Hazelnut Torte and a Giveaway

When blogger friend, Cathy,  Wives with Knives, added a "store" to her blog, I was excited.  I knew for years that Cathy owns "The Bavarian Nut Company" in her native Oregon.  Hazelnuts are in her store, so I knew I would have to have some.  I have never lived where they are readily available year-round, so this was a treat.

I remember my grandmother using hazelnuts in her holiday baking, though I was not able to find any of her recipes.  So I did a search, ended up combining several recipes, and came up with my own, so am giving no credit for this recipe.  I will still be working on perfection, but the taste is so good, perhaps looks don't always count.

I ordered both hazelnut flour/meal and whole hazelnuts.  I made two layers of cake.  I halved the recipe and made one layer with whole hazelnuts that I ground and one layer using the the hazelnut meal/flour.  The whole hazelnuts that I ground up made a much lighter layer.  The meal/flour layer seemed a little more "sticky" and dense.  I baked each batter in a 9 inch round cake pan.  In retrospect, I would have used 3 cake pans instead of 2...sigh...you get the picture.  Because of wanting the batter to be separate, I forged ahead.

I decided to add a layer of apricot jam to the top of each layer.  I then added a spread of chocolate ganache between the layers, on top and down the sides.  I had a little trouble controlling the ganache, getting it to the right consistency.  It is 80 degrees today in Florida, the air conditioning is on.  The cake now sits in the refrigerator.  The ganache is stiffening.  sigh.  Still, it really does taste great.  Of course, a small glass of Frangelico goes nicely with it also.

Hazelnut Torte

2 cups hazelnuts, ground
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons flour
8 eggs

Line the bottom of 3 round 9" cake pans with parchment paper.  Butter and flour the pans including the parchment paper on the bottoms.  Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

In food processor, blend the hazelnuts, sugar, flour and baking powder until the nuts are finely ground into a powder-like consistency and until everything is blended well.

Add 8 eggs and process well.

Pour into the cake pans.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then remove the cake layers to a cooling rack.

Ganache Frosting

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1/2 pound finely chopped semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a small saucepan, bring the cream, sugar and corn syrup to a boil over low moderate heat, whisking until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate, whisking until the chocolate is melted.  Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

After the ganache has cooled and slightly thickened, spread over the first layer of cake and continue adding the layers.  Spread the frosting on top and over the sides of the cake.

In the photo above, the hazelnut meal/flour is the bottom layer and the hazelnuts that I ground are in the top layer.  Either would work.  I am so happy that Cathy offers such wonderful treats in her store.  While shopping there, please be sure to pick up some of her Bavarian Roasted nuts.  I can definitely cheer for the almonds!!!

Now here is the good news!  Cathy at Wives with Knives has graciously offered a giveaway of a bag of her wonderful cinnamon almonds and a bag of hazelnut flour/meal.  All you have to do is run over to her store and come back here and leave a comment and tell me what you like best from her Bavarian Nut Store, and you will be entered. This giveaway will close at 5 p.m. EST on Friday, December 14.  This will give Cathy time to mail your treats before Christmas.  Hurry on over now to The Bavarian Nut Company. 

Translated, it is Water Cake

Because it was my birthday week and we were dining in all week, I decided to make my mother's old recipe for Wasser Kuchen.  She made this recipe so often, she did it by memory. The recipe card used to hang on the inside of the spice cabinet door in her kitchen.  Such few ingredients, I memorized it myself as a young girl.

Mother always baked this sponge-type cake in a 9 x 13 pan.  Then added fruit or pudding or chocolate or whatever she felt like.  Since this is strawberry season in Florida, I knew I would make a shortcake of sorts.

When we lived in Germany 44 years ago.....can it be that long ago?.... I bought a cake form called a "Torten Boden" which literally means the bottom of the cake.  You can buy these ready made in Germany such as our small, round shortcakes.  What I love about the pan is that it forms an edge so all the lovely fruit cannot escape.

It is a Dr. Oetker pan and looks its age.  The trick is to diligently get shortening into every little ripple and crevice in order for the cake to simply drop out after baking.  No rush on this job.

Wasser Kuchen  (Water Cake)

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup water

Beat the eggs until very foamy.  Add sugar and beat to mix.  Add baking powder to flour and slowly add alternately to the sugar/egg mixture with the water.

Bake in a greased, sugared and then lightly floured 9 x 13 pan, or if you have a fluted German cake pan, please use it instead.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.    How simple is that!!

