This easy German Chocolate Hazelnut torte recipe is from my mother in law in Germany. Chocolate hazelnut torte is made with a wee bit of rum, bread (stale if you got it), eggs, butter and sugar.
Chocolate hazelnut torte is easy to make and also one of the moistest cakes that I have ever eaten.
Easy German Chocolate Hazelnut Torte
I'm not a big baker or sweets eater but this chocolate hazelnut torte recipe has my heart.
It's simple to make and easy to eat. We eat it as is, no glaze or powdered sugar because it's just that good.
Having said that, a dollop of fresh whipped cream would really do the trick in leveling this hazelnut torte up a notch.
Use Old or Stale Bread For Chocolate Hazelnut Torte
This German chocolate hazelnut torte is made with stale bread. Above I show a picture of some old stale bread that I pulled from my freezer. Any bread will work even end pieces.
If you have fresh bread, you will want to toast it before running it through the food processor.
The point is: don't worry about the bread component too much. Use whatever bread you have on hand.
My MIL's chocolate hazelnut torte recipe actually called for Zweibach for the bread but we can't find it easily here.
Use A Scale For Baking Hazelnut Torte If Possible
Use a scale! Baking can be very specific.
2 pieces of bread for me could weigh different than 2 pieces of bread for you. Same with sugar (depending on type) and hazelnuts or chocolate (depending on how you measure).
The eggs can be 5 large or 6 medium. The total weight in shell should be about 10 ounces.
Cake VS. Torte
What's the difference between a cake and a torte? Torte's generally have little to no flour, a heavy nut base, and sometimes breadcrumbs. They are denser and have little if any rising.
This Chocolate Hazelnut torte could also be called a cake. It has more torte qualities but I call it a cake sometimes because my mother in law calls it Haselnuss Schokoladen Kuchen (cake).
Chocolate Hazelnut Torte Tips
Don't skip the rum in this torte recipe. It takes it over the top.
Use any chocolate you like. I use 42% or 60% semi sweet chocolate baking chips. My mother in law uses a regular bar of chocolate.
Things In My Kitchen:
- Offset Spatula - for leveling up the top of the cake or adding whipped cream.
- Scale - for being precise which is so important in baking.
- 9" Springform Cake Pan - to make it easy to get the sides away from the pan with no effort.
- 8 cup Food Processor - affordable, got all the attachments, fantastic reviews.
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German Chocolate Hazelnut Torte
This easy and authentic German Chocolate Hazelnut torte recipe is from my mother in law in Germany. Chocolate hazelnut torte is made with a wee bit of rum, bread (stale if you got it), eggs, butter and sugar.
- Prep Time: 30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 10
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: German
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz (~2 big pieces), stale or toasted bread, pulverized
- 7 oz (~ 1 ¼ cups) whole hazelnuts, pulverized
- 3.5 oz (~½ cup) 42% - 60% semi - sweet chocolate chips, pulverized
- 5 large (6 medium) eggs (~ 10 oz in shell)
- 8 oz unsalted butter (~ 2 sticks), soft (room temperature)
- 9 oz sugar (~ 1 cup)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoon dark rum
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Butter a 9" springform pan.
- Pulverize the bread into crumbs in a food processor (see picture above for consistency). Place breadcrumbs in a bowl and pulverize the hazelnuts next and add to bowl. Pulverize chocolate next and add to bowl. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl: beat eggs and add add butter and sugar. Whip until frothy (a couple minutes). The mixture will look slightly frothy but will also still have some butter chunks. It's all good.
- Fold in the bread crumbs, hazelnuts, chocolate, baking powder, and rum. It will be a thick mixture.
- Spoon into 9" springform pan and make the top level.
- Bake 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool ~ 15 minutes. Gently run a butter knife along the sides of the pan if anything is stuck and remove from pan.
- Serve immediately or allow to cool some more (my favorite!). Happy eating! Beckie
Notes
- Don't have old bread? Cool, just toast your fresh bread
- Have a chocolate bar instead of chips? No problem, just get the amount right by weight and substitute the chocolate that you have.
- Don't have rum? Cool try brandy.
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