Nigella Nutella Cake

On the last day of the Yoga Yatra retreat it was Anne's Birthday. I made double the recipe of Nigellas Nutella Cake. I love this cake, I used to make it for Dannii Minogue when she was on X Factor as its gluten free and because of the nutella, there's no sugar needed.

My mum's best friend Vanessa bought me this cake stand a good ten years ago, it doesn't get out much as it can overshadow most cakes but it suited this occasion wonderfully. She is no longer with us and we all miss her terribly so something like this perfectly reminds us of her jolly personality.I LOVE this cake.

 

FOR THE CAKE

6 large eggs, separated

Pinch of salt

125g soft unsalted butter

400g Nutella (1 large jar)

1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water

100g ground hazelnuts

100g dark chocolate, melted

23cm Springform tin, greased and lined

FOR THE ICING:

100g hazelnuts (peeled weight)

125ml double cream

1 tablespoon Frangelico, rum or water

125g dark chocolate

Serves: 8 -12

1.Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico (or whatever you're using), egg yolks and ground hazelnuts.

2.Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.

3.Pour into the prepared tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack.

4.Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upwards and the nuts are golden-brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so that they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others. 5.Transfer to a plate and let cool. This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily. (Believe me, I speak from experience.)

6.In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cream, liqueur or water and chopped chocolate, and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake. Unmould the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.

7.Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts. If you have used Frangelico, put shot glasses on the table and serve it with the cake.