250g whole hazelnuts
200g butter, cubed
200g dark chocolate, chopped
6 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
45ml orange juice
80g hazelnut flavoured chocolate
Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Give the pan a shake halfway through baking time.
Spread the warm nuts between two tea towels and rub them so that the skins come off.
Turn your oven temperature down to 180℃ and spray a 22cm loose-bottom cake tin with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the tin with baking paper.
Add 200g of the cooled hazelnuts to a food processor and blitz until fine – a similar texture to that of breadcrumbs.
Add the butter and chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt.
Remove from the heat and stir in the ground hazelnuts.
Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Add the egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat for 4 minutes with an electric whisk.
Add it to the hazelnut mixture and stir by hand until well combined.
Pour in the orange juice and stir through.
Add the egg whites to a clean bowl and whisk to stiff peaks.
Spoon a third of the whites into the hazelnut mixture and stir through to loosen.
Now add the remaining whites and gently fold through.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove the cake and leave to cool in the baking tin for 30 minutes.
Unclip the outside ring and invert the cake on a serving plate.
Pull off the baking paper and leave the cake to cool completely.
Melt about 80g of hazelnut chocolate, pour on the cake and sprinkle over the remaining hazelnuts.
My Whisk and I 