Hazelnut Chocolate Cake

Hazelnut Chocolate Cake

Makes 1 x 20cm cake
Ingredients
    Cake
  • 175 g hazelnut paste (see notes)
  • 125 g brown butter, cooled down
  • 50 ml frangelico
  • 175 g sugar
  • 5 g fine salt
  • 5 large eggs
  • 350 g hazelnut meal or ground hazelnuts
  • 50 g cocoa powder
  • 50 g Valrhona crunchy pearls or chopped hazelnuts (see notes)
    • Dark Chocolate Ganache
  • 200 g good quality dark chocolate
  • 50 g unsalted butter
  • 250 g thickened cream
Instructions
    Make the ganache:
  1. Chop chocolate and dice butter. Place in a medium bowl.
  2. Bring the cream to the boil and pour on top of the dark chocolate and butter. Let stand for 2 minutes then stir vigorously until smooth and glossy. Set aside until fully set.
  3. Optional step: If you want your ganache to be lighter. Whip the set ganache with a hand mixer or in your stand mixer until light and fluffy.
    4. Make the cake:
  4. Preheat oven to 170C. Line a 20cm cake tin.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, mix brown butter, sugar, salt, frangelico and hazelnut paste.
  6. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Pour into lined cake tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  7. Remove cake from oven and let cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Remove cake from tin and cool down completely. This will take about 1 more hour.
  8. Using an offset spatula, dollop and spread the ganache on top of the cake. If you're feeling fancy, you can choose to use a piping tip. Sprinkle with crunchy pearls or chopped hazelnuts.
Recipe Notes

  1. Hazelnut paste is sold in specialty shops, but I have tested this with Nutella, and it works as well, its just has a stronger chocolate flavour.
  2. Callebaut also has crunchy pearls, and both Valrhona and Callebaut are sold in specialty shops, however, chopped hazelnuts can also be used as a replacement.
  3. If you don't feel like making chocolate ganache, don't fret, top the cake with some chocolate cream by whipping 1 cup cream and 2tbsp icing sugar until medium then folding in some sifted cocoa powder.