Whole cake with chocolate glaze, almond cookies on top and chopped nut brittle around the edge

It took me three days to make this chocolate walnut cake. On day one, I made the sponge and caramelized the walnuts and almonds. On day two, I made the cream filling. By day three, I’d finally got around to the chocolate glaze and the almond cookies for the top. That’s how Christmas baking goes when you’re fitting it in around everything else. 😄

By the time I sat down to write the recipe, I’d tasted the sponge, the filling and the nut brittle separately. All good. Put them together and surely the whole thing would be good too. That was my theory, anyway.

I scattered the leftover brittle around the edge and topped the cake with five homemade almond cookies. I was about to brush the crumbs off the serving plate, then decided I rather liked them there. So there they stayed. The cookies are a recipe for another day.

What makes this chocolate walnut cake worth making

The middle is my favorite part to explain because it looks like a plain cream layer from a distance. It’s a whipped cream and egg yolk filling with chopped caramelized walnuts and almonds folded through it. I left the pieces a little chunky, so every few bites you get a bit of nut and caramel. There’s dark chocolate in the sponge and a mix of dark and milk chocolate in the glaze, which gives the top a milder chocolate flavor than the base.

The sponge stays whole at the bottom. If you’ve ever tried to split a cake into even layers while holding a bread knife at what you sincerely believed was a level angle, there’s one less thing to think about here. An adjustable cake ring does most of the work during assembly, and the cream and glaze set in place in the fridge. Once you take the ring off, you can see all three layers from the side.

The brittle does double duty, too. Some goes into the filling, and a little around the edge gives you a finished cake even if you skip the cookies. If you’re making it for Christmas and already have a list of things to bake, the nut brittle is plenty of decoration on its own.

Side view of the cake showing the chocolate sponge, cream layer and glaze

Whole chocolate-glazed cake topped with almond cookies

Tips for the sponge, nut brittle and chocolate glaze

Grind the nuts for the sponge separately. The sponge uses plain, finely ground walnuts and almonds. The caramelized nuts are for the filling and decoration. Once the brittle has cooled completely, pulse it in the food processor and check it every few seconds. You can go finer if you prefer, but I like leaving some pieces big enough to notice in the cream. Set aside a few of the larger pieces if you want the topping to have a bit more texture.

Fold the sponge batter with a spatula. The chocolate and egg yolk mixture is heavier than the whipped egg whites, so it can collect at the bottom of the bowl. Scoop from the bottom and fold the mixture back over itself, turning the bowl as you go. Check for dark streaks underneath before pouring it into the pan. The surface can look evenly mixed while there’s still a pocket of chocolate at the bottom.

Fit the cake ring before you make the filling. Put the cooled sponge on the plate you’ll serve it on and tighten the ring around it. A gap between the sponge and the ring gives the soft filling somewhere to go. This is also a good time to see whether the plate and ring fit on the same fridge shelf. It’s easier to move a shelf before you’re holding a plate full of unset cream.

Give the cream layer time to firm up. About an hour in the fridge is a guide. If the surface still shifts when you gently move the plate, give it more time. Make the chocolate glaze once the cream is firm. The glaze needs a few minutes to cool slightly, and it should still pour easily when you add it. That way you can let it spread over the cream without having to work it back and forth with a spatula.

Split the assembly over two days if it suits you. I left the cream layer in the fridge overnight and added the chocolate glaze the next morning. By the time I got home from work, the cake was ready to decorate. If you’re making it in one day, leave yourself enough fridge time after each layer, especially if you’re planning to serve it that evening.

Whole cake with chocolate glaze and chopped walnut and almond brittle around the edge

More chocolate and nut recipes

If you liked the chocolate and almond combination, there’s a simpler cake with the same pairing. And if you made a little extra brittle, there’s another batter it can go straight into.

Chocolate Almond Cake with Espresso has an intensely chocolatey, slightly moist center. A dusting of powdered sugar is all it needs.

Chocolate Coconut Cake has a coconut semolina filling. I used a few spoonfuls of leftover walnut and almond brittle in the batter when I made it.

Chocolate Biscuit Balls with Nuts and Peanut Butter are bite-sized treats made with cocoa, crushed biscuits and chopped nuts. They’re easy to add to a holiday dessert platter alongside the cake.

Chocolate Walnut Cake with Caramelized Walnuts and Almonds

Recipe by Loredana Arion

Servings

slices

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

minutes

Calories per slice

430

kcal

Cooling and chilling

hours

A chocolate walnut and almond sponge topped with a whipped cream filling studded with caramelized nuts and finished with a dark and milk chocolate glaze.

Ingredients

Chocolate sponge
3 eggs, separated
5 tablespoons finely ground walnuts and almonds
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
50 g dark chocolate, 75% cocoa
Walnut and almond brittle
100 g walnuts and almonds, roughly equal amounts
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon water
Whipped cream filling
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
400 ml sweetened whipping cream
20 g powdered gelatin
50 ml cold water, for blooming the gelatin
2 packets vanilla sugar
Chopped walnut and almond brittle, with 2–3 tablespoons reserved for decorating
Chocolate glaze
80 g dark chocolate, 75% cocoa
80 g milk chocolate
200 ml sweetened whipping cream
10 g powdered gelatin
20 ml cold water, for blooming the gelatin
Decoration
Reserved walnut and almond brittle
5 almond cookies (pricomigdale), optional

Directions

Make the sponge. Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until doubled in volume. Melt the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, then mix it into the yolks.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they form peaks. Gently fold the chocolate and yolk mixture, ground walnuts and almonds, flour and vanilla into the whites.
Pour the batter into a 20 cm / 8-inch round pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the sponge cool completely before assembling the cake.
Make the brittle. Chop the walnuts and almonds and add them to a skillet with the sugar and water. When the sugar starts to caramelize, stir to coat the nuts. Take the skillet off the heat and tip the mixture onto parchment paper.
Let the brittle cool completely, then pulse it in a food processor to the texture you like. Reserve 2–3 tablespoons for decoration.
Make the cream filling. Bloom the gelatin in 50 ml cold water. In a heatproof bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until doubled in volume. Set the bowl over simmering water and stir constantly until the mixture thickens. Keep it below a boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the bloomed gelatin and let the mixture cool until it’s no longer warm, while still fluid.
Whip the sweetened cream with the vanilla sugar. Fold in the yolk mixture and the chopped brittle, leaving the reserved brittle for decoration.
Assemble the first layer. Set the cooled sponge on a serving plate and fit an adjustable cake ring snugly around it. Pour in the cream filling and refrigerate for about an hour, or until firm.
Make the glaze. Bloom the gelatin in cold water. Break up both chocolates and combine them with the sweetened whipping cream in a heatproof bowl. Set over simmering water and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Keep it below a boil.
Remove the bowl from the heat, add the bloomed gelatin and stir until dissolved. Let the glaze cool for about 5 minutes, then pour it over the firm cream layer while it’s still slightly warm and fluid.
Refrigerate until the glaze is set. Remove the ring and decorate with the reserved brittle and almond cookies, if using.