Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (Šamponeze Torta)
Chocolate hazelnut cake is a classic, rich, and decadent cake that's surprisingly easy to make! Known regionally as šamponeze torta, this luscious dessert is a perfect marriage of substance and delicacy. Shall we?
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Background
Think of hazelnut chocolate cake (šamponeze torta), as the lovechild of the meringue cake and our mom's classic chocolate walnut cake.
Being one of the most popular Balkan cakes, šamponeze was all the rage in 1980s Belgrade pastry shops where it was sold in cookie form with a pink button on top.
It consists of three layers of hazelnut-infused meringue, and classic cream (filling) made with high-quality ingredients like eggs, butter, and chocolate.
Hazelnut chocolate cake is the type of dessert that your grandmother served after dinner. A dessert after which you feel fully satiated and satisfied.
Ingredients
We love traditional cakes because they're made with pronounceable ingredients we already have in the pantry or fridge. This is exactly the case with the ingredients for today's chocolate hazelnut cake (šamponeze torta).
- Hazelnuts - roasted, peeled, and ground. Substitute, or mix, with walnuts. However, since the nuts carry most of the taste in this cake, the taste will be different. Walnuts are more 'earthy,' moist, and make the cake feel denser.
Important note: while regular hazelnuts are more affordable, it's worth spending a few bucks more for hazelnuts that have been roasted and peeled beforehand.
- Eggs - whites are used for this hazelnut chocolate cake, and yolks for the cream (filling). No substitutions! For the best results, leave eggs at room temperature or an hour or two before you plan to make the cake.
- Sugar - both the confectioner's and granulated white sugars are needed. Avoid substitutions.
- Butter - regular butter. Avoid butter substitutes.
- Chocolate - dark chocolate, baking chocolate, or chocolate chips will do the trick. (If you're feeling adventurous, try Milka or Hersey's milk chocolate, lower the sugar volume a bit, and report back!)
- Salt - just a pinch!
- Vinegar - just a tablespoon!
Instructions
Here are the instructions for today's chocolate hazelnut cake (šamponeze torta)!
Make the Cake
Step 1. Using a hand mixer, mix egg whites and a pinch of salt until the batter becomes frothy. Add sugar and continue mixing. Add vinegar and mix until you get stiff peaks. Heat oven to 300°F (150°C).
Step 2. Add ground hazelnuts to the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until completely integrated.
Step 3. Line a baking pan with baking paper, and divide into 3 equal rectangles. Transfer the cake batter to the rectangles ensuring equal distribution.
Step 4. Bake for 1 hour.
Step 5. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
Make the Cream (Frosting and Filling), Parallel to the Baking
Step 1. Make a double boiler (water bath) on the stove. Take one pot, fill it ½ with water, and bring to a boil.
Step 2. Add a mixing bowl with yolks, water, and confectioner's sugar on top. Mix with a hand mixer until eggs and sugar integrate and turn pale yellow.
Step 3. Add chocolate and mix it in until completely integrated. Move off the stove.
Step 4. Add butter and mix it with a mixer or a wooden spoon until completely integrated.
Step 5. Transfer to the fridge for at least 30 minutes so it somewhat stiffens.
Combine Cake and Cream
Step 1. Carefully remove cake pieces from the pan, and take the parchment paper off.
Step 2. Place a cake piece on a plate or working space and empty ¼ of the cream onto it, spreading it evenly over the top with a spatula. Place the next cake piece on top and repeat the process. Finally, add the last cake piece and repeat.
Step 3. (Not pictured.) Spread the remaining ¼ of the cream over the cake's sides covering everything.
Step 4. (Not pictured.) Garnish.
Step 5. Leave the chocolate hazelnut cake (šamponeze) in the fridge to stiffen, for at least 2 but preferably 4 hours.
Handling
Here are some tips on how to store and serve the hazelnut chocolate cake (šamponeze).
Serving: cut the cake into 1-inch (about 2-3 cm) pieces and (if you wish) serve along with a beverage like Bosnian coffee, or elderflower cordial. (If you're super adventurous, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream as well.)
