Today’s recipe: Hazelnut coffee cake
This is a recipe that has been in the works for a while, but we thought winter was actually the perfect time to be sharing it with you! It’s the perfect blend of strong coffee and nutty roasted hazelnuts, which gives it a light and not-too-rich flavor. The texture is also very enticing – light and fluffy with bits of hazelnuts, just the right variation of texture in the sponge to make you keep coming back for more. We decorate with a simple coffee and powdered sugar icing, along with more chopped hazelnuts. Obviously, it pairs very well with a cup of coffee, but you can have it any time of the day with any drink and we promise it’ll taste so good. Definitely one to try this winter for Christmas celebrations, family gatherings, or even a New Year’s party. Keep reading to learn how you can make our hazelnut and coffee cake!
Hazelnuts in a cake?
Now, if we were going to go down the truly Scandinavian route with this cake, we would’ve gone for almonds instead of hazelnuts. But we just need to mix things up sometimes! Hazelnuts are actually a great nut to use for cakes, as they have a really great and distinct flavor once toasted. They also work really well with strong and rich flavors like chocolate (Nutella, for example) and coffee. The texture works fantastically in a soft sponge cake like this one too, so it’s all-around a great addition. If you’ve never tried hazelnuts in a cake before, definitely give it a go. If you don’t like them, you can always use something else, like walnuts or almonds, although it obviously won’t taste the same.
Getting the coffee levels right
One of the most challenging parts of developing this recipe was getting the level of coffee flavor right. You want it strong enough to taste it but not overpowering the hazelnut. So, we would recommend brewing a double shot of espresso if you can, but another option is to just measure out the 120 milliliters of regular coffee, then add a spoonful of instant coffee to that so that it becomes even stronger. If you don’t have instant coffee, just brew some regular strong coffee and the flavor might be a bit more subdued, but it will still be super delicious. You can also adjust the coffee to your taste, so maybe you’d prefer less in the cake and a stronger coffee icing, or the other way around. It’s up to you!
Ingredients you’ll need
For this hazelnut and coffee cake, you’ll need the following: chopped and toasted hazelnuts, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, all-purpose or plain flour, baking powder, salt, vegetable oil, coffee, and milk. For the icing, you’ll need powdered sugar, more coffee/espresso, and more chopped hazelnuts. You may be wondering why we don’t use butter and we prefer oil in a lot of our cakes. To be honest, it just gives them a lighter and fluffier texture and it’s a lot easier to work with. Butter is very flavorful and good for denser cakes like pound cakes, so we do use it for some cake recipes, like this one, but oil is definitely our preference. If you don’t like using vegetable oil, feel free to replace it with another neutral oil.
How to make our hazelnut coffee cake
To make this cake, we start by whipping together the eggs and sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy. This adds plenty of air and structure to the cake. Then, add the vanilla extract and mix again. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring jug, mix together the coffee, a dash of milk, and vegetable oil. We add the milk to cool the coffee temperature down – if it’s already cooled, you don’t need it! Alternate adding the wet and dry ingredients into the egg mixture, folding carefully until no dry spots remain. Then, add the chopped and toasted hazelnuts and mix again. Add this to your pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. For the icing, simply add coffee to the powdered sugar until you get a thick but spreadable consistency, and decorate. Enjoy!
Hazelnut Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 100 grams chopped and toasted hazelnuts
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 200 grams brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 120 ml vegetable oil
- 120 ml coffee with a splash of milk OR a double shot of espresso, which should be around 100ml (use espresso or espresso powder for more coffee flavor!)
Topping
- 100 grams powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp espresso (you can also mix espresso powder with 1 tbsp of water for a concentrated flavor, or use instant coffee, or just coffee)
- Chopped hazelnuts for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C).
- If needed, chop and lightly toast the hazelnuts.
- Whisk together eggs and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. You can do this by hand but it's much easier to do with a hand mixer or stand mixer!
- Add vanilla extract and mix.
- Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl – flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix together wet ingredients (coffee/espresso and vegetable oil) in a jug or bowl.
- Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients into the egg mixture. You should fold the ingredients in carefully with a spatula if doing this by hand. If using a mixer, make sure to run the mixer until the ingredients are just combined, maybe around 10 seconds for each addition.
- Add in the chopped hazelnuts. and mix until evenly distributed in the batter.
- Line a round, 10 inch (or about 25cm) diameter springform pan with parchment paper. Make sure to grease the edges.
- Pour the batter into the pan.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Make sure to check right at 20 minutes and you can always leave it in the oven for longer if it's not ready.
- Remove from the pan and let cool.
- To make the icing, mix together powdered sugar and espresso until you have a thick icing. Add (the tiniest!) splash of water if it's not coming together.
- Pour over the top of the cake and spread to the edges. Decorate with chopped hazelnuts and enjoy!
