Chocolate and walnut cake

I don't know about you, but I can't think of a better combination than chocolate with nuts. And if we add a good base of homemade dough to this mixture, which is already delicious, then we have ... the best chocolate, walnut and shortcrust pastry cake in the world!

I promise I'm not exaggerating, okay? Well, the truth is that I am not impartial at all, because this type of cake drives me crazy, but it seems to me that with a good base of shortcrust pastry any filling is spectacular, and with little effort we are going to get an incredible cake , that makes us look like authentic professionals before ours.

Of course, for me it is essential that the shortcrust pastry is homemade! It takes nothing to prepare it, even if we do it by hand, and the difference with any purchased dough is abysmal. With a super delicate butter flavor, crunchy and brittle... a delicious bite!

If we already have a spectacular base, the following is a filling to match: nuts and chocolate... Can you think of anything better? Because it's hard for me! A mixture of walnuts and cream that will give it a crunchy point, crowned by a dark chocolate ganache, which provides creaminess and an intense flavor... Sublime!

Now we only need a nice decoration, that I will leave you with a wide sleeve, you can do it as you like (don't say that I'm bossy, hehehe) and most importantly: a good mold, like this wonder from Revol , which is not only beautiful, but also provides wonderful baking and is so beautiful that it goes directly from the oven to the table.

Well, have I convinced you? Well, let's go for the recipe!

Revol round porcelain mold , Pallarès carbon steel knife , Emile Henry ceramic ramekins and Bérard olive wood spoon for flour

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry:

• 225 grams of flour
• 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
• 150 gr of cold butter
• 1 large egg
• zest of an orange

For the filling:

• 125 gr of shelled walnuts
• 2 medium eggs
• 100 ml of liquid cream
• 80 grams of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the chocolate ganache:

• 165 g of dark chocolate
• 140 ml of liquid cream (minimum 35% fat content)
• 35 grams of butter

Elaboration

1. We begin by preparing the shortcrust pastry.
2. In a bowl , sift the flour and mix with the sugar and the orange zest (we can grate the orange using a grater like the Microplane one)
3. Then add the butter, cold and cut into pieces, and mix by rubbing with your fingers, without kneading, until you get a sandy texture.
4. Add the egg, and work the dough as little as possible, just until the crumbs come together and form a ball. If the dough is too dry, we can add a tablespoon of water, but only if necessary.
5. If we use the KitchenAid , we put in the spatula accessory and speed 2 we mix the flour, the butter, the sugar and the orange zest, just the necessary time to obtain a sandy texture. Next we add the egg and work the dough as little as possible, just until the crumbs come together and form a ball, adding a tablespoon of water if necessary.
6. Remove the dough from the bowl and using a rolling pin , stretch the dough until obtaining a sheet approximately 3 cm thick, and with a diameter slightly larger than the mold.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes, although the ideal would be about 2 hours.
8. Once this time has passed, we preheat the oven to 180ºC.
9. Take the dough out of the fridge and place it on the slightly greased mold, without stretching it, just adapting it gently to the mold.
10. We cut the excess dough that protrudes from the mold.
11. Prick the surface of the dough with a fork to prevent bubbles from coming out, cover with baking paper and, on top of it, some balls to bake .
12. We put in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
13. After this time we take it out of the oven, remove the paper and the baking balls, and put it in the oven for another 10 more minutes.
14. While the base is baking, we prepare the walnut filling. If we have the walnuts in shell, we peel them with the help of a nutcracker , until we obtain the necessary 125 grams.
15. Once we have the peeled walnuts, we crush them coarsely, for example with a mortar . In other words, they do not need to be very crushed, just that the pieces of walnut are not very large.
16. We beat the eggs with the sugar, add the cream, the walnuts and the vanilla extract and pour this mixture over the dough once the baking time is over.
17. We return to the oven for 30 more minutes, until we see that the filling is golden.
18. Once the baking time has elapsed, we take the cake out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack .
19. While the cake is cooling we are preparing the ganache .
20. With a very sharp knife , chop the chocolate into rather small pieces, and place it in a heat-resistant container.
21. In another container, heat the cream, either in the microwave or on the stove, until it begins to boil, at which point we pour it over the chocolate and stir well with a few rods , until it is completely melted and we have a mixture left. homogeneous.
22. At that moment we add the chopped butter and mix until it is perfectly integrated.
23. Pour the ganache over the cake while it is still hot, as it will be more fluid and therefore easier to spread.
24. Once the ganache cools, we take the cake to the fridge for at least 2 hours.
25. After this time we can decorate the cake as we prefer, in this case I have done it with pure cocoa powder, more ganache, chocolate shavings and nuts.
26. We can take this cake straight out of the fridge, so the ganache will be harder, or at room temperature (my favorite) so the ganache will be more melting.

Revol round porcelain mold , Emile Henry ceramic ramekins , Bérard olive wood flour spoon and Pallarès carbon steel knife

Grades

• You will see that I recommend stretching the shortcrust pastry before resting it in the fridge, contrary to what is usually recommended, but for me it is much more comfortable since it requires less effort. In any case you can do it when you prefer.
• With the cream-chocolate ratio that I use in the ganache, the result is a melting but not excessively creamy chocolate coating. If you prefer a creamier ganache, all you have to do is increase the proportion of cream until you add the same amount of cream as chocolate.