On the odd occasion that I do have a crack at baking, the ingredients are predictable. A variation of chocolate and praline almost always ensues with varying degrees of success!
Now that we are firmly into autumn and the weather is horrendously cold (in Scotland at least) I was searching for something comforting and laden with chocolate to eat by the fire. Yet it couldn’t be too heavy – that is to be saved for the depths of winter.
Flourless cakes have always intrigued me – light and airy and still magically holding themselves together without the addition of flour. The lack of flour also intensifies the flavour of the ingredients. A flourless chocolate and praline cake it was to be!
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Flourless Chocolate Praline Cake
Ingredients:
100g Dark Chocolate (Good Quality)
100g Milk Chocolate (Good Quality)
100g Hazelnuts, Toasted with the outer layer roughly rubbed off.
125g Unsalted Butter
125g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
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Method:
1) Pre heat your oven to 180C. Grease and line a medium-sized springform cake tin.
2) Melt the chocolate and the butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water in the usual fashion.
3) Finely chop the hazelnuts in a food processor.
4) Combine the melted butter and chocolate with the hazelnuts and vanilla in a large bowl.
5) Whisk the eggs with the caster sugar until thick and very fluffy – around 5 minutes.
6) Carefully fold the whisked eggs and sugar into the chocolate mixture until fully combined.
7) Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the oven for around 45 minutes or until ready.
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Best served with a big spoon of crème fraîche and a cup of tea!
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