So many things are happening in and about my small world. If you look up and left and right you might discover the new look of this side. It’s not just a new design, I moved the whole thing from iweb to wordpress. I haven’t finished yet, many things still need to be updated. But I did it almost on my own and can’t stop backslapping myself, this is not just webdesign, I am talking about a miracle. As I am mentioned before, if you would open the door in my brain which says ‘computer, IT, etc.’ on the name plate, this place is dark and tiny and you find two bored brain cells fighting each other.  Against all odds and a lot of copy, paste, update, insert and uploads later, I am getting there. So excited! Please leave a comment if you like (woohoo the comment section is working again) I would like to hear from you.

This weeks birthday girl is Lily. Congratulations. She is trying hard to dress appropriate for her age. We celebrated her birthday with chocolate cake and she didn’t get a crumb. It’s a dog’s life!

Chocolate cake has always been the number one on my list of favorite cakes, it’s the best for every occasion, no doubt about that. I can make up a lot of reasons for a celebration chocolate cake, although I don’t think anyone should need one. This cake has many faces: a little gooey like a brownie but not dense, not very sweet… find it out yourself. The flavors of the roasted hazelnuts, three kinds of chocolate and coffee are coming together very well, they complete each other. The instant coffee is more a seasoning and not overwhelming, add more if you like.

chocolate hazelnut cake with ganache

This cakes keeps moist and well for several days.

200 g / 1 stick + 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

60 g / 2.1 oz. 85 % chocolate

60 g / 2.1 oz. 70 % chocolate

110 g / 3.88 oz. milk chocolate

6 large eggs separated

200 g / 1 cup sugar

200 g / 7.06 oz  hazelnuts, roasted and finely ground

2.5 tablespoons natural cocoa powder (unsweetened)

2 tablespoons corn starch (or potato starch)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso dissolved in 1 teaspoon water

Preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F and grease a 26 cm / 9 inch spring form.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in your microwave oven, add the butter and stir. The warm chocolate will melt the butter and cool a little bit at the same time, set aside.

Beat the egg yolks and the sugar until pale, takes about 3-5 minutes.

Add the cooled chocolate/butter and mix. Then add the ground hazelnuts, cocoa powder, starch, salt, coffee and mix again.

Beat the egg whites until you got stiff and firm peaks.

Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to your batter and fold in with a spoon or rubber spatula, continue adding a 1/3 of the egg whites at a time.

Pour into the springform pan and bake for about 35 minutes, don’t over bake.

Remove the sides of the springform pan and let cool completely before you apply the ganache.

For the ganache:

This is the minimum amount of ganache, just enough to spread evenly all over the cake. Double if you like a thicker layer.

50 g / 1.79 oz. dark chocolate ( I used 70 %)

50 g / 1/4 cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan over low heat, bring the heavy cream to simmer, add the chocolate. Stir well until smooth and let cool to room temperature before spreading over the cake.