Piedmont Hazelnut Cake

Hazelnut cake, hazelnut spread, hazelnut gelato, I love everything made with this precious gift of nature. This is one of my favorite cake, a traditional dessert from Piedmont, a north-western region of Italy, land full of amazing products as the Piedmont Hazelnut IGP. The Piedmont Hazelnut as known as Tonda Gentile Tribolata has a spheroidal seed, a mild taste and is easy to peel after toasting. Its production is concentrated in the province of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo. The denomination I.G.P. guarantees to the consumers the authenticity of this product. Enjoy a slice of this cake with a glass of Moscato D’Asti.

Photo by Ale Gambini – BreadLoveAndDreams.com

Servings : 6-8

Difficulty : easy

Prep Time : 20 mins.

Cook Time : 35 Mins.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Piedmont Hazelnuts, toasted

1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

3.53 oz. all-purpose flour, sifted

1 sachet vanilla baking powder (1/2 oz or 16g)

3 eggs, separated

1/8 tsp salt

powdered sugar, to sprinkle

DIRECTIONS

– Preheat oven at 375 F degrees.

– Grease a 9 inch cake pan with baking spray or butter and flour. Set Aside.

– Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor or high speed blender.

– Mix the hazelnuts with sugar, flour and vanilla baking powder.

– Add the egg yolks and butter and blend thoroughly.

– Whip the egg whites with the salt at stiff peak.

– Gently fold in the whipped egg whites into the hazelnut mixture.

– Bake for 35 minutes.

– Allow to cool completely in its pan.

– Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.