Brown Butter & Hazelnut Cake

Kitty FloridoJanuary 25, 2014

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

We’re back! Yes, really back! It’s been a couple of crazy weeks. Between family flying from out of town for the holidays and work, I’ve been swamped. Last time I actually got to bake/cook something for TFK was on December 31st… that crazy! Now, things are finally falling back in their place and I am being able to manage my schedule better. So, a few days ago I finally got some of my so-missed time in the kitchen.

This time around, I decided to try out my luck with hazelnuts. Especially this Hazelnut Cake. As soon as I read it on Smitten Kitchen, I knew I had to bake it myself. So, I was driving around with my mom running errands when we started talking about my next recipes for the blog. When I mentioned this one, she asked how I was going to remove the skins from the hazelnuts. I answered back that I read that after toasting them for a few minutes, I had to only rub them in-between a clean kitchen towel and most of the skins would peel off. She said that back then, she would blanch them and then the skins are extremely easy to remove. Moms know best. I searched both methods, and a video from Fine Cooking did all the explaining. They suggest blanching the hazelnuts, later on peeling, pat them dry and finally toast them. You’ll find a link to the video below the recipe. Also, you will find a very detailed post on how to make Brown Butter from Simply Recipes, which helped me tons.

The cake is airy and light… Ok not so light… but it definitely is a perfect cake for those who don’t have a sweet tooth! The brown butter infused with vanilla definitely takes this cake to a new level, with its nutty flavor together with the ground hazelnuts… it’s an unexpected delight!

Now, let’s talk business! Last year we added a sidebar ad to the blog so we can pay for some of the expenses. We do this because we love it, but we still need to cover some of the costs that come along. So, we will start to feature some products in our posts in a way that will go along with the site. Do you see the gorgeous plate and fork we have on the picture? We are collaborating with Nisa, who are distributors of Oneida flatware, dinnerware and serve ware… and they are working on this amazing new site that is coming out in the next few weeks, which we know that you will love. As soon as the site is out, we will let you know! Anyway, we are going to be working with them on some sponsored posts by featuring some of their products. At the end of the post, you’ll see the name of the products displayed as well as their links (when the site goes live!), as well as a little logo at the end of the post, stating that the post has sponsored products.

We hope you like the little changes we are doing to the blog because all of this is for you, our readers!

Kitty

Brown Butter & Hazelnut Cake

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
One 10-inch cake

Ingredients:
5 ounces hazelnuts
½ pound unsalted butter
⅛ teaspoon of vanilla bean paste or ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 ⅓ cups confectioners’ sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
5 egg whites
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 cups of water
4 tablespoons of baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 °F.
In a big pot, bring the water to a boil, carefully add the baking soda tablespoon by tablespoon so it doesn’t boil over.
Add the hazelnuts and boil for 3 minutes. If the pot starts to boil over, you can move the pot out of the heat for a few seconds.
Test one of the hazelnuts to peel it, and if they peel easily, remove them from the heat, drain and peel all of the hazelnuts.
Pat dry the hazelnuts and spread them on a baking sheet, and toast 12 to 15 minutes until they’re golden brown and smell nutty. Let them cool.
Cut out a circle of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Brush the pan with a little melted butter and line the bottom with the paper.
Place the rest of the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the vanilla bean paste to the pan (or vanilla extract), and cook the butter until the butter browns and smells nutty (about 6 to 8 minutes). Set aside to cool.
Grind the hazelnuts with the confectioners’ sugar in a food processor until they’re finely ground. Add the flour and pulse to combine. Transfer to a large bowl.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the granulated sugar and mix on high speed 4 to 5 minutes, until the mixture forms very stiff peaks.
Alternate folding the dry ingredients and the brown butter into the egg whites, a third of a time. Remember to scrape the bottom of the brown butter pan with a rubber spatula to get all the little brown bits.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool on a rack 30 minutes.
Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan, and invert the cake onto a plate. Peel off the paper, and turn the cake back over onto a serving platter. Sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

Notes:

How to Brown Butter, from Simply Recipes
Fine Cooking’s YouTube Video on How to Skin Hazelnuts:

Dessert Plate, Oneida St. Andrea Botticelli
Dessert Fork, Oneida Barcelona
Dinnerware and Flatware sponsored by:

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