Nusskuchen/ Hazelnut Cake

I've had a bag of hazelnut meal, already bought on clearance, in my freezer for months now. I remembered it after seeing this recipe for a nut cake, realizing rapidly that freezing an article doesn't put it in a state of permanent suspension, and I didn't want to waste those nuts by letting them go rancid. So, I combined the desire to use that ingredient with my wish to test the cute new Moomin cake pan I got from my mother...

...And made a simple, soft, buttery nut cake. It's deliciously moist, especially if you use part oil as well as the butter, and the flavour of the rum extract is highly complimentary to its nuttiness. You can use real rum if you want, a tablespoonful or two. The texture is very fine, and best illustrated with the fluffy appearance of a forkful:

Tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. Mmmm.

The cake on its own is quite sweet, so the nougat garnish may be excessive. in fact, a dark chocolate or complete absence of garnish might be even better. But, surprise surprise, I had half a packet of nougat that I needed to finish! I also wanted to outline the Moomin design a bit, but unfortunately I tried to pipe the nougat when it was already too cool, and the lines came out messy. Still delicious, though.

This is the ideal kind of cake to have with a cup of coffee (or milk, or milky coffee), and will stay soft for days. It's likely to work well with other kinds of nut, too. My mother really liked it, and she usually isn't a sweets person, so I count this recipe as a keeper. Sometimes the simple recipes are the best.

Nusskuchen/ Hazelnut Cake
Adapted from chefkoch.de

180 g. Butter (I used 80 g. Hazelnut oil and 100 g. butter)
200 g. Sugar 
1 Sachet vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade
200 g. Ground hazelnuts
120 g. Flour, cake or all-purpose
Pinch of salt
5 Eggs
2 1/4 Tsp. Baking powder
A few drops of rum extract (optional)

To decorate (optional)
-1-2 TBSP powder sugar
- about 100 g. Nussnougat, chocolate, etc.
-Whole roasted hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 180℃. Grease a large loaf pan, or a 21cm. springform. Sprinkle the inside with vanilla sugar, or dust with flour.

Beat butter and sugars until fluffy- add oil and/or rum extract as well, if using. Add the eggs one by one and beat in until well-incorporated.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk into the egg mixture until well-incorporated.

Mix in the hazelnuts until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, checking after 30 minutes with a fork or baking thermometer every 10 minutes.

Let cool about 20 minutes before unmolding.

If desired, sprinkle with powder sugar, or melt the nougat/chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water and spread/pipe on. Use whole or slivered nuts for an additional touch.