Romanian Chocolate Walnut Cake

This Romanian chocolate walnut cake (Negresa) is very much enjoyed by Romanians and it’s widely cooked on regular basis.

It’s not so gooey and sweet like American brownie, nevertheless this cake is always a delicious accompaniment for a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.

It is simple and easy to make and I hope some of the photos below will entice you to try it.

Usually it does not necessarily contain walnuts, but as requested in my family by some walnut fans I added some chopped walnuts on top for about 1/2 of the cake surface.

I like it simple, so I made sure I kept half of it to my liking. 🙂 That being said, let’s cook some chocolate dessert for today’s sweet cravings.

🧈 Ingredients Needed

For this recipe we are going to need:

for the cake:

• Butter – any type you have
• Sugar – regular or brown
• Milk – regular or high fat
• Eggs – fresh medium size eggs
• Cocoa powder- good quality is preferred
• Vanilla extract
• Baking powder

for topping:

• Dark chocolate
• Rum chocolate
• Milk – few tablespoons
• Chopped walnuts

🍫 How To Make This Chocolate Walnut Cake

1. Melt some ingredients

Put on medium flame in a large saucepan the milk, sugar, butter, vanilla extract and cocoa powder. Stir in and brig to boiling point.

Let it simmer for a few seconds and turn off the heat.

Let it cool over cold water and make sure to stir in from time to time to help cool faster.

In a small metallic bawl break up the dark and rum chocolate and pour in 8 tbsp from the cocoa mixture. Set aside.

2. Add eggs and flour

Prepare and line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks.

Make sure the cocoa mixture is cooled off. Add in the egg yolks one by one. Incorporate the flour sifted with the baking powder.

Finally, add the egg whites and fold them carefully into the batter. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan and bake.

3. Bake the cake

Bake the cake at 350 F for about 25 minutes. Take it off the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes.

Add 6 tbsp of milk over the broken chocolate pieces and place the bawl into the oven to melt and combine. Or you can use the bain-marie method.

Once the chocolate pieces have melted, give them a stir and pour the glaze over the cake.

Spread it well to cover all the surface and sprinkle chopped walnuts over the entire cake or just over half of it like I did.

🍴 Serving Chocolate Walnut Cake

Let it cool completely and cut it to your liking. We like to cut it in square or diamond forms.

Place the walnut chocolate cake on a serving platter and indulge.

Serve it next to a good cup of coffee or a glass of milk and try to decide which one you like better: with or without walnuts.

Enjoy!

🍰 Preserving:

Keep them covered with cling film for about 3-4 days at room temperature or in the fridge. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.

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More delicious desserts:

• Romanian Walnut Roll (a traditional sweet bread)
• French Pancakes (easy delicious crepes)
• Old Fashioned Rice Pudding (homemade, stove-top)

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Romanian Chocolate Walnut Cake

This Romanian chocolate walnut cake (Negresa) is very much enjoyed by Romanians and it's widely cooked on regular basis.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, International, Romanian

Keyword: cake, chocolate, nuts

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 servings

Equipment

• 9x13 baking pan
• parchment paper

Ingredients

for the cake:

• 1 cup (250g) butter
• 1¾ cups (350g) sugar
• 1 cup (200ml) milk
• ½ cup (50g) cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1¾ cups (200g) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

for topping:

• 1 (90g) dark chocolate
• 2 (60g) small rum chocolates
• 6 tbsp milk
• ½ cup (90g) chopped walnuts

Instructions

• Melt the butter, milk, sugar, cocoa and vanilla extract into a large saucepan. Stir and brig to boiling point. Let it simmer for 15 seconds and turn off the heat.

  Break up the chocolate for the glaze into a small metallic bawl and pour over 8 tbsp of the hot cocoa mixture. Set aside.

  Immerse the saucepan into a few inches of cold water to speed up the cooling process. Stir in from time to time.
• Prepare and line the baking pan. Preheat oven to 350F.

  Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks with a hand or standing mixer. By now the cocoa batter should be cooled. Beat in the egg yolks one by one.

  Add the flour sifted with the baking powder and lastly the beaten egg whites. Incorporate everything with delicate moves.
• Transfer the batter into the baking pan and cook for about 25 minutes at 350F. Take it out of the oven and place instead the broken chocolate bowl to which you add 6 more tbsp of milk. Let it melt for a few minutes.

  Spread the glaze over the cake and sprinkle with chopped walnuts all over the surface or just for 1/2 of it. Let it cool completely and cut it to your linking.

Notes

Keep it covered with cling film for about 3-4 days in the fridge or on the kitchen counter.