White Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

A friend of mine collects bath products. Not just bath products, but bath products scented like food. A quick glance in her shower finds things like "Moisturizing Maple Syrup Scrub," "Pecan Pie Body Wash," and "Vanilla Butter Cream Body Frosting." They smell astonishingly close to the real thing. Mouth-wateringly so. I've been known to occasionally sniff my way through her shower shelves in lieu of dessert.

A few weeks ago I noticed a bottle titled "White Chocolate Hazelnut Cake," by the company Philosophy. Not only did this one smell delicious, but the italicized script covering the front of the bottle turned out to be a recipe! And not only was there a recipe, but it called for breadcrumbs, which I had made just the day before. Clearly this was meant to be.

I wasn't completely sure if the recipe was intended for actual cooking purposes, or just for decoration, but it looked workable. I just needed an excuse to bake a cake.

Last weekend, we had a small dinner party, and I finally had my chance. I creamed, whipped, beat, and folded; then popped it all in the oven and hoped for the best.

It was amazing. A sprinkling of cinnamon lent a flavor akin to carrot cake, but the texture was of a class all its own. It was tender and moist; airy with beaten egg whites, rich with yolks and white chocolate. The coarse breadcrumbs I used gave it an unusual, but wonderful, mouth feel. I'm not normally a "sweets" person - but somehow the 5 of us managed to polish off the entire 9" cake in a matter of minutes.




White Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
adapted from Philosophy's recipe

Since the egg whites are so important to the texture of this cake,
I highly recommend this wonderful writeup on proper whipping
and folding technique.

6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
8 eggs, separated
2/3 cup bread crumbs (gluten-free, if need be)
1/3 cup ground hazelnuts
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350° F
Butter a 9" Springform pan, and lay a circle of baking paper on the bottom.

First, melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Don't use the microwave for this - white chocolate scorches too easily.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large mixing bowl. Make sure not even a touch of yolk gets in to the whites.

Combine hazelnuts, bread crumbs, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and mix well.

Cream the butter and 1/3 C. sugar in a large bowl until soft and fluffy. Add the melted white chocolate and mix well. Beat the yolks into the butter, one at a time; continue beating until the mass is smooth and creamy. Stir the hazelnut-breadcrumb mixture into the butter and eggs, and mix thoroughly.

Measure the remaining 1/3 C. sugar and have it ready.
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. While beating, slowly pour the sugar into the whites. Continue beating until the peaks become stiff.

Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter, then gently fold in the remainder.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and bake for 45 min.


White Chocolate Glaze
Prepare this after cake is cooled

8 oz. white chocolate
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 pinch sea salt

Chop the white chocolate into small pieces, and dump into a medium-sized bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan just until bubbles form at the edges. Quickly pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Leave it to melt for about 1 minute, then add salt and stir until smooth. Let it cool slightly, but make sure it remains liquid.


To Assemble:

When cake is cooled, remove the sides from the springform. If there is a raised edge along the outside of the cake, trim it away. Turn the cake out onto a serving dish, bottom-side up.

Pour the warm glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts for garnish.