Glazed Hazelnut Torte

I have started to work my way through Classic German Baking. It is a well-written book and the recipes are uniformly tempting. Given that I still have some hazelnuts from my Seattle trip, I decided to give this cake a try.

I toasted, then ground the hazelnuts. I was a bit short so I added a few almonds.

Seven room-temperature eggs, separated.

I creamed together the butter and egg yolks.

I then folded in the hazelnuts + flour. The amount of flour is small compared to the nuts.

This is an old fashioned cake that gets its body from egg whites. I whipped the whites into firm peaks.

I then folded them into the remainder of the batter, striking a balance between mixing and inflation.

Into the springform pan for a 45 minute bake.

Once the cake was cool, I split it open and filled it with preserves. I used strawberries rather than raspberries since I am still working off a huge surplus of strawberry preserves from last summer’s canning extravaganza.

I then reassembled the cake and coated it with a glaze made of powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Cakes with large amounts of nut flour are best left for at least a day before eating. Waiting was hard but worth the self-restraint. The crumb of the cake, consisting as it does mostly of nuts, has a very different taste and texture that I greatly enjoyed. The book repeatedly reminds us that German sweets are not so sweet by American standards. I agree and I prefer the more moderated sweetness. This cake in particular demonstrates a wonderful balance between sweet and tart.

Comments

Asheville NC: Luella's BBQ

Luella's is a nouvelle BBQ outfit on the north side of Asheville. It is nestled among the trees in a lovely neighborhood. The restaurant has lots of windows for inside seating and plenty of outside seating. Service was courteous and amazingly fast. This is a combination plate with pork and brisket. Both were very moist and tender. For the pork, I tried both the mild and hot vinegar sauces. To my surprise, I preferred the milder one because it didn't assert itself too much. I enjoyed the spicy tomato sauce for my brisket. The hushpuppies were very good. The fried okra was fresh out of the fryer and excellent. The slaw was of the vinegary variety, which I usually enjoy, but this version is heavy on the white stuff and didn't have quite enough variety in tastes for me.

Hapeville: Pit Boss BBQ

I just had a very satisfying meal at Pit Boss BBQ in Hapeville. I missed it on my first drive down the street---its location in the back of a liquor store is pretty low key. However, I considered that location to be auspicious for the quality of my meal, and I turned out to be right. The smoke billowing out of the chimney greeted me as I pulled into my parking space. The restaurant offers pork ribs and pulled pork, chicken, brisket, wings, and burgers. This is a popular place, so expect to wait a few minutes in line and then a few more minutes for your plate to arrive. In the mean time, you can entertain yourself with the Theater of BBQ that the store presents. The counter is a frontpiece to the main stage of BBQ as revealed by the kitchen window. The front of the kitchen centers around the grill with its burgers. The doors of the smoker fill the back of the kitchen. When they open, they reveal a full company of smoking meats. I was so entranced by the huge stack of ribs tha...

Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...

Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

Search This Blog