HAZELNUT, HONEY AND COCOA NIB CAKES
Our light and not-too-sweet Hazelnut, Honey and Cocoa Nib Cakes make the perfect finale to a heavy meal. The subtle flavours marry well with most types of fruit and were particularly delicious with the poached quinces pictured. Lashings of cream mandatory of course.
If you’re in summery climes, try serving them with some seasonal berries marinated in orange and lemon juice, a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a few drops of Grand Marnier.
The ground cocoa nibs in our recipe give a subtle savoury note to the honey flavour but can be replaced by roasted and ground espresso beans.
Baked as a whole cake, our Hazelnut, Honey and Cocoa Nib Cake is easy to transport making it perfect to take as a picnic treat and is great on its own just with a dusting of icing sugar for good measure.
The cakes are even better the next day so can be made well ahead of time and stored in an airtight container.
Hope you give them a try.
Rosie.
HAZELNUT, HONEY AND COCOA NIB CAKES
Makes 15 x individual cakes in 6cm high x 6cm diameter cake rings or 1 x 24cm round cake
200 gm hazelnuts, un-blanched
140 gm almonds, blanched
2 tablespoons cocoa nibs, finely ground (or 1 tablespoon finely ground espresso beans)
½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
8 55gm eggs, separated
1 teaspoon orange zest, finely grated
140 gm honey
60 gm unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Preheat oven to 150°C. Line cake rings/tin with baking paper.
In a food processor, grind hazelnuts and almonds until fine, using the pulse button and being mindful not to over-process and turn the nuts into paste.
Transfer to a baking tray and toast in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes until lightly golden, redistributing the ground nuts several times to ensure they brown evenly and don’t burn on the bottom. Allow to cool. Stir in the cocoa nibs and baking powder.
Increase the oven heat to 180°C.
In an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the honey until the mixture is thick and pale.
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Fold one third of the yolk mixture into the egg whites, then one third of the nuts and one third of the butter. Continue in this way until all ingredients are incorporated.
For individual cakes, transfer in half cup measures to the prepared cake rings and bake 15-20 minutes or until the cakes start to shrink away from the sides of the rings.
For one whole cake, bake 40-45 minutes or until the cake starts to shrink away from the tin.
Allow to cool slightly before removing from rings/tin and allow to cool on a cake rack.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with lashings of whipped cream and poached or fresh fruit in syrup.