Delia Smith Chocolate Christmas Cake (Italian Nut Cake)

Flourless Delia Smith Italian chocolate nut Christmas cake is a dense dessert cake of dark chocolate, hazelnuts, walnuts, brandy and orange peel. You grind the nuts and chocolate together, fold in whisked egg whites, then give the cake 70 minutes or so in a 180°C oven. One 20cm cake serves 10 to 12, ready in about 100 minutes plus cooling.

Delia was given this recipe by her favourite Italian cookery writer, Anna Del Conte, and printed it in Delia’s Happy Christmas (2009). It comes from Anna’s book Amaretto, Apple Cake and Artichokes, and her website now shows it with a thick dusting of icing sugar. Delia serves it at teatime or as a dessert, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or after supper with a glass of sweet wine.

Because it holds no dried fruit, Delia says it will please anyone who would rather skip fruit cake at Christmas. For another flourless chocolate dessert over the holidays, her Christmas chocolate log is rolled round sweet chestnut purée.

Her website thinks it is kept cold because it is more like a dessert than a cake, and more fragile when warm. Wrapped in foil, this cake keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge, and it also freezes well. If your fridge is full, her website suggests a cool place for a few days instead, on a cake board in an airtight container.

Delia Smith Italian Christmas Cake with Hazelnuts

Recipe by Hamdi Saidani

0.0 from 0 votes

A dark, nutty chocolate cake with no flour, lifted with brandy, cinnamon and finely chopped orange peel, then dusted with icing sugar.

Course: CakeCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Calories

495

kcal

Ingredients

• For the tin:

• a little unsalted butter

• 2 rounded tablespoons fine dried white breadcrumbs

• For the cake:

• 225g (8oz) whole blanched hazelnuts

• 225g (8oz) walnut pieces

• 225g (8oz) dark chocolate, 70 to 75% cocoa solids

• 5 drops pure vanilla extract

• 65ml (2½fl oz) brandy

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 25g (1oz) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

• 200g (7oz) golden caster sugar

• 5 large eggs, separated

• 1 large orange

• 25g (1oz) icing sugar, for dusting

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Directions

• Tin: Heat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas mark 4. Butter a 20cm loose-based round cake tin well, sprinkle the breadcrumbs inside and shake out the excess.
• Peel: Scrub the orange under warm water. Pare off the peel with a potato peeler, leaving the white pith behind, and chop the peel very finely.
• Grind: Put the hazelnuts and walnuts in a food processor and break in the chocolate. Pulse until the mixture looks grainy but is still a little coarse.
• Mix: Tip it into a large bowl and stir in the vanilla, brandy, cinnamon, melted butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks gradually, mixing each one in well, then stir in the orange peel.
• Fold: Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, stopping before they look dry. Fold them into the chocolate mixture with a large metal spoon, a few spoonfuls at a time. Lift the spoon high as you fold, to keep in plenty of air.
• Bake: Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake on the centre shelf for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Lay a loose sheet of baking parchment on top for the last 10 minutes if it is browning too fast. It is done when a cocktail stick pushed into the middle comes out dry.
• Cool: Leave the cake in the tin for a couple of minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack. Dust it generously with the icing sugar before serving.

Notes

• Delia's 2009 book gives a second test for doneness: the centre should feel springy when you touch it lightly.

FAQs

Which breadcrumbs go in the tin?

Use dried white breadcrumbs for the tin, her website says, because they stick to the buttered sides. If you only have coarse dried crumbs, crush them finer with a rolling pin or in a food processor first.

How do I make it gluten-free?

This Italian chocolate cake has no flour in its mixture, so the breadcrumbs for the tin are the part to swap. Her website suggests coating the buttered tin with ground almonds or ground hazelnuts instead.

Can I make it without a food processor?

Yes, Delia says you can chop the hazelnuts, walnuts and chocolate by hand with a sharp knife. Chop them small and fairly evenly for the same grainy texture, which is my own tip.

How do I make a smaller one?

For a smaller Italian chocolate nut cake, make half the recipe with 3 medium eggs and bake it in a 15cm tin, her website suggests. Keep the oven at 180°C and expect it to need about 45 minutes.