Low Carb Flourless Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake

[Sherrie]

This is really yummy, it is not a high cake but don't let size fool you, it is very calorie dense and yummmm. Ryan loves it straight out of the fridge but you're meant to bring it to room temp before eating. I like to bring mine to room temp and then chuck in the oven for a few minutes so the ganache is goey (shown in photo). You don't have to use the ganache it is said to be fine without served with cream, berries and a dusting of cocoa powder. This is a de-carbed recipe by Belinda Jeffery and she is my new found favourite chef!

This is my breakfast this morning:



Low Carb Flourless Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake

180g Lindt 85% broken into smallish peices (6.3 oz)
5 large eggs, separated
240g hazelnuts (8.4oz)
1 cup splenda or equiv (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
120g unsalted butter, cubed (4.5oz)
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 180C (356F) and roast hazel nuts for around 10-15 minutes until skins start to split, turn off oven and cool for a few minutes then grab a handful and rub them in your hands so the skins come off. Remove skins as best as you can but don't worry if they don't completely come off. chuck these in the freezer for a while so they get really cold and then grind them in small batches being careful that you don't grind them too much or they will start to turn into a paste!

Preheat oven to 180C (356F)

Place chocolate, butter in a big metal bowl and melt. I like to do this over just boiled water, but you could just do it on the stove over simmering water. Sometimes I will need to replace with freshly boiled water near the end just to smooth it out more. Stir in splenda and let chocolate cool

Whisk egg whites with salt until soft peaks form and set aside.

In a small bowl give the yolks a quick whisk then add the yolks to the chocolate whisking as you go, then add the hazelnuts. Stir in one third of the egg whites then fold in half of the remaining egg white and then the other half.

Scrape into a greased spring form pan and chuck in oven for around 30-35mins until centre is firm and springy. Cool in pan.

Ganache

250g lindt 85% (8.8oz)
125g butter (4.4oz)
50ml water (1.7 fl oz)
You could add say a tablespoon of splenda to take the edge off if you need

Melt the same way as before until smooth being careful not to over heat, immediately remove once smooth. You might not need to use it all, just store the rest in an airtight container and chuck in fridge or eat it by the spoon like I did

Let ganache cool until a thick consistency then spread over cake. Belinda suggests doing a crumb coat first where you spread a thin coat over first, chill and then re-coat. This is said to help achieve a smooth coat.

Ok the counts, now this is calorie dense so I suggest having it for a meal rather then a snack or use for special occasions, makes a great breaky!

You could get 12 - 16 slices out of this, I did 12. You could lower the carb count a little more by using splenda tabs or liquid splenda. e.g. one cup of splenda is 23.2g whilst 50 tablets is 3.8g. Stevia is also less in carbs.



Counts without the ganache:

Total:

3705 calories
97.8g protein
351.8g fat
75.6g carbs

12 serves

per serve:

309 cal
8g protein
29.4g fat
6.3g carb

16 serves

per serve:

232 cal
6g protein
22g fat
4.7g carbs

With Ganache:

Total:

5929 cal
126.4g protein
569.2g fat
123.7g carb

12 serves

per serve:

494 cals
10.5g protein
47.4g fat
10.3g carbs

16 serves

per serve:

403 cal
8.6g protein
35.5g fat
7.7g carb