Hazelnuts are astonishingly delicate, and make for delightful cakes. Though I tend to associate them with Piemonte, thanks to the stands of hazelnut trees around Alba, they're popular throughout the North. Lisetta made this cake for a wonderful dinner in Valpolicella and was kind enough to share the recipe. It goes by weight and you may find it easier to calculate it thusly, rather than convert it to volumes.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 10 ounces (250 g) toasted hazelnuts
- 4 ounces (100 g) Oro Saiwa Cookies (Graham crackers will do as a substitute)
- 4 ounces (100 g, 1/2 cup) unsalted butter
- 6 ounces (150 g, 3/4 cup) sugar
- 3 eggs, separated
- 6 ounces (150 g) baking chocolate, crumbled
Preparation:
Whirl the nuts and cookies in a blender until they're a fairly fine powder. Combine it with the crumbled chocolate. Cream the egg yolks, sugar and butter until the mixture is pale yellow.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
Whip the whites to firm peaks. Combine the nut and cracker mixture with the butter mixture, then fold in the whites. Transfer the batter into a cake pan of size sufficient for it to be about an inch deep, and bake it for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
Whip the whites to firm peaks. Combine the nut and cracker mixture with the butter mixture, then fold in the whites. Transfer the batter into a cake pan of size sufficient for it to be about an inch deep, and bake it for 30 minutes.