However, only cut as many pieces as you plan to eat, and keep the rest in an airtight container (or wrapped in foil) in the fridge. This prevents the chocolate hazelnut cake from drying out.
Storing: store the cake in an airtight container (or wrapped in foil) in the fridge (or a cold place), for up to 4-5 days. The cake does get drier as the days go on, so it's best to consume it within a few days of making it. Take out 20-ish minutes before planning to serve, so it gets down to room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
Hazelnuts are native to Eurasia. Oregon is the largest hazelnut producer in North America, while Turkey, Spain, and Italy produce most of the European hazelnuts.
Warm the oven to 220-300°F (100-150°C), depending on how hot your oven runs. Transfer hazelnuts to a sheet pan and roast them for about an hour or a little longer.
You can test for doneness by carefully removing one or two hazelnuts, blowing on them to cool them down, and then rubbing them between your fingers. If the skin peels off relatively easily, they're ready. If not, keep checking every 5 minutes by repeating the process. (However, don't over-bake, or they might burn.)
Once they've roasted, let hazelnuts cool down for 20-30 minutes, and then repeat the rubbing process to get rid of the skin. It's best to do this over a large kitchen towel, or some type of nylon or paper bag. (Hazelnut skin gets everywhere, and the process can get messy.)
Absolutely. Hazelnut constitution is 6% water, 62% oil, 13% protein, and 17% carbs. They’re made up of mono-saturated fatty acids also known as good fats. It's widely thought that hazelnuts help prevent heart disease and support cardiovascular health.
After you roast and peel the hazelnuts, simply use a food processor or a blender to grind them. It's best to do it in small batches, and to only process or cut them a few seconds at a time. (Blend a few seconds, stop, blend a few more, stop, etc.) Overdoing it even by a few seconds can result in hazelnuts' texture going from floury to oily. This can make it hard for hazelnuts to be used in a recipe such as our chocolate hazelnut cake.
Cakes We Love
Here are a few more cakes we love in addition to our chocolate hazelnut cake (šamponeze torta)!
Expert Tips
Even if you have everything lined up, things can go wrong. Here are a few tips that can help you make a perfect chocolate hazelnut cake, and other cakes, perfect from the start.
- First Timers. If you're making šamponeze for the first time, don't do it for a special occasion just yet! (This goes for all cakes!)
It'll probably come out fine. But in our experience, things tend to go wrong when we're under pressure, or have high expectations and not enough experience doing a new recipe.
- Make it During Colder Months. There is something about hot weather that makes making meringue and other egg-based cakes challenging.
On the other hand, you can't control when the occasion you're making the cake for arises, such as summer birthdays, etc. If you're making it in hot weather, your kitchen should be cool, and the eggs as fresh as possible.
- Keep the Eggs Outside. Take the eggs out of the fridge 1-2 hours before you make the cake, and keep them at room temperature. This makes meringue making process much easier.
- Every Oven is Different. Yours may run hot or colder than others. Therefore, always go with your instinct and experience baking in your oven as it concerns the temperature.
As an example, the two of us bought the same oven brand and type as our mom. One oven runs normally, one hot, one colder. When we bake something, each one of us adjusts the temperature to get the same result.
Thoughts?
If you make today's chocolate hazelnut cake (šamponeze torta) and like it, please consider leaving a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5-star) rating. This will help others find the recipe more easily!
You can also leave a comment, I read EVERY one! Finally, if IG is more your thing, consider tagging us @balkanlunchbox.
Prijatno, Dobar Tek, and Bon Appetit!
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (Šamponeze Torta)
Equipment
- 1 baking pan approximately 13x17 inches, or 33x43 cm
Ingredients
Cake
- 10 egg whites
- a generous pinch of salt
- 1.7 ounces sugar
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 10.5 ounces hazelnuts roasted, peeled, ground
Frosting & Filling:
- 10 egg yolks
- 14 ounces confectioner's sugar
- 1-2 ounces water
- 5.5 ounces baking chocolate broken into small pieces or shredded; or chocolate chips
- 9 ounces butter cut into small pieces or just slightly melted
Instructions
Make the Cake
- In a medium mixing bowl start mixing egg whites plus a pinch of salt with a hand mixer. When the mixture becomes frothy (soft stiff phase), add sugar, and continue mixing. Mix a little more, add vinegar, and mix again for a few more minutes until the ingredients are whipped into stiff peaks. (You can test by flipping the bowl. When stiff peaks are formed, the meringue stays in the bowl.) Remove the mixer.