I mentioned last time that I received this great gift from Debby at A Feast for the Eyes.  One of the items was an envelope of King Arthur "Instant Clearjel Powder."  It is a thickening substitute for flour or cornstarch for pies.  But this is the best part...  I cut up the strawberries and put half the amount of sugar on them and let them sit for a half hour.  Into the other half of the sugar, I added 2 tablespoons of this "Instant Clearjel Powder."  I mixed the last half of the sugar and gel into the strawberries gently, and it quickly thickened to a perfect texture.  No cooking involved.  I then spooned the strawberries onto the cake.  This worked so slick!!!  I know I will use this product often.

Oma's Burnt Sugar Cake

Sometimes memories smack you right in the face.  This happened to me; twice this week.  I was re-reading a beautiful cookbook from my heritage with stories of the past and the present.  And then, once again, I was reading on the Internet, the hometown weekly newspaper where my friend, Barbara, reminded me of the cakes that were always baked by certain cooks.  My grandmother was mentioned for her special cake, Burnt Sugar Cake. 

I remember this cake so well.  My father's parents lived downstairs in our home, and my Oma was a wonderful baker.  When I was asked which cake I would like, I always asked for the Burnt Sugar Cake.  And Oma would always bake it in her heart-shaped pans.  I wonder if that is why I have always loved heart shapes?  Or perhaps this is why I have always loved this special cake.

So today, I simply had to bake this special cake.  Besides, I have my Oma's heart-shaped pans.  It doesn't matter that it is not Valentine's Day.  Hearts are special every day. 

Thankfully, I asked my Aunt Louise, my Oma's daughter, to write down the recipe for me back in 1976.  Otherwise, I would not have it today.  Of course, something always gets lost in the translation, so instructions like "bake until done", or "beat until just right", and "a little butter" for the frosting, just made me chuckle.  It also brought on some "angst" or anxiety, because I really wanted to get this right.
I had also promised myself back in 1976, that I would bake this cake when I had extra time...like retirement.  Well, we have been retired for almost 12 years now....wow....and it really is time to bake this cake.  It is tricky though.  In fact, The Trout entered and kitchen and proclaimed that it smelled like burnt sugar.  My thoughts were that I was on the right track.

In the Amana Colonies in Iowa, whenever there was a wedding or a funeral, the ladies of the villages would bake their cake specialties to take to the receptions.    Marie would bake her marble cake, my Oma's sister, Tante Kätchen, would bake Mystery Cake or known by it's second name, Lady Golden Glow.  That cake is an interesting story which I will have to share, along with the recipe, someday soon.   Then there was always a contest as to who could bake the best nut cake.  Hickory nuts and black walnuts were always available as the trees grew either in our yards or in the neighboring woods.  Hickory nut cake....now that was very, very good.  I can't imagine where I would go to find hickory nuts now.  Of course, big competition on the Feather Cakes.

Burnt Sugar Cake
from my Oma Susanna Kippenhan...1940-1950's

First:  1 cup white sugar.  Pour into a cast iron skillet.  Place over moderate heat and stir while it is melting.  This will take a few minutes.  As it starts totally melting, stir in 1/2 cup warm water and stir until smooth.  I did have some sugar crystallize and I merely fished them out to leave a smooth liquid.  Set this aside.

In a mixer, cream 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup softened butter.  Separate 2 eggs.  Mix the egg yolks into the creamed sugar and butter.  Add 2 tsps. vanilla.

Sift together 2 1/2 cups flour and 2 tsps. baking powder.  Add alternately to the butter mixture with 1 cup milk.  Beat until smooth.  Now beat the 2 egg whites until stiff and set aside. 

Now pour the burnt sugar mixture, which has cooled some at this point, into the cake batter.  Stir until smooth.  Then fold in the stiff beaten egg whites.  Bake in greased 9 x 13 or 2 round cake pans.  Bake 25-30 minutes.  Be sure to check to see if the cake is done.  Do not over bake this cake.

Frosting

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 Tblsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Cook in the skillet where you burned the sugar.  This gives it the color and flavoring.  Cook this frosting until it begins to thicken, but don;t cook too long.  Everything should melt together and then beat it, off the stove,  until it is thick enough to spread.

My first suggestion would be to not use this frosting.  Unless Oma had some culinary skills or unwritten directions, this frosting simply does not work.  I would suggest the following instead...

Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat, stirring constantly until mixture bubbles.  Cook for 1 minute.  Stir until mixture cools and add 3 cups powdered sugar gradually with milk, beating well after each addition.  Add more sugar if needed to preferred consistency.  Add vanilla.

I am really hoping that if someone from Amana is reading this and knows the secret to this frosting, that they contact me.  The cake was perfect!  Very moist and the flavor I remember.  Being that Oma passed away when I was 13, I did not spend a lot of time in the kitchen with her.  That is very sad for me.  I could have learned so much.  After all these years, I still miss her terribly.  I sure could have used a lesson in frosting today.