Double Nut Drenched Chocolate Cake

I am so excited about this layer cake.  This is actually the first one I have made in a long time and I was able to cut the recipe down to make a 6 inch round cake.  The size is just perfect for small gatherings.

I found the taste of this cake to be unforgettably delicious!  Between the Frangelico liqueur, hazelnuts, two flavor layers and the fudgy pecan topping, I decided that this is one of my favorites.  While I usually prefer the Bundt style cakes, the cake layers in this one are so flavorful it has changed my general thoughts in  regards to layer cakes.  This is one I will be making again.

The recipe below is as originally stated for 3 round 8 inch cake layers.  While the cake is not supposed to be frosted on the sides, but 1/3 of the topping between the layers were to much in my opinion.  I cut it back and had extra to frost the sides.  Also, the cooling time in the pan of 10 minutes was not enough.  It released better after it cooled for about 17 minutes, but my cakes were only 6 inches instead of 8.  Cooling time in the pan on an 8 inch layer cake may take more time.

Double Nut Drenched Chocolate Cake
adapted from Southern Living

Ingredients
1/4 cup of vinegar
3/4 cup water
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/2 cup hazelnut liqueur (I used frangelico)
2 eggs
3/4 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup cocoa (I used Dutch)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

Ingredients/Chocolate Topping
1 lb of butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 four ounce dark chocolate bars, chopped or 3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans


Prepare 3 eight inch cake pans by greasing all the inside and line the bottom with wax paper.  Grease top side of paper and dust all of the inside with flour.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In one bowl, sift together baking soda, flour and salt.  In a second bowl, mix water and vinegar.  Place the butter in a third bowl and beat with a mixer until smooth and creamy.  Add the brown sugar to the butter in three increments, beating  30 seconds after each addition.  Beat in 1 egg until evenly distributed and add the last egg, beating again.

Fold 1/3 of the sifted ingredients into the butter batter.  Pour in half of the vinegar water mixture and stir until all is blended into the batter.  Continue with the same process, ending with the sifted mixture.  Lastly, stir in the vanilla and hazelnuts.

Measure out batter and divide into thirds.  This process will insure that your layers will be even.  Fill 1 pan with 1/3 of the batter and smooth the top.  Fill another one, smoothing the top also.  On the last of the batter, fold in the cocoa until evenly distributed.  Then fill the last prepared cake pan with the cocoa batter and smooth the top..

Bake until tester comes out clean, which should be about 19-21 minutes.  Remove pans from the oven and let cool on rack for 15-20 minutes.  Then invert onto rack and peel wax paper off of the layers.  Let layers cool completely.

Brush the top surface of all layers with hazelnut liqueur.

To make the topping, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Then stir in chocolate until all is melted and smooth.  Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.  Blend in the nuts and extract until evenly distributed.  Let mixture cool and set up to frosting consistency.  This should take about 45-60 minutes.  I placed mine in the fridge and it went from runny to thick in about 20 minutes. If you do refrigerate, keep a close eye on it because you do not want it too thick for you will tear the cake while trying to frost.

To assemble, one white cake layer should be placed face down on cake round or surface.  Then frost only the center,not the sides, with 1/3 of the topping. If you find that 1/3 is too thick for your preference, cut it back some and then after you do the layers you can frost the sides with the remaining topping.  Place the chocolate layer on top and frost the surface with another 1/3 of the topping.  Then place the last layer on top and frost the surface with the last third of the topping.

Let cake set for about 3-4 hours before slicing. 

Piedmont Hazelnut Cupcakes

This cupcake gets its name from a location in Italy that is famous for their hazelnuts.  Like my Amaretto bundt cake, I was on a quest to get a rich nut flavor into a cupcake and accent it lightly with chocolate-but this time it would be with hazelnuts.

There was a lot of experimentation involved, especially since nuts have a lot of oil in them.  In addition, I had hazelnut oil, not extract.  The first batch ended with pools of oil underneath the cupcake paper after baked, so I had to make modifications.

This recipe does not make airy cupcakes.  This means that the cupcake liners need to be filled full, because there is not a lot of rising in baking.

The end result was a moist cupcake with fairly tight crumb.  The true flavor of the hazelnuts really comes through.  These could actually stand alone as a breakfast treat, but the addition of the shiny chocolate frosting does move them into the dessert category.

The recipe is for exactly 20 cupcakes and the frosting (from Martha Stewart) makes 5 cups.  I have found that when using a decorating tip, the 5 cups will frost about 32 cupcakes.  So if you plan to just ice the cupcakes with a knife, you should 1/2 the recipe.

Piedmont Hazelnut Cupcakes
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Cupcakes
1 cup of sour cream
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups or 2 1/2 sticks of butter (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp hazelnut flavoring (I used Lorann oil brand from King Arthur Flour)
1 tablespoon of baking powder
2 cups of flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup hazelnut flour

Ingredients/Frosting
(courtesy of Martha Stewart)
1 1/2 lbs of semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted in a double boiler and cooled for 30 minutes)
1 cup plus 1 tbs dutch process cocoa
1/2 cup plus 1 tbs boiling water
2 1/4 cups or 4 1/2 sticks butter (room temp)
3/4 cup confectioners sugar (sifted)
1/4 tsp salt

To make cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease top edges of cupcake cavities of cupcake pan(s).  Fill cavities with 20 cupcake liners and fill the empty cavities with a little water.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl.  Then whisk in the hazelnut flour and set aside.

Fill a larger mixing bowl with butter and sugar.  With an electric mixer, beat until it becomes light and fluffy.  In another bowl, lightly beat one egg with a fork and then add it to the batter and beat for 30 seconds.  Continue to follow this process for the remaining eggs.  After all the eggs are blended, beat in the vanilla extract, hazelnut oil and sour cream.  Your batter should be quite smooth at this point.

Using a wooden spoon, fold the dry mixture into the batter until no dry streaks remain.  Scoop out batter and fill lined cupcake cavities to the top.  All batter should be evenly distributed in only 20 liners.

Place pan in oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes or when top of cupcake springs back when lightly touched.  My bake time was exactly 18 minutes.

When done, remove pan and let cupcakes cool for about 3 minutes, then transfer to rack to finish cooling.  Repeat same baking and cooling process if using additional cupcake pans.

For the frosting, place cocoa into bowl of boiling water. Stir until mixture is completely dissolved and there are no lumps.  Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, sifted confectioners sugar and salt until smooth.  This should take about 2 minutes.  Then pour in the melted chocolate chips, using a spatula to scrape all the chocolate into the bowl. Beat at low until chocolate is completely blended into the butter mixture,  stopping a few times to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Lastly, add the cocoa mixture and beat for about 30 seconds.  Now it is ready to be used, so you can frost your cupcakes as desired.  If you have extra frosting, you can freeze for one month or refrigerate for 5 days.  Either way, you will need to bring it to room temperature and beat it again until it returns to a smooth consistency.