- Add hazelnuts to the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until the batter completely integrates. Heat oven to 320°F (150°C).
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Leaving about ½ an inch of space in between layers, use the batter to create three equal rectangles the thickness of about 1 inch. (If it proves too hard to keep batter separated you can makeshift dividers out of foil. Check out the video for the visual.)*
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. (Adjust the temperature to a little higher or a little lower, depending on how hot your oven runs.) Check the cake every 15 minutes or so, and turn the pan 180° about 30 minutes in. Depending on the strength of your oven, you may have to cover the cake with foil if it starts to blush early. (Meanwhile, prepare the cream).
- Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes. Once cooled, carefully separate the cake from the parchment paper so that it doesn't break.
Make the Cream (Frosting and Filling), Parallel to the Baking
- Make a double boiler (water bath or bain marie). Fill a smaller pot ½ with water and bring to a boil on high. Lower to low or medium-low and place another pot (or a stainless steel bowl) with egg yolks into the pot so that the bottom of the pot (bowl) touches the water in the pot below it. (It should be touching the water, but not to the extent that the water is coming out of the lower pot.) Add confectioner's sugar and water to yolks and start mixing with a hand mixer. Mix for several minutes.
- When eggs and sugar integrate, turn a very pale yellow (almost white), and start separating from the pot walls, add in the baking chocolate. Continue mixing for a minute or two or until the chocolate completely integrates with the yolks and sugar. Remove off heat.
- Add the butter into the bowl and mix with a wooden spatula until integrated. Transfer to the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Combine Cake and Cream
- Place the first cake piece onto a long cake platter or a working area. Empty ¼ of the cream onto it and spread evenly with a spatula. Lightly place the second cake third on top of the filling. Empty ¼ of the frosting and filling onto it and spread evenly with a spatula. Repeat for the third cake piece.
- Use the remaining ¼ of the frosting and filling to paint the cake all sides.
- (Optionally) Garnish the cake with a few handfuls of ground or chopped hazelnuts or grated baking chocolate on top.
- Leave cake in the fridge to stiffen for at least 2 hours, preferably 4.
Handling
- Serve by cutting the cake into 1-inch (about 2-3 cm) pieces and serve along with a beverage and/ or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Cut as many pieces as you plan to eat, and keep the rest in an airtight container (or wrapped in foil) in the fridge. This prevents the chocolate hazelnut cake from drying out.Store the cake in an airtight container (or wrapped in foil) in the fridge (or a cold place), for up to 4-5 days. The cake does get drier as the days go on, so it's best to consume it within a few days of making it. Take out 20-ish minutes before planning to serve, so it gets down to room temperature.
Video
Notes
- Nutritional information is a rough estimate
- Shaping/ baking the cake
- Cream consistency
- Additional tips
Nutrition
More Recipe 💙
Here is some savory deliciousness for you!
Totally going to make this for my husband’s birthday! He is uses to the walnut chocolate cake which his family refers to as German cake. This would be an great alternative!
Nice! I'd love to hear what you guys thought once you taste it, so drop me a note if you remember!
Hvala 🙂
<3
Bonjour,merci pour votre recette que j'ai fait hier, pouvez vous m'indiquez les dimensions exacte que devrait avoir le biscuit aux blanc d'oeufs svp longueur et largeur,merci encore pour la recette
Hi Gege,
Are you asking about the dimensions of the pan? It is approximately or 33cm x 43cm.
Cheers!
Hello, Could i make this same cake batter but instead of cutting into equal rectangles, roll it up to make a yule log cake?
We never made a yule log cake so not sure. Here's a good recipe for it: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/buche-de-noel-yule-log/
Not too difficult. I was not sure about the amount of water for the cream. It ended up a little too thick. I used the smaller amount mentioned. Very good not too sweet. Just right.
Hi Pamela,
Thank you for your comment! So glad you liked the cake.
Happy cooking!