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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

hazelnut butter and chocolate sponge



Ingredients

100 g butter, cubed
150 sugar
1 tbsp hazelnut butter
3 eggs
250 g self rising flour
200 ml milk

60 g dark chocolate, cut into small piaces
icing sugar to dust

Beat the butter with the sugar, add the hazelnut butter and keep beating. Add the eggs, one by one, followed by half of the flour, then the milk, then the remaining flour and milk. Keep beating until light and foamy. Spoon (don't pour, just spoon delicately) inside a non stick 20 cm round baking tin, well greased with butter. Top with the chocolate (it will go down inside the cake during baking). Bake at 180° for about 25 minutes. When cold dust with icing sugar.
This cake is soft and it smells divine!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

11 comments:

  1. what a beautiful cake, Alessandra. I'm going to make it to celebrate Eid el Fitr, the end of Ramadan. I hope mine can turn as pretty as yours. fingers crossed.

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  2. You just need to beat everything a lot Arfi, really a lot!!!! And place it in your baking tin spoon by spoon, don't level it, don't bang the tin, don't do anything to remove the air from the cake :-)

    Ciao
    A.

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  3. Quello che ci vorrebbe stamattina..รจ novembre a Milano!!!
    Presto arriveranno le foto della Sardegna, stay tuned!bacio

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  4. What a perfectly lovely cake. If I can find hazelnut butter I'll make this one. It looks wonderful. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  5. The cake looks so, so perfect.
    I'm intrigued by the hazelnut butter, I Have seen it but never tried it.

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  6. Mangocheeks, maybe you can find hazelnut butter in the health food stores in the UK. It is expensive but you only need a little and it is one of the yummiest things in the world. Otherwise you can make your own, I have a recipe on the sidebar, under recipes on the net, nut recipes entry.

    I copy it below

    Hazelnut Spread
    This delicious hazelnut “butter” can be spread on toast or added to cakes and puddings for an intense hazelnut flavour.
    Ingredients
    1 cup hazelnuts, shelled • 3 tablespoons icing sugar • 2 tablespoons light vegetable or rice brain oil (optional)
    Place the hazelnuts on an oven tray and toast at 180°C for 10 minutes. Remove and spread the nuts over a clean tea towel. Rub the nuts with the tea towel to remove the brown skin, then grind to a fine paste in a food processor. Add the sugar and grind until the paste is very fine and shiny.
    If the mix is dry, it means your hazelnuts are old or have been stored incorrectly and have lost their oil. If this is the case, add a couple of tablespoons of oil and mix.
    Store in sterilised jars in a dark cupboard. The oil from the nuts may come to the top but don’t panic – this means the paste will keep for longer. Just mix the spread with a spoon before using.

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  7. What a delectable cake, Alessandra. I love the idea of using hazelnut butter.

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  8. Thank you for the tips, Alessandra. Will do ;)

    P.S.: I've mentioned you on my tweets. Should there be any fluctuation, blame on me!

    XXXX

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  9. just made mine twice, one using self-rising flour, another one using gluten-free flour, none has risen high. i wonder why. i'm going to try it out again until i got it as perfect as yours, well, at least close enough :)

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  10. Sorry to hear that Arfi, i am not sure about the gluten free flour (i didn't try) but for the rest maybe just make sure you beat a lot after you add any ingredients. The mixture should almost looks like a mousse.

    Did you use a 20 cm baking tin? Did it at least taste nice?

    let me know if you try again.

    ciao
    A.

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  11. Alessandra questa torta e` bellissima! Alta da fare invidia! Cerchero il burro di nocciole, non l'ho mai usato ma deve essere delizioso.
    Un abbraccio,
    Ilaria

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