Ever since I made the Roasted Butternut Squash With Browned Butter and Hazelnuts I thought there must be a better way to remove those darn stubborn skins from hazelnuts. I had roasted them in the oven and then while still hot rubbed them in a towel until the skin came off. Well because there was only a small amount it went fairly well, but I was just sure there should be an easier way.
Then I was watching an old video of Baking with Julia. Alice Medrich was the guest. She was making hazelnut biscotti. What caught my eye was Alice was showing Julie how to remove the bitter skins from hazelnuts. I immediately perked up.
Alice took 2 cups of boiling water, added in 3 tablespoon of baking soda. She dumped in the raw hazelnuts and blanched them for 3 minutes. Then she poured off the water which is scary black. She ran cold water over them. She just reached in and pinched off the skin. The skins just slip off. Then she dried them and put them on a sheet pan, put them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Be sure to watch them. It would be a shame to burn them. When they cooled I blitzed them carefully in my Cuisinart.
I had to find a recipe to use the remainder of my package of nuts. I made Wives With Knives Mocha Cream Hazelnut Torte. I used her ingredients – 6 ounces of hazelnuts, but used a different technique. She apparently blitzed it all in a blender. My blender is old and not that strong so somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered flagging a recipe that I wanted to try. It was similar to Cathy’s recipe, but used more eggs. If I were making for a bigger group I may have used the book’s ingredients, but Cathy’s used less eggs, so I went with that, but the book’s technique.
I beat the sugar and yolks together until it was pale, then added in the ground nuts and then the flour/baking powder. I whipped the whites and then folded them in a third at a time.
I wanted to give some cake away and did not want to cut the cake in half so instead of two 8 inch pans I used my mini tart pan. I divided the batter equally into six tarts.
This made three 4 inch double layer cakes. So each cake will generously serve 2. I baked them for 20 minutes, cooled them on a rack while I made the frosting.
Cathy suggests you make this ahead of time and give it time in the refrigerator. It is moist and the flavor develops. Thanks Cathy for a great recipe.
I only used half of the cocoa in the frosting because while I like chocolate, I don’t like intense chocolate. When my family critiqued this torte they said it was the best thing I had ever made, but one said it should have been drizzled with chocolate.
I really need to get better at frosting a cake, but don’t let my lack of frosting skills deter you from making this torte. It is so delicious. If you do not want to trouble yourself with grinding your own hazelnuts I believe you can find them pre-ground.
I loved watching the Julia video. She was such an enthusiast and loved finding a new technique. I do love discovering a new technique.
- Cake
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) raw hazelnuts - Or 2-1/4 cups (6 ounces) hazelnut flour
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- Frosting
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
- 1-1/2 cups whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- To Make Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease the bottoms and sides of two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with greased wax paper or parchment rounds.
- If you are using whole nuts, place them in a blender; pulse until they are very finely ground.
- Then add the egg yolks and sugar; beat until light.
- Add ground hazelnut.
- Sift in the all-purpose flour and baking powder.
- Beat the egg whites.
- Fold into the batter a third at a time.
- Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the sides come away from the pan and the tops are just firm.
- Do not over bake. The layers will be thin.
- To Make Frosting:
- In a small bowl combine the sugar, cocoa powder, and coffee granules.
- In a separate bowl beat the cream until almost whipped, gradually adding the sugar mixture and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
- Filling a piping bag and pipe the frosting on first layer.
- Add spread frosting with a offset spatula, then pipe at bottom of cake and around the top layer.
I am taking this to
Amazingly beautiful. Lots to take in here. Great Job!
Thanks Penny. If you don’t want to deal with all of this you can buy the hazelnut “flour”, but I am trying to go unprocessed as possible. You can also do the nuts one day and the cake at another time if this sounds like too much work.
How beautiful. It could be in the window of a French patisserie. Many thanks for the tip on removing the skins of hazelnuts. I knew there had to be a better way than what I was doing…
Sam
Sam, thanks for your kind comment. My decorating skills are questionable, but the taste of this cake is not.
What a lovely dessert – right out of the pastry shop window! Nice work, my friend. I hear you about skinning the hazelnuts. I’ve been working on a hazelnut gelato recipe, and I have skinned a lot of those little darlings. It can really be difficult. I too like to blanch them and peel them, especially if I have a recipe where I absolutely want to remove every single dab of skin, as for the gelato I’ve been working on. Once skinned, it is a simple matter to toast the nuts. You are quite right, one can find hazelnuts (and other nuts, for that matter) pre-ground. Many markets sell them, as does King Arthur. This product is particularly convenient for baking, a real time saver, albeit more costly than than purchasing whole nuts. It is called hazelnut meal or hazelnut flour, and is available both toasted and raw.
This recipe certainly is a winner, and it will not belong before it shows up on my table.
Thanks Adri. I blanched my hazelnuts one day and made the cake the next. This may sound like too much work for some, but it was so easy and I am always thinking of a project anyway. 🙂 That, and I am trying for the most part to use ingredients that is in its whole form. I just heard Jacques Pépin say,”You never know what they are doing behind you back.” 🙂 Gelato sound delish.
That is soooo impressive! What a show stopper…leave it to Cathy to come up with this recipe and your changes were very successful! You did a super job with it.
We’ve all been through the hazelnut problem…I’ve done it both ways. The water/soda way is best when you want really clean hazelnuts, but rubbing in a towel after heating seems the simplest and I never mind if there are a few skins left. I make a zucchini dish frequently that calls for hazelnuts and a few skins make little difference. But in pastry, I agree…the cleaner the better.
I love Cathy. I have found so many recipes from her, and besides she goes to France every once in a while which I love hearing about. 🙂 I hope those that did not know about the baking soda technique will give it a try. Thank you so much for stopping by, I love comments.
Madonna
Thank you for doing the research and for your tips, Madonna! I’ll tell you what, your photo of the cake on that pretty plate, with the darling mug, all on the pink a white gingham, with the pretty napkin, should be in a magazine. Oh, how I’d love to have a slice of that cake with a cup of tea. Thanks for the inspiration!
Kitty, you are too kind. No magazine would accept my photos, but I would encourage you make this cake, it is a keeper. As always, I appreciate your input.
This is such a beautiful dessert and looks delicious too!
Thanks for stopping by my blog with the pomegranate salad recipe suggestion. I can’t wait to try it.
Lisa
Thank you Lisa. I went to the market after seeing your pomegranates and bought the ingredients to make that salad. Thanks for stopping by.
M.
I usually buy my hazelnuts with the skin removed. Not quite as good quality, as the ones with skins, IMO, but saves so much work. Anyway, such a lovely torte! This is gorgeous. Very creative — thanks.
Thanks so much John. I have to say these nuts were the best I have ever had. I don’t mind the little extra step, but if it seems too much trouble by all means save yourself some time, but I would encourage you to make the cake – it’s that good. Thanks for stopping by John, it is always great to hear your thoughts.
So darling..I love minis..
Thanks Monique. The minis were great for giving away, but this cake makes a double layer 8″ cake if desired. Thanks for stopping by.
I loved how you turned this into smaller cakes and thank you so much for the tip on skinning hazelnuts! I’ve never been a good cake decorator but I think your cake is beautiful. It sounds so delicious too. I might go for the drizzled chocolate 🙂
Thanks Susan. I like to make smaller ones to give away.
Hi Madonna – I’m so happy you liked this recipe. Thanks so much for the tip about removing the skins from the hazelnuts. It’s a big pain and it sounds like your technique does a better job than roasting them. Love that you made miniature cakes to share. I’m going to do that next time. I’m a total fizzle when it comes to decorating and think you did a beautiful job frosting your cakes. Bob’s Red Mill is a good source of hazelnut flour if you ever want to purchase some. It’s one of my favorite baking ingredients. Thanks so much for the link love.
Cathy, thanks so much for a great recipe. The family swears it is the best thing I have made. 🙂 After I posted I looked at Bob’s Redmill, but it is really expensive or at least I thought. They charged $12 for 14 oz. I purchased mine from TJ, a pound for 7.99, and apparently they get them from your neighborhood.
Oh how lovely, prettier than anything you could buy in a bakery. I’m sure it is as good as it is pretty.
It tastes better than it looks. 🙂 Thanks Karen.
nothing beats the taste and smell of freshly roasted hazelnuts.
I’m getting hungry just by looking at the pictures.
Thanks Daniela. This really is worth your time. btw, I told my family what you said about el niño, and it is just now starting to reach us and the weatherman are starting to let us know all about it.
Have definitely bookmarked this – that hazelnut technique is brilliant!! With the holidays coming up that advice is going to put to good use!! These little tortes sound fantastic and I love how you made them individual sized – a perfect entertaining recipe!!