Nutella Cake

THE CAKE

1In a non stick pan, quickly roast the hazelnuts then set them aside in a plate to cool off.

2Bring a medium size pot of water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Place the dark chocolate, broken into pieces into a Pyrex bowl and place it into the simmering water (Bain-Marie) and mix with a small wooden spoon every now and then until melted, then turn off the fire and let stand into the warm water so it won’t solidify again. Use a grinder, or with a chef’s knife, to reduce the hazelnuts to a nice coarse granola; make sure you don’t turn them into powder.

3Butter a 9″ cake pan and preheat the oven to 350º.

4In a bowl big enough to contain all ingredients, start mixing the Nutella and the Butter, then move to the eggs; separate the egg whites and the yolks, add the yolks to the Nutella mix and in another bowl, using a mixer whip the whites with a pinch of salt. The whites should have a firm consistency but still look wet, don’t over do it!

5Add the egg yolks to the cake mix, then the ground hazelnuts, and then in small increments (about 1/4 at a time) fold in the whipped egg whites.

6When all ingredients are worked together into a nice and soft batter, finally add the melted chocolate and work until completely absorbed, then pour into the cake pan. Place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes, or until the sides of the cake will start separating from the sides of the pan.Be careful, this cake is almost a hazelnut fudge, no need to poke with a toothpick to check if the inside is ready or not. Cake will come out of the oven nice and fluffy, but it will deflate to half the size during its cool off period.

7Serve garnished with some powdered sugar or go ahead and proceed to prepare the side garnish.

THE GARNISH

1In a bowl mix the heavy cream and the powdered sugar, use a mixer to whip the cream; make sure not to over do it, otherwise you will end up with cream cheese.

2In a non stick pan roast the hazelnuts, then grind them in a mixer (pulse) or with a chef’s knife into a coarse granola.

3In another non stick pan, over a medium high flame, mix the jam and the grappa until reduced to a syrup: enjoy the flaming liquor, but make sure you don’t burn it all out.

4Place the whipped cream into a pastry bag and start garnishing the side of the plate, you can obviously just scoop some cream into the plate with a serving spoon.

5Decorate to taste, remembering that less is always better.

6Add some raspberries, sprinkle some hazelnuts granola and finish with a squirt of the grappa and jam syrup. To work the syrup I would suggest a squeeze bottle, just to have more fun decorating and creating your own design; however using a spoon is fine and sometimes much easier, as the jam might get stuck into the nozzle of the bottle if not liquid enough.