“Small Plates and Sweet Treats” Gluten-free chocolate hazelnut & buckwheat cake
POSTED ON December 21, 2012
Aran Goyoaga’s Chocolate hazelnut & buckwheat cake
For some time now I have wanted to cook and post a recipe from Aran Goyoaga’s lovely cookbook, Small Plates and Sweet Treats: My family’s journey to gluten-free cooking. When I spotted this cake in the winter section of “sweat treats,” I thought it sounded delicious; if some of you are still looking for the perfect ending to your holiday feast, this might be it!
The cake is light, moist, perfectly sweet and has a lovely silky texture from the combination of melted chocolate and yogurt. I love the subtle coconut flavor the coconut oil and coconut sugar imparts. I also should say that I made it with dark (70%) chocolate instead of bittersweet so it was even less sweet. I thought it was perfect and happily ate it plain, but it could be dressed up with whipped cream and raspberries if you want to serve it for dessert.
I wrapped a few slices to give away and just as Aran suggests, the rest improved overnight. If you are looking for a gift for the gluten free person in your life, I think this would be great!
Wishing all you lovely readers a wonderful solstice, new year and the happiest of holidays!
Xxx
P.S. the lovely cloth in the photos is from Transylavanian images.
Small Plates and Sweet Treats
cake interior
recipe and ingredients
folding in hazelnuts
cake and recipe
Chocolate hazelnut & buckwheat cake
From Small Plates and Sweet Treats by Aran Goyoaga
Creator of cannelle et vanille
Makes one 8-inch cake
½ cup (30g) hazelnuts
6 ounces (170g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used dark 70%)
½ cup (125ml) coconut oil
4 eggs, separated
½ cup (100g) coconut palm sugar, divided
½ cup (80ml) plain whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (75g) hazelnut flour
¼ cup (35g) buckwheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 5 to 7 minutes, until fragrant. Using a dry kitchen towel, rub the hazelnuts together to remove their skins. Cool then coarsely chop them.
In a medium bowl, combine chocolate and coconut oil. Place bowl over a pot filled part way with simmering water and melt the contents over the water bath. Let it cool slightly.
In a large bowl whisk together egg yolks and half of the coconut sugar. Add the yogurt, vanilla, melted chocolate mixture, hazelnut flour, buckwheat flour and salt. Whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until they form semi stiff peaks. Sprinkle with remaining sugar while continuously whipping. Whip to stiff peaks. Fold one third of the egg whites into the yolk chocolate base to lighten it. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, then fold in chopped hazelnuts.
Line the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan with a parchment circle. Brush with oil or butter. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the center is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake it as the chocolate will burn. Allow to cool slightly before inverting onto a cooling rack.
POSTED IN Dessert, Gluten free
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I love Aran’s use of unusual, nut-based flours in the book. I’ve been inspired to try chestnut and hazelnut so far and was SO impressed by the results. Love your sweet, individually wrapped slices of this rich cake too. Thanks for another wonderful post and happy holiday to you 🙂
Hi Amy,
I was wondering what your suggestions are if I wanted to make this vegan.
Happy Holidays!
This did cross my mind, but you would change the cake completely as there are 4 eggs. Happy Holidays to you too!
Thanks, it looks yummy! I don’t have coconut palm sugar, can I use barley malt syrup instead? What do you think about this sweetener?
You could use maple sugar or another dry sweetener. Barley malt is wet and would be heavy in a cake, but it’s nice for other things!
happy baking!
Looks wonderful! Sorry for another substitution question, but I have a whole bag of almond flour in my freezer — do you think that would sub for the hazelnut flour if no other changes were made?
Yes I think it would work well. You could put chopped toasted almonds in in place of the hazelnuts too.
Let me know how you like it!
I made it for new years with the almond flour and chopped toasted almonds — it worked perfectly, totally delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks!
Is that cocoa powder you have sprinkled on top or something else? I just made this cake and it looks great except for some small cracking on the top. Can’t wait to taste it tonight!
Yes, I dusted some coca on top. Will adjust recipe. Enjoy!
What a great recipe! Will definitely be trying this soon.
I’m delighted to discover your beautiful blog! I’m a huge fan of this cookbook and love everything I’ve made from it so far – haven’t tried this cake yet, though, and am excited to do so. , too, have almonds/almond flour on hand and will try that version. Your photos are very enticing. Thank you for sharing!
Wow, as a gluten free dark chocolate lover this recipe is sweet sweet heaven to me! Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe ! Very nice idea to include buckwheat ! I’m French and I leave in Britanny near SAINT MALO so, recipe with buckwheat, I love it ! Anne-Sophie :-=
Can you use coconut yogurt instead of the whole milk yogurt? I cant have dairy and this look so good. I found a great one that resembles whole milk yogurt (Anita’s – sold at Union Market). What do you think?
I love Anita’s yogurt and just got some from Union Market. I think you could substitute it. Please do let me know how the coconut yogurt works out.
Thanks!
Amy x
thanks so much – I’ll let you know. Also is there a dairy free without
refined sugar dark choc that you recommend?