Hazelnut Fudge Cake Recipes

CHOCOLATE-HAZELNUT FUDGE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast until golden and fragrant, about 14 minutes.
• Lightly brush a standard 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter; line in both directions with parchment. Melt 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Brush loaf pan all over with half of melted chocolate; freeze 5 minutes. Brush again with remaining melted chocolate and freeze 5 minutes more.
• In a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt remaining 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate with milk chocolate, stirring together until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in hazelnut spread and hazelnuts. Pour into chilled chocolate shell and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours. Trim chocolate around top of loaf pan with a paring knife. Let temper 30 minutes before slicing crosswise into 8 pieces. Torrone can be refrigerated, covered, up to 2 weeks.

HUNGARIAN FLOURLESS HAZELNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Grind hazelnuts until very fine. Add baking powder and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow in color. Beat in the ground hazelnut mixture.
• In a separate CLEAN bowl, with a CLEAN whisk, whip the egg whites until stiff. Quickly fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the yolk mixture, then add the remaining whites and fold in until no streaks remain.
• Pour into a 9 inch springform. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until top of cake springs back when lightly tapped. Cool on wire rack.
• When cake is cool, slice horizontally into 3 layers. Whip the cream until stiff, and spread generously between layers, on top and on the sides of the cake. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on top for decoration.

HAZELNUT FUDGE CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare pastry. In medium size bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well mixed. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Gather dough into a ball, flatten to a 5-inch round, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate pastry at least 30 minutes or overnight.
• When pastry has chilled, heat oven to 400º. Between 2 sheets of floured waxed paper, roll out pastry to a 12-inch round. Remove top sheet of paper and invert pastry into a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom, allowing excess to extend over edge. Remove remaining sheet of waxed paper. Fold excess pastry inside so that it is even around top edge with rim of pan; press pastry against the side to make an even thickness. With fork, pierce bottom of pastry crust 10-15 times to prevent shrinkage. Line crust with aluminum foil and fill with uncooked dry beans.
• Bake pastry crust 10 minutes, remove foil with beans and bake crust 5 minutes longer. Cool crust on wire rack while preparing filling. Reduce oven temperature to 350º.
• Prepare filling: In heavy 1-quart saucepan, heat chocolate, butter, sugar, half and half, and salt over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
• In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat eggs slightly; slowly beat warm chocolate mixture into eggs until well blended. Spread chocolate mixture into pastry crust and bake cake 25-30 minutes.
• For Topping: In double boiler melt semi-sweet chocolate squares, half and half, butter, chopped toasted hazelnuts, and hazelnut syrup, stirring constantly until smooth.
• When cake has cooled, spread over top and sides. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream.

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the springform pan by coating it in a thin layer with 2 tablespoons of the softened butter. Add the cocoa powder to the pan and tap the sides to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Discard any excess cocoa powder. Put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven on the center rack until just fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a kitchen towel to stop them from cooking. Use the towel to rub off the skins. Set aside to cool. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Fill a 1- to 2-quart pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a bare simmer over medium heat. Place the dark chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl and set it over the pot and simmering water (this is a bain-marie). The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Let the chocolate melt, and then stir gently. Remove from the heat when melted.
• Chop the hazelnuts into small pieces using a chef's knife or a food processor. Make sure you don't turn them into powder. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer with the salt until they are almost at stiff peaks. Try not to over-whip. Mix together the remaining 5 tablespoons butter with the chocolate hazelnut spread in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in the espresso. Add the yolks and stir briskly to combine. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts and melted chocolate. Add one-fourth of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate hazelnut mixture and stir to lighten the batter. Then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter in 3 additions. Don't over-fold. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
• Bake on the center rack of the oven until the sides of the cake start releasing from edges of the pan, 40 minutes. This cake is almost a hazelnut fudge, so no need to poke with a toothpick to check if the inside is ready or not. The cake will come out of the oven nice and fluffy and souffled, but it will deflate to half the size during its cool-off period. Serve garnished with some powdered sugar and whipped or cream or gelato, if using.

TRIPLE HAZELNUT CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• To make the cake, grease 2 (9 by 2-inch) round cake pans with shortening and line bottoms with parchment rounds. Grease parchment and dust each pan with 1 tablespoon flour, shaking out excess. Set pans aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, liqueur, and hazelnut extract until blended and set aside.
• In a large bowl of an electric stand mixer, gently combine on low speed 3 1/3 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and hazelnuts until blended. Add the butter and sour cream and beat on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened.
• Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 1/2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. In 3 separate additions, add the egg mixture to the batter, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Divide batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake on the center rack for 40 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, discard parchment and cool cakes completely on wire racks, 1 to 2 hours.
• To make the hazelnut filling, in a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat.
• Sprinkle with flour and whisk until smooth. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the sugar and cream and cook, whisking constantly, for 7 to 10 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Stir in the hazelnuts, salt, liqueur, hazelnut extract, and chocolate and cook just until chocolate melts. Set aside in a bowl and cool completely.
• To make the chocolate buttercream frosting, melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler over medium heat until smooth. Set aside, off the heat, and cool completely. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and egg whites until blended. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until mixture reaches 140 degrees F.
• Remove mixture to a large bowl of a stand mixture with a whisk attachment and beat on low speed for 1 minute to cool slightly. Increase speed to high and beat for 4 minutes or until mixture is cool to the touch and doubled in volume. Reduce speed to low and add the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until all of the butter has been added. Continue to beat until mixture looks smooth. Fold in the melted chocolate and the hazelnut extract and beat until fluffy.
• To assemble the cake, split each cake layer horizontally in half to make 4 separate layers. Spread equal amounts of the hazelnut filling between each layer and frost top and sides of cake with the buttercream. To garnish, press chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake. Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe rosettes around the top rim using remaining frosting. Place whole hazelnuts and chocolate curls on the top of the cake.
• Tip: To make this cake an easier undertaking, take the time to search out hazelnuts that have already been peeled. If peeled nuts are unavailable, working in batches, boil nuts in 2 cups water along with 2 tablespoons baking soda for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Run nuts under water and slip off skins. Dry the nuts well and toast on a baking sheet in a 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool and finely chop and proceed with recipe. If you purchase the nuts already peeled, toast in a 350 degree F oven for only 15 minutes.