Hazelnut Coffee Cake

Lucia from Torta di Rose is hosting both the English and Italian editions of Weekend Herb Blogging and with Easter just a week away I thought I'd bake one of my favourite cakes that uses one of my favourite ingredients - Hazelnuts.




Hazelnut Coffee Cake

250 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs, separated
200 grams raw caster sugar
220 grams melted butter, cooled
¾ cup brewed coffee, cooled
80 grams ground hazelnuts
Topping:
Pure icing sugar
Dutch Cocoa
ground hazelnuts
brewed coffee

Sift the flour and baking powder together and set to one side.

Place the egg whites into a bowl and beat until stiff peaks form - set to one side.

Place the yolks and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. With the motor on a low speed, slowly pour in the cooled melted butter - beat until it has all been absorbed.

Now with the motor still running, pour in the coffee, followed by the sifted flour before finally adding the ground hazelnuts. Stop as soon as the mixture has come together.

Take a large metal spoon and scoop in a third of the beaten egg whites - fold this through to slacken the mixture before adding the remaining egg whites. Carefully fold together until just combined.

Pour the batter into a lined 22cm springform tin - smooth out the surface and bake in a pre-heated 170°C until golden and cooked through - this should take between 40 and 50 minutes.

Let it cool slightly in the tin before unmoulding. When cool, smother the cake with the topping.

Make the topping:

I have made this to taste by blending pure icing sugar, dutch cocoa and hazelnut meal with a little coffee to make a spreadable mixture.



You could also use this mixture to make individual cakes - they only need about 15 to 20 in the oven to cook.