Grace – The Printer Makers Bakery

I have a new recipes for you all, it’s an Italian cake recipe that I picked up in Rome. I hadn’t associated Italy with hazelnuts, but there are a delicious ingredients in this cake. All around Italy, I saw them at markets, typically sold by nut specialists.

Ingredients

• 200g blanched hazelnuts, toasted
• 100g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 215g plain flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
• ½ tablespoon orange zest, finely grated
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 125ml milk, at room temperature
• 100g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• Icing sugar, for sifting

Method

• Heat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4.
• Chop the hazelnuts in a food processor using the pulse button – you want the nuts to end up in small bits.
• Butter and lightly flour a 23cm spring-form cake tin.
• Cream the sugar and butter together using a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the nut oil and orange zest.
• With the mixer on a slow speed, gradually add the flour, salt and baking powder, alternating with splashes of milk.
• Fold in the chopped nuts and chocolate by hand using a large metal spoon. Scrape the batter into the cake tin and smooth the top.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and spring back when you touch it. After 10 minutes, turn the cake out on to a wire rack and let it cool. Sift a little icing sugar on top.