October 6, 2003
Honey Hazelnut Cake
Yesterday, my parents came over for tea. This is always a perfect occasion for me to bake (yeah, like I need one), and today being my father's birthday, I decided to bake a cake. After perusing my cookbooks and recipe files, I set my heart on this Honey Hazelnut Cake from the book "Les Gâteaux de Mamie".
The original recipe is titled "Gâteau aux noisettes et au miel", and is actually for cupcakes, but this was a birthday occasion and cupcakes would not do, so I made it as one cake. I noticed the amount of ingredients wouldn't make a lot of dough, but it being just the three of us that was fine, and I decided to use my small non-stick charlotte pan that's 18 cm in diameter, which resulