Recipe: flourless hazelnut chocolate cake
A dreamy dessert with a delicious mousse-like texture from Liberty Mendez’s debut cookbook

Light and fluffy, this flourless hazelnut chocolate cake from food writer and chef Liberty Mendez’s debut cookbook has a delicious mousse-like texture and is not overly sweet. It’s really dreamy. It also happens to be dairy and gluten free!
Ingredients (serves 8-10)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
- 125g, plus 2 tbsp, caster sugar
- 250g dark chocolate, roughly chopped (dairy free if needed)
- 100ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- 100ml strong brewed coffee, cooled
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 80g ground toasted hazelnuts (if you can’t find any ground toasted hazelnuts, buy some blanched hazelnuts, toast them in a hot frying pan and leave to cool, then blitz them to a powder in a food processor)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Mix the cocoa powder with the 2 tbsp of caster sugar. Grease a 23cm loose-based round cake tin with oil and line the base with a circle of baking paper, then brush more oil on top. Tip the cocoa mixture into the tin and rotate the tin around so you have a thin coating all over. This will help it to rise.
- Put the chocolate, oil, coffee, vanilla and salt into a large, heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan containing a little water (making sure the water isn’t touching the bowl). Put over a low heat and melt everything together. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Put the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a large bowl and an electric whisk). Whisk on a slow speed for around 2 mins until the egg whites turn foamy. Turn the speed up to medium and slowly add the remaining 125g of sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you have a smooth, thick, glossy meringue – don’t over whisk, otherwise it’ll be difficult to incorporate.
- Whisk the egg yolks into the cooled chocolate mixture, then stir in the ground hazelnuts until combined. Stir in a third of the meringue mix to loosen the chocolate batter. Tip in the rest of the meringue and fold in using a spatula until you have a light chocolatey batter. Tip into your prepared tin and spread it evenly.
- Bake for 40-45 mins until risen and a skewer to the centre comes out clean. Run a small, sharp knife around the edge of the cake when it’s hot, as this will help it sink evenly – the sponge will sink and crack significantly as it cools. Leave to cool completely, then turn out, dust with cocoa powder and serve. Store in an airtight container (or wrapped) for up to four days.
Taken from ‘I’ll Bake!: Something Delicious for Every Occasion’ by Liberty Mendez, published by Pavilion Books at £22. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £17.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
Sign up for The Week’s Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Will James Gunn's risky Superman movie pay off?
Talking Point First film in DC's rebooted universe marks a new direction for the franchise
-
The best shows to see at Edinburgh Fringe 2025
The Week Recommends The world's biggest arts festival is back with an incredible line-up
-
Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resort
Under the Radar Pyongyang wants to boost tourism but there won't be many foreign visitors to Kim Jong Un's 'pet project'
-
Summer in Seattle: Outdoor dining like nowhere else
Feature Featuring a patio with a waterfront view, a beer garden, and more
-
Film reviews: F1: The Movie, 28 Years Later, and Familiar Touch
Feature An aging race car driver gets one last chance, a kid struggles to survive in this '28 Days Later' update, and a woman with dementia adjusts to her new life
-
Diane Arbus' Constellation is the largest-ever collection of her work
Feature Park Avenue Armory, New York City, through Aug. 17
-
July fiction: Summers to remember
Feature Featuring the latest summer-themed novels from Darrow Farr, Lucas Schaefer, and more
-
Jeff in Venice: a 'triumph of tackiness'?
In the Spotlight Locals protest as Bezos uses the city as a 'private amusement park' for his wedding celebrations
-
The Anatomy of Painting: Jenny Saville's 'stunning' retrospective
The Week Recommends Saville's new collection features 'masterpieces' from throughout her career
-
M3GAN 2.0: riotous action sequel to the comedy-horror hit about a killer doll
The Week Recommends A 'ridiculously' entertaining 'hyper-camp mash-up' of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible
-
Shami Chakrabarti picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The politician and human rights activist shares the polemics that inspired her