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Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (Šamponeze Torta)

Aida
Luscious cake made with meringue infused with hazelnut and a chocolate cream. What dreams are made of!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting Time 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Servings 10
Calories 631 kcal

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
This recipe yields about 10-12 pieces of cake. The calorie information is based on cutting the cake into 10 pieces. 
  • Shaping/ baking the cake 
An option is to bake the entire batter as one big rectangle and divide it into three equal pieces after it cools. This is not recommended because it's hard to separate the cake from the parchment paper in one big swoop.
If you have an alternative way of shaping and baking the cake batter in 3 equal pieces (round pieces work too!) do it, and report back!
  • Cream consistency
While the cream does need to be smooth and a little bit runny (it seeps into the cake perfectly this way),  it shouldn't be too runny either. (Think mousse consistency.) It's the water that achieves this balance, so you may have to test it anywhere from 1-2 ounces or about 50-70 milliliters. 
This is probably the only challenge with this cake. We've tested both the volumes, and everything in between. Nine out of ten times it comes out perfect, but sometimes we wish it was just a bit stiffer. (However, adding too little water, or removing it completely is not good because the filling is too stiff this way.) 
  • Additional tips
-Swap hazelnuts and walnuts, or mix them, but know that the consistency will be a little different. 
-First-timers, don't do this cake ahead of a big event.
-It's best to do this cake during colder months, due to eggs being more workable in the cold.  
-Keep the eggs at room temperature for 1-2 hours before baking the cake.
-Every oven is different so always go with your instinct and experience baking in your oven as it concerns the temperature.

Nutrition

Serving: 1pieceCalories: 631kcalCarbohydrates: 46.3gProtein: 11.7gFat: 46.3gSaturated Fat: 18.1gCholesterol: 267mgSodium: 212mgFiber: 3.2gSugar: 11.6g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!