What can I use instead of hazelnuts for cake?
Almonds at 1:1 is the closest match — Milder flavour but similar texture and fat content. If that is unavailable, Macadamia Nuts (1:1).
Best Hazelnuts Substitutes for Cakes
Pick substitutes that preserve tenderness, aeration, and even rise in cake batters. Cake structure depends on balanced fat, sugar, and hydration. Wrong swaps can create a dense or dry crumb.
Can I make a cake without hazelnuts?
Yes. Start with Almonds at 1:1, then adjust liquid or bake time in small steps after a test batch.
Top Recommendation
Almonds
Use 1:1
Milder flavour but similar texture and fat content.
View full adjustment notes →What makes this swap demanding for cakes
What you actually lose when you swap hazelnuts out of a cake is the toasted-skin flavor — those pyrazines and furans only form once you rub off the papery skins at 175C, and neither almonds nor macadamias deliver that scorched-praline note. Fat-wise the trade is close (hazelnuts 61%, almonds ~50%, macadamias 76%), so crumb structure holds at 1:1. Toast whichever nut you sub for 10-12 minutes until the kitchen smells of caramel, then grind cold so the cake stays tender rather than oily.
- Macadamias push fat content from 61% to 76% — in a fine-crumbed genoise or chiffon, that extra oil weighs the foam down; cut the recipe's butter by 1 tablespoon per 100g of macadamias swapped in to keep the rise.
- Almonds at 1:1 read mute next to hazelnut, especially in a chocolate cake where the original was carrying the perfume — fold in 1/2 tsp almond extract or a tablespoon of brown butter to put a flavor edge back on the crumb.
- Pre-ground supermarket nut meals lose their volatiles within weeks; if the cake leans on the nut for character (Frangipane, dacquoise, hazelnut torte), grind whole nuts the same day you bake or the crumb will taste flat no matter which nut you chose.
How much does 1 cup of hazelnuts weigh?
On CupOrGram, 1 cup of hazelnuts is treated as 115 grams. Use the conversion page if you want the original ingredient weight before choosing a substitute.
Hazelnuts cups to grams →