Italian hazelnut cake, or torta de nocciole (in Italian) is cake made to be eaten with a drink, or that’s the way I prefer it. It is perfect, in my opinion, to eat with a cup of coffee, tea, or a glass of milk. The cake calls for a lot of hazelnuts, and you can tell, because it tastes a lot like hazelnuts, and you can also notice them in the texture.
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It is a dense, moist cake, which is full of flavor. It is fluffy and airy, but with a dense texture at the same time, because it has so much hazelnut in the mixture (which is wonderful).
This recipe reminds me a lot of many chocolate brands that have hazelnut in the mix. When I eat some of this cake, it reminds me of the taste of these chocolates, and I love it. To decorate the cake, at the end, you just put some powdered sugar and that’s it!
Ths cake is great to eat for breakfast, beacuse it is so wholesome and hearty, and it tastes wonderfully with some fruit on the side, for example.
Now, there are many variations of this recipe, some of them do not call fot flour in the mixture, and some of them call for chocolate. In this case, we make it using flour, but without chocolate, to notice the intense hazelnut flavor, without being distracted by the chocolate flavor.
It is important to note that the hazelnuts we use in this recipe have to be peeled, without the thin brown layer that surrounds them and they also have to be toasted. Roasting them brings out a lot of flavor and the hazelnut oils themselves, which makes the taste of the cake much more intense, and gives it a deeper and more interesting flavor.
To toast the hazelnuts, first peel them, and then put them in the oven at 338º F (170º C) for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes approximately, being careful, because they can burn very quickly inside the oven. Take them out when they turn golden in color.
If you like this recipe, you have to check out our pecan coffee cake, you will love it!
Italian hazelnut cake (Torta de Nocciole)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 C hazelnut, toasted and peeled
- 1 1/2 C (195 gr) all purpouse flour
- 1 tsp (5 gr) baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (1.2 gr) salt
- 2/3 C (150 gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 C (220 gr) white sugar
- 2 eggs, big
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 2/3 C (160 ml) whole milk, at room temperature
- Confectioners sugar (powdered sugar), for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and place baking paper in a circular baking pan of approximately 23 cm in diameter.
- In a food processor or blender, place the hazelnuts (already roasted and skinned) with the flour, baking powder and salt. Grind for a few seconds until the hazelnuts are well ground.
- In a large bowl, add the butter with the sugar and cream with the electric mixer or balloon whisk for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Add the olive oil with the orange zest and beat until blended.
- Add the flour/hazelnut mixture in 3 additions alternating with the milk, beating after each addition. Beat for 1 minute more until smooth and homogeneous.
- Pour the mixture into the pan and bake at 180° C for approximately 45 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Once the cake is ready, take it out of the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes and then unmold it and place it on a rack to cool for at least another 10 minutes.
- If desired, decorate with a little powdered sugar on top and serve.
- The cake can be covered tightly with plastic wrap and stored for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or frozen for up to 1 month.
