This hazelnut chocolate cake is soft, rich in chocolate and will get you going for more. Â This recipe contains mascarpone and hazelnuts. Â I love the taste of the roasted hazelnuts in it.
This recipe is from Frank Camorra and was published in  Good Food. The cake is beautiful.  In terms of difficulty, it goes into the easy basket.
Ingredients
- 150 g hazelnuts, toasted and skinned -see tip
- 100 g ground almonds
- 100 g dried breadcrumbs -see tip
- 300 g good cooking chocolate
- 165 g butter, softened
- 150 g caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 150 g mascarpone cheese
Tip on toasted and skinned hazelnuts: Place the hazelnuts on a single level under the grill, shake from time to time. When toasted, place the hazelnut into a tea-towel, close the towel and rub the fabric and nuts.  The skins will peel off.Â
Tip on making your own bread crumbs: toast a few pieces of bread until quite coloured but not burned. Use the rolling pin and roll over the tasted bread. Â Toast again if necessary. You will not manage to get the whole slice into crumbs. Repeat the process until you have the quantity sought. Â To make the crumbs finer, whiz in a little food processor.Â
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a 24 centimetre spring-form pan with baking paper.
- Whiz the hazelnuts in a food processor until they are finely and evenly ground, then add the ground almonds and breadcrumbs and pulse the processor a few times to mix. Remove from the processor and reserve in a bowl.
- Break up the chocolate into a heatproof bowl, place over a pot of simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water) and stir until melted.  With a whisk or in the food processor, whiz the butter and sugar until well mixed, then add the eggs.
- Add the vanilla, ground nuts, chocolate and mascarpone and mix together well.
- Pour into the spring-form pan and bake for about 40-45 minutes (the surface of the cake usually cracks in a ring).
Cool slightly before serving. Â You can, once cold enough, Â dust with icing sugar.
Serving suggestions:
Top with roasted strawberries and some sauce and/or add a dollop of creme fraiche or whipped cream.
