Hazelnut layer cake with
roasted cherries and honeycomb
I first made this for a special friend’s birthday, layering the
nutty cake with pockets of vibrant cherries and honeycomb –
crunchy at first then melting into pools of liquid gold between
the layers. Brush the layers with some hazelnut liqueur if you’d
like to gild the layer cake lily.
For an organised head start, make the buttercream (chill), honeycomb
(freeze) and roasted cherries (chill) the day before. Alternatively,
these can be made while the cake is cooling.
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Toast the
hazelnuts on a shallow baking tray for 20 minutes until medium
brown. Cool them in the fridge (or in the freezer if you’re in a rush).
Lightly spray the base and sides of three 20 cm (8 in) round × 5 cm
(2 in) deep cake tins with cooking oil. Place a circle of paper in the
base of each tin, spray again and lightly dust the sides with flour,
tapping out any excess.
When the nuts have cooled, rub most of the skins off and set 20 g
(¾ oz) aside for the topping. Whiz the remaining 150 g (5½ oz) in
the food processor to a thick and dry peanut butter–like consistency,
then scrape into a wide mixing bowl with the oil, egg yolks, orange
juice and vanilla paste. Set aside.
Weigh the flour, 200 g (7 oz) of the sugar, baking powder and salt
into a small bowl and set aside with a sieve on top. Bump the oven
temperature up to 160°C (320°F).
Put the egg white, remaining 75 g (2¾ oz) of sugar and cream of tartar
in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment,
whip on speed 8 (under high) for 2–3 minutes until the meringue is
stiff and white.
While the meringue whips, sift the dry ingredients over the hazelnut
and oil base and mix with a stiff spatula to make a thick paste, then
gently and thoroughly fold in one-third of the meringue until almost
fully incorporated. Gently fold in the remaining meringue with a hand
Keeps Best eaten at room temperature
the day it is assembled. Can be chilled
overnight, but remove from the fridge
a few hours before serving.
Makes A 20 cm (8 in) round cake with
3 layers.
Takes A busy 3 hours to make all
the components from scratch, OR
make the buttercream, honeycomb
and roasted cherries the day before.
Then bake and cool (1½ hours) and
assemble (20 minutes) on the day.
cooking oil spray
1 × batch German brown butter
buttercream (page 251)
100 g (3½ oz) Leatherwood
honeycomb (page 270) (make
a whole batch; you won’t use
it all, but it’s easier to make
that amount. Freeze the rest
for topping ice cream)
140 g (5 oz) Olive-oil roasted
sweet cherries (page 278)
2 g (1⁄16oz) freeze-dried cherries
(optional) and/or 8–10 fresh
cherries
Hazelnut cake
170 g (6 oz) raw hazelnuts
150 g/ml (5½ oz) extra-virgin
olive oil
120 g (4½ oz) egg yolk (from
approx. 6 eggs) + 270 g
(9½ oz) egg white (from
approx. 8 eggs)
60 g/ml (2 oz) orange juice
5 g (⅛ oz/½ teaspoon) vanilla
paste
130 g (4½ oz) soft plain
(all-purpose) flour
275 g (9½ oz) caster (superfine)
sugar
10 g (¼ oz/2 teaspoons) baking
powder
3 g (¹⁄₁₀ oz/heaped ¼ teaspoon)
fine sea salt
3 g (¹⁄₁₀ oz/heaped ¼ teaspoon)
cream of tartar
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