Portland Hazelnut Torte Recipes

HAZELNUT TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan; set aside.
• Place hazelnuts in the bowl of a food processor; process until coarsely chopped and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together butter and sugar until light, smooth, and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs, olive oil, and orange zest, mixing well on slow speed after each addition.
• With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with milk and beginning and ending with flour; beat until just combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat on high speed about 2 minutes; fold in nuts and chocolate.
• Pour batter into prepared cake pan, smoothing top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the top is light brown and just springs back when lightly touched, about 45 minutes.
• Transfer cake to a cooling rack; let cool 30 minutes. Remove outer ring of pan; let cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve dusted with confectioners' sugar or whipped cream, if desired.

HAZELNUT TORTE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Stir in nuts. In another bowl, beat egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Fold a small amount into batter until no streaks of white remain; add remaining egg whites. , Pour into an ungreased 9-in. springform pan. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan; cool completely. , Just before serving, remove sides of pan. If desired, drizzle with icing, sprinkle with nuts and garnish with mint.

HAZELNUT TORTE

Steps:

• Line the bottom of 2 round 9" cake pans with parchment paper.
• Butter (or oil) and flour them, including the parchment paper on the bottoms.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Blend 1/2 of each- that's 1/2 of each- of the nuts, sugar, flour and baking powder in a food processor until the nuts are powdered and everything is well blended.
• Add 4 of the eggs and process well.
• Pour into one of the cake pans.
• Wash and dry the food processor parts.
• Repeat with the other half of the ingredients and the other cake pan.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. DO NOT jiggle the pans during baking.
• Cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then remove them carefully to a rack to finish cooling.

COFFEE, HAZELNUT AND RASPBERRY TORTE

Steps:

• For filling:
• Press raspberries through fine sieve into small bowl. Press jam through same sieve into raspberry puree; discard seeds. Stir to blend well. Cover and chill overnight.
• For frosting:
• Combine 3/4 cup cream, white chocolate and coffee crystals in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat just until chocolate melts, coffee dissolves and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Let stand until cool and thick, whisking occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Using electric mixer, beat 1 3/4 cups cream in large bowl until firm peaks form. Fold large spoonful of whipped cream into chocolate mixture to lighten. Fold chocolate mixture into whipped cream in 4 additions. Cover and refrigerate frosting until very firm, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead; keep chilled.)
• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three 9-inch diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides with parchment. Butter and flour parchment. Combine nuts, flour, 1/4 cup sugar, coffee crystals and salt in processor. Blend until nuts are finely ground.
• Using electric mixer, beat yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl until very thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in water and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold into yolk mixture in 3 additions.
• Transfer batter to prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks. Cut around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out; peel off parchment.
• Place 1 cake on platter and second cake on piece of foil. Spread 1/3 cup filling over each; let stand 20 minutes to set up. Spread 1 cup frosting over each. Lift cake off foil; place atop cake on platter. Top with third cake. Spread remaining frosting over sides and top of torte. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.)
• Garnish torte with fresh berries, if desired. Cut into wedges and serve.

HAZELNUT-PRALINE TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over each short side; set aside.
• Whisk nuts and confectioners' sugar in a bowl; reserve 1/2 cup, and set aside. Put yolks and remaining nut mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until pale, about 3 minutes; transfer to a large bowl.
• Put egg whites and salt into the clean bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on medium speed until foamy. Raise speed to medium-high. Gradually add granulated sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in the vanilla.
• Fold egg whites into yolk mixture in two additions. Whisk flour and remaining nut mixture in a small bowl; fold into egg mixture in two additions.
• Transfer half the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 5/8-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #808). Starting in one corner of a prepared baking sheet, pipe batter in diagonal lines, filling sheet. Repeat with remaining batter in second baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, about 15 minutes. Lift parchment onto wire racks, and let cakes cool completely.
• Using a serrated knife, trim edges of cakes to be straight. Halve cakes crosswise. Place one half on a serving plate. Brush with 1/4 cup hazelnut syrup. Spread 1 1/2 cups caramel cream over top. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup praline. Repeat to make two more layers of each. Top with remaining cake half. Refrigerate 2 hours (or overnight). Dust with confectioners' sugar, and garnish with praline.

PORTLAND HAZELNUT TORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Grease a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch jelly roll pan. Line with a piece of waxed paper long enough to extend about 1 inch over ends of pan grease well and set aside.Place 2 cups hazelnuts in a food processor bowl or in a blender container. Cover and process or blend with on-off bursts until nuts are finely ground, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Do not grind too finely.In a small mixer bowl at medium speed, beat egg yolks until thick and pale yellow. Add sugar and beat until very thick. Add ground nuts, bread crumbs, baking powder, vanilla and salt beat until well blended. Transfer to a large bowl. Wash beaters.In a large mixer bowl at high speed, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir about 1 cup of the whites into nut mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining egg whites just until blended. Spread batter evenly in pan.Bake for 35 minutes or until lightly browned and edges pull away from sides of pan. Lightly sprinkle top of hot cake with powdered sugar. Invert cake onto a large clean dish towel peel off waxed paper. Cool.To assemble, cut cake crosswise into four equal strips, each 10 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches. Place one cake strip on a serving plate. Frost the top with 2 tablespoons of the buttercream repeat stacking layers of cake and frosting with buttercream. Frost top and sides of cake. Pipe on a decorative design with buttercream. Garnish with chopped hazelnuts. Cover loosely and chill at least 3 hours or overnight.About 1 hour before serving, remove from refrigerator. To serve, cut 1-inch slices with a serrated knife. Refrigerate leftovers.High Altitude Adjustments: At 6,000 feet, no adjustments needed.