This chocolate hazelnut cake is soft, rich, and deeply chocolatey with a subtle nutty flavor from hazelnut flour. It has that moist, tender crumb you want in a chocolate cake, and the hot coffee makes the cocoa taste even deeper without making the cake taste overly like coffee.

It’s simple, cozy, and perfect as a single-layer cake with chocolate frosting, hazelnut buttercream, ganache, or even a whipped mascarpone frosting.

Estimated Yield: 1 8-inch single-layer cake (8–10 servings)

Ingredients

110 g all-purpose flour
55 g hazelnut flour
205 g granulated sugar
60 g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
125 g buttermilk
80 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp honey
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
½ tbsp vanilla extract
120 ml hot water or hot coffee

Make the Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, hazelnut flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until fully combined.
Add the buttermilk, melted butter, honey, egg, and egg yolk.
Whisk until the batter is just barely combined. It will be thick at this stage, so don’t worry.
Add the hot coffee or hot water, along with the vanilla.
Whisk until a smooth, glossy chocolate batter forms.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 40–50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan before removing and frosting.

Notes

For the richest flavor, use hot coffee instead of hot water. It won’t make the cake taste like coffee—it just deepens the chocolate.

Make sure the cake is fully cooled before frosting so the frosting stays smooth and doesn’t melt.

This cake pairs beautifully with chocolate ganache, hazelnut buttercream, Nutella-style frosting, or a simple whipped cream cheese frosting.

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