Chocolate hazelnut torte
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Get ready folks! This one is a four bowl-er!!
A family supper at Mom's had me in the dessert planning mode again. I recalled with fond memories this chocolate hazelnut number that I had made a couple of times at my shop in Pawtucket RI for the Saturday morning farmers market. Definitely delicious and worth the extra effort to make.
It's very important to plan ahead and do your mise en place for this recipe - pan preparation, butter at room temperature, chopping and melting chocolate, dividing the sugar (pay attention to the recipe!) separating eggs and understanding all the steps of beating and mixing before the whole shebang goes into the pan and the oven.
The ingredients:
227 g/8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
215 g/1 cup sugar, divided, plus more for pan prep
227 g/8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
175 g/1.25 cup hazelnut flour
35 g/0.25 cup all purpose flour
16 g/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
The process:
Heat the oven to 375ºF. Butter a 9" springform pan, place a parchment round on the bottom, butter the parchment and sprinkle with sugar.
Melt the chopped bittersweet chocolate in a bowl over a bain marie, stirring periodically until smooth; remove from the bain marie and let cool slightly.
In a medium bowl whisk together the hazelnut flour, all purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt and 1/4 cup sugar.
In a mixer with the paddle attachment beat butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Add egg yolks, one by one, blending in each addition before adding the next. Beat in vanilla.
Here are the four bowls at this point:
Blend in melted chocolate then gradually add in dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
In a clean bowl with clean beaters or whisk attachment beat egg whites and cream of tartar to stiff peaks.
Now down to two bowls!
With a rubber spatula fold 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate batter to loosen it (NOTE: it can get pretty dense as the chocolate cools so don't dilly-dally!). Fold in the remaining whites just until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 minutes then reduce the oven temp to 350ºF and bake an additional 30-40 minutes. The top should look dry and may crack a bit and a skewer inserted in the center should come out clean.
Let cool about 20 minutes then unmold and cool completely.
Once cooled I decided to glaze it with some leftover ganache I had in the fridge. I gently warmed the ganache until spreadable and gave the top some cover.
Time for dessert!
My vanilla ice cream fait à la maison, a narrow slice of heaven and a sprinkle of crisp chocolate pearls:
Smooth ganache, dense moist crumb, lovely chocolate-hazelnut balance, cool-creamy ice cream and just a little crunch thrown in. Yes.
Give it a try!
