This is a winter kind of recipe. In fact, I made it this past winter, but I haven’t posted it yet because I was ashamed about how terrible the pictures are. I mean, seriously terrible.
But this pound cake is good. It transcends the awfulness of the pictures, and you deserve to know it.
Not only is it cake (duh), but it’s got coffee, chocolate, AND hazelnuts. That’s like the Three Amigos of deliciousness. The Three Musketeers (and d’Artagnan) of deliciousness. The Buffy, Willow, and Xander of deliciousness.
This could go on…
With the sifting, making the chocolate hazelnut paste, and then making the batter, it’s slightly more work than a regular pound cake, but not too much. And the rich combination of flavors is totally worth it.
Preheat the oven to 325 F and grease and flour a regular size loaf pan. Spread the whole hazelnuts out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the nuts begin to brown. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and transfer the hot nuts into a clean kitchen towel.
Massage the nuts (in the cloth, or you’ll burn your fingers!) to peel the skin off the hazelnuts. Place the warm nuts and chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse till you get a smooth paste (a.k.a. you’ve just made nutella). The heat of the hazelnuts will melt the chocolate. Set aside.
Sift the coffee and flour together twice, and then sift half of it over the wet batter in the mixing bowl.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter and salt. Using the paddle at medium-high speed, beat the butter and salt until soft and creamy, then reduce the speed to medium-low and add the sugar in two batches.
Once all the sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until it’s light and fluffy. You’ll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. Then reduce the speed to medium and add the vanilla and the whisked eggs and yolks. Beat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Gently fold into the wet batter, using a rubber spatula until combined. Then repeat with the rest of the flour and coffee mixture. There should be no visible flecks of flour at this point.
Pour half of the batter into the greased loaf pan. Add half of the chocolate-hazelnut paste, layer with the rest of the cake batter, followed by the rest of the chocolate-hazelnut spread.
Take a skewer or knife, and swirl it throughout the cake batter in the pan a couple of times to create a marble pattern (note, mine looked NOTHING like marble; it was pretty ugly).
Bake it on the middle rack for one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted through the center of the cake (it will be gooey from the chocolate-hazelnut mixture, but shouldn’t have cake batter on it). If your pan is really full, place it on a cookie sheet so it doesn’t spill over into your oven.
Rotate the cake halfway through baking. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then run a knife around the edges of the cake and transfer to a wire rack and cool for 1-2 hours before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Pound Cake with Coffee, Chocolate & Hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup of raw hazelnuts with skin
- 1 cup of semi-sweet dark chocolate chips
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (madagascar bourbon if you have it)
- 3 large eggs + 3 large yolks, whisked lightly
- 1 1/4 cups of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of instant coffee (the dark roast variety is good here)
- 1 3/4 cups of cake flour (I make my own—just substitute 2 tablespoons of cornstarch per cup of flour, & sift together)
Preheat the oven to 325 F and grease and flour a regular size loaf pan. Spread the whole hazelnuts out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the nuts begin to brown. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and transfer the hot nuts into a clean kitchen towel. Massage the nuts (in the cloth, or you’ll burn your fingers!) to peel the skin off the hazelnuts. Place the warm nuts and chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse till you get a smooth paste (a.k.a. you’ve just made nutella). The heat of the hazelnuts will melt the chocolate. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter and salt. Using the paddle at medium-high speed, beat the butter and salt until soft and creamy, then reduce the speed to medium-low and add the sugar in two batches. Once all the sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until it’s light and fluffy. You’ll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. Then reduce the speed to medium and add the vanilla and the whisked eggs and yolks. Beat for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Sift the coffee and flour together twice, and then sift half of it over the wet batter in the mixing bowl. Gently fold into the wet batter, using a rubber spatula until combined. Then repeat with the rest of the flour and coffee mixture. There should be no visible flecks of flour at this point.
Pour half of the batter into the greased loaf pan. Add half of the chocolate-hazelnut paste, layer with the rest of the cake batter, followed by the rest of the chocolate-hazelnut spread. Take a skewer or knife, and swirl it throughout the cake batter in the pan a couple of times to create a marble pattern (note, mine looked NOTHING like marble; it was pretty ugly). Bake it on the middle rack for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted through the center of the cake (it will be gooey from the chocolate-hazelnut mixture, but shouldn’t have cake batter on it). If your pan is really full, place it on a cookie sheet so it doesn’t spill over into your oven. Rotate the cake halfway through baking. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then run a knife around the edges of the cake and transfer to a wire rack and cool for 1-2 hours before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Original recipe here
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