Julia’s Chocolate Hazelnut Cake With Sour Cherry Compote
Food
This flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake is a showstopper.
Cream, berries and chocolate — a match made in heaven.
The perfect afternoon tea, or dessert!
This cake is inspired by a chocolate almond cake by Elizabeth David. Mine uses hazelnuts and swaps out the rum for espresso.
It’s gluten-free and rather decadent, made even more so with a big dollop of billowy whipped cream and a spoonful of sour cherry compote.
I love sour cherries here as they help balance out the richness of the cream and cake. I buy them frozen from my local grocery store, but if unavailable, they can be substituted with frozen blueberries, blackberries or raspberries.
The cake keeps very well in an airtight container for several days after baking.
Sour cherry compote is the perfect accompaniment to the rich chocolate hazelnut cake.
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Sour Cherry Compote
(Serves 8-12)
180g 70% chocolate
2 tbsp espresso
125g unsalted butter, cubed
125g roasted hazelnuts, ground
125g caster sugar
10g dutch process cocoa powder, sifted, plus extra for dusting
4 eggs, separated
Fine sea salt
Sour cherry compote
300g frozen sour cherries
125g caster sugar
1 vanilla been, split and seeds scraped
3 strips lemon peel
Whipped cream
150g mascarpone
200g pure cream
1 tbsp caster sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 165C (185C conventional). Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
In a heat proof bowl, melt the chocolate, espresso and butter over a saucepan of simmering water. Set aside to briefly cool.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl place the hazelnuts, sugar, cocoa powder and egg yolks. Add the melted chocolate and whisk to combine.
In the clean bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the egg whites, a little at a time, until fully incorporated.
Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked. Allow to fully cool in the tin.
For the sour cherry compote, place all of the ingredients, including the vanilla pod, into a saucepan and allow to macerate for 30 minutes. Turn the heat onto medium and stir to help dissolve the sugar. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the cherries have collapsed and the liquid is syrupy. Allow to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together together the mascarpone, cream and sugar to soft billowy peaks.
Remove the cake from the tin and dust with cocoa powder. Serve slices with a big dollop of whipped cream and a spoonful of the sour cherry compote.
What else I’m cooking: Artichokes alla romana. They are trimmed and kept whole, stuffed with mint, parsley and garlic and cooked in good olive oil and a little water until tender.
What else I’m eating: The baked custard with rhubarb at Carnation Canteen, Fitzroy.