understand that many of us get no aftertaste at all with Swerve.
Cathy Bogle says
OMG OMG OMG! Carolyn, this was amazing! I only ever make your recipes now as they always turn out well. But this torte is so delicious that it is in a class of its own. Thank you for this. I substituted SugarLike for Swerve as I prefer it and I put pecans on top instead of walnuts, but otherwise followed it exactly. I used a springform pan and it came out nicely. It looks very fancy and I will be having it at our Thanksgiving dinner this weekend. Thanks again 🙂
Cathy
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Barbara T says
I made this for the first time and although it was deliciously fudgey I did not like the bits of walnut that were present. Should I have ground the walnuts to get as fine as store bought almond flour (Costco) is Carolyn?
Isabel H says
The best chocolate flour less cake I’ve ever had. Thank you so much Carolyn for all your wonderful Keto recipes.
I have made so many of your recipes and all of them have been so good. I have a friend is allergic to walnuts can we substitute it for hazelnuts? I know walnuts has more fat than hazelnuts.
Carolyn says
Any nut will work.
KeelyJo says
Currently waiting on this to cool so I can try it! Does this need to be stored in the refrigerator or can it be kept on the counter in an airtight container?
Carolyn says
Should be okay on the counter for 3 days or so.
Bill says
This sounds amazing. I’d like to make it dairy-free for a friend. Do you know of a sub I could use for the cream in the glaze? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Coconut cream should be fine but it needs a bit more of the chocolate to thicken properly.
Penny Kemp says
I have just made this, it’s in the oven as we speak. I used mixed nuts as I had some left over from xmas to use up, I also used Natvia which is a mix of stevia and erythritol, apart from that I stuck to the recipe. Although I cannot comment on the finished product, I know its going to be good because I licked the bowl clean and the taste was amazing. I am so happy that I can have these kind of treats eating low carb. Thanks so much for sharing.
Carolyn says
Thanks, Penny. Enjoy it!
Fara says
Thanks so much Carolyn for this recipe! I made this today for my hubby’s birthday and it was a big hit. Everybody was wowed. I was hesitant to make it for today as it was my first attempt to make it but it was very well done. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Carolyn says
So glad everyone liked it!