Gluten Free Hazelnut Mocha Raspberry Cake
February AKA Julie's Birthday Month! Something to know about my family, we're big into birthdays. We usually start getting excited as our birthday months begin, and then celebrate a birthday weekend, filled with multiple celebrations. My favorite sister Julie's birthday month is February, so naturally this cake was inspired by her.
The Cake- I found this Hungarian flourless hazelnut cake recipe on all-recipes. It's a simple formula that's easy to make. It involves separating the eggs out and using a meringue to help leaven the cake and provide a spongy structure. The only challenging part was folding the meal-yolk mixture with the meringue. The yolk mixture was so dense, I had to add in the whites little by little as to not deflate the batter. The cakes baked perfectly, and had such a lovely nutty hazelnut flavor. The texture was light with just enough chew, and not at all as I feared dry or crumbly.
On the left you can see how different the yolk mixture texture is from the meringue. Gentle fold together and you'll end up with a batter like this on the right.
The Filling Part 1: Julie had requested dark chocolate mousse for the filling, so I humbly obliged. I used the same mousse recipe as the January cake, but traded the white chocolate for a dark 70% cacoa variety. It was hella good! Almost like a truffle layer. A wee bit more dense than I was expecting but held up well in between the cake layers.
The Filling Part 2: I may have invented this next component. Coffee ganache!? Has anyone made or had this anywhere before? It was incredible. I made a white chocolate ganache with heavy cream, white chocolate, espresso powder, and just a dab of milk chocolate as well. It came out incredible!! It packed a punch of caffeine and had a nice balance of bitter and sweet, along with that buttery mouth-feel ganache provides. Delish! Highly recommend dipping pecans in leftovers, or simply eating by spoonful.
Frosting: Julie LOVES raspberry, which is why I made a raspberry swiss meringue buttercream for the frosting. I first had to make a raspberry jam to use as a flavoring for the buttercream. This was simple. Just cook some raspberries, water, lemon juice, and a little sugar until it breaks down. Press through a strainer to remove seeds. Then reheat liquid and thicken with a little cornstarch. At the very end of the swiss buttercream process, after all the butter is incorporated, add a few dollops of jam until the desired flavor is achieved. This was one of my favorite raspberry buttercreams I've had. Tart, sweet, buttery, and had a bright raspberry flavor. Frosting tip: When frosting sides of a cake, I've found it's easier to use the spatula to frost away from you. It'll feel less natural, but gives a smoother stroke.
Decoration: A brief history of Julie's birthday cakes throughout the years will reveal there was a "Titanic Era" of cakes. These involved fairly simple piping techniques to make elaborate and intricate designs. The decorations were many things that Julie loved, but the constant was the Titanic, with Leo and Kate on board holding Oscars in their hands. If I can find those pictures, they're worth a share to you folks. Funny stuff! So for this year, I brought it back using piped leftover ganache. I also did a simple geometric triangle border around the edge of the cake.
Party Time!!!
For Julie's birthday this year we had a grand breakfast celebration at Lobster Cove in York. Ben's family was visiting because of his sister's wedding so we had a room full of Carlings there to help taste test. On top of being a great celebration with two families, the cake was just amazing as well. Everyone raved about it, and Julie was a big fan! I highly value Carling opinion because their family is filled with talented and creative bakers and cooks. The components and flavors were perfectly balanced. The refreshing raspberry buttercream added a nice contrast to the rich cake and filling, which complemented each other so nicely. Happy Birthday Julie!
Now...go forth and eat cake!!
The Cake- I found this Hungarian flourless hazelnut cake recipe on all-recipes. It's a simple formula that's easy to make. It involves separating the eggs out and using a meringue to help leaven the cake and provide a spongy structure. The only challenging part was folding the meal-yolk mixture with the meringue. The yolk mixture was so dense, I had to add in the whites little by little as to not deflate the batter. The cakes baked perfectly, and had such a lovely nutty hazelnut flavor. The texture was light with just enough chew, and not at all as I feared dry or crumbly.
On the left you can see how different the yolk mixture texture is from the meringue. Gentle fold together and you'll end up with a batter like this on the right.
The Filling Part 1: Julie had requested dark chocolate mousse for the filling, so I humbly obliged. I used the same mousse recipe as the January cake, but traded the white chocolate for a dark 70% cacoa variety. It was hella good! Almost like a truffle layer. A wee bit more dense than I was expecting but held up well in between the cake layers.
The Filling Part 2: I may have invented this next component. Coffee ganache!? Has anyone made or had this anywhere before? It was incredible. I made a white chocolate ganache with heavy cream, white chocolate, espresso powder, and just a dab of milk chocolate as well. It came out incredible!! It packed a punch of caffeine and had a nice balance of bitter and sweet, along with that buttery mouth-feel ganache provides. Delish! Highly recommend dipping pecans in leftovers, or simply eating by spoonful.
Weird, it almost looks like someone took a bite out of that slice before they remembered to take a picture...
Party Time!!!
For Julie's birthday this year we had a grand breakfast celebration at Lobster Cove in York. Ben's family was visiting because of his sister's wedding so we had a room full of Carlings there to help taste test. On top of being a great celebration with two families, the cake was just amazing as well. Everyone raved about it, and Julie was a big fan! I highly value Carling opinion because their family is filled with talented and creative bakers and cooks. The components and flavors were perfectly balanced. The refreshing raspberry buttercream added a nice contrast to the rich cake and filling, which complemented each other so nicely. Happy Birthday Julie!
Now...go forth and eat cake!!
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