This German Nusskuchen, a “Nutcake”, is a real throwback to growing up in Germany – a lovely moist hazelnut cake that used to be a staple at any bake sale, “Kaffee und Kuchen”, or something your grandmother would bake for you when you visit. My version of this German classic is made with ground and chopped roasted hazelnuts and a little bit of chocolate to make it even more special! This cake is perfect for any occasion and very easy to make, so check out the recipe below and give it a go!
What nuts are best to use to make a German Nusskuchen?
It wasn’t until a friend pointed it out to me when I brought her some typical German chocolates and snacks to try that EVERYTHING in Germany contains hazelnuts. It almost seems like an obsession, but I can tell you why – the hazelnut and chocolate combo is simply unbeatable! While other nuts such as almond would work too, the most common choice of nut for making a German Nusskuchen is of course hazelnuts. I would definitely recommend using hazelnuts in this recipe, as you will not get the same distinct flavour of a real German Nusskuchen if you use another type of nut.
While hazelnuts are harder to find than other nuts in UK supermarkets, I have definitely seen ground, chopped and whole hazelnuts sold in ASDA, Morrisons and Lidl so hopefully you can find them as this will make all the difference to the flavour! In this recipe I used blanched, roasted hazelnuts that I bought at Lidl in the UK. Some of them I ground in a spice grinder, the rest I finely chopped and added to the cake mix.
How to decorate the Nusskuchen
In Germany, you can buy this amazing pre-made pouch of “Nussglasur”, a nutty glaze intended for decorating a German nut cake! So if you are ever in the country, make sure to buy a packet or two to take home and try on this delicious cake! I used some on this cake as my dad recently brought me some from Germany, alternatively, you can just use melted milk or dark chocolate to finish and decorate this cake. I used the Nussglasur and then dark chocolate, but you could use milk chocolate and dark chocolate to create a similar visual effect, or use just milk or just dark chocolate to cover the whole cake, the choice is yours! Finally, I sprinkled some roughly chopped hazelnuts over the top to add the finishing touch!
More German Baking Recipes
As I have already mentioned a few times on this blog, I am half Scottish and half German and grew up in Germany (near Frankfurt) before moving back to Scotland. I absolutely love German baking culture and still bake many of the traditional bakes from there, trying to adapt recipes according to the ingredients I can get in the UK. If you would like to try some of my other traditional German cake recipes, check out some of my favourites linked below!
- Erdbeerboden | Strawberry Flan Cake
- Russischer Zupfkuchen | Vanilla and Chocolate Cheesecake
- Bienenstich | “Bee Sting” Cake
- Kirschlikuchen | Cherry and Chocolate Chip Traybake
- Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte | Traditional Black Forest Gâteau
- Nusskasten | Hazelnut Enriched Dough Plait
- Donauwellen | Custard and Cherry Marble Traybake
- Laugenzöpfe | German Pretzel Plaits
- Franzbrötchen | Cinnamon Pastries
- Bauernbrot | German Farmers Loaf
- Mohnstrietzel | Poppy Seed Roll
- Haselnussbrot | Hazelnut Shortbread – Christmas Biscuits
- Vanillekipferl | Vanilla Crescents – Christmas Biscuits
- Christstollen | Christmas Stollen with Marzipan
German Nusskuchen – Hazelnut and Chocolate Bundt Cake
Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 150g butter, softened
- 150g caster sugar
- 200g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 60mL milk
- 3 large eggs
- 200g roasted, blanched hazelnuts (100g ground, 100g finely chopped)
- 60g dark chocolate, finely chopped
FOR THE DECORATION
- 2 packets of Nussglasur, alternatively 200g milk chocolate
- 80g dark chocolate
- 50g roasted, blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
YOU WILL ALSO NEED
- Coffee/spice grinder (if you haven’t found ground hazelnuts)
- 22-24cm bundt tin, lightly greased and dusted with flour
- Wire rack, for cooling
- Heatproof bowl set over a pan of water
- Palette knife (optional)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease your bundt tin with sunflower/vegetable oil or melted butter then dust with flour. Set aside until needed.
- If you haven’t been able to buy blanched and/or roasted hazelnuts, start by tipping the nuts on a large roasting tin and roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the nuts smell fragrant, turning half-way through. If the nuts still have their skin on, tip them onto a clean tea towel, wrap the towel around and carefully roll and shake the nuts in the tea towel to remove all the skin.
- To prepare the cake batter, grind 100g of the roasted hazelnuts (or use ground hazelnuts) and finely chop a further 100g of the hazelnuts and 60g dark chocolate. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the butter, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, vanilla, milk and eggs and beat until the mixture comes together. Then add the ground and chopped hazelnuts and the chocolate and beat until fully incorporated. The batter will be quite thick.
- Spoon the cake batter into the prepared bundt tin and use the back of a metal spoon to level the surface.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until well-risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully loosen around the edges and the inner funnel and turn out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely.
- If using German Nussglasur, leave it to sit in just-boiled water for about 10 minutes until soft, then cut open the pouch and squeeze of the cake, using a palette knife to evenly cover the cake. If you are using milk chocolate instead, carefully melt it in a heat-proof bowl over gently simmering water. Place the cake on the wire rack on top of a plate so you can catch any drips and re-use them to cover more of the cake. Spoon the melted milk chocolate all over the cake and use a metal spoon or palette knife to cover the cake evenly.
- Next, melt the dark chocolate in the same way as the milk chocolate (you can use the same bowl), and drizzle it over the top of the cake to decorate it. Decorate the top of the cake with some extra chopped hazelnuts to finish.
- Wait for the chocolate to set completely before slicing the cake and serving. Enjoy!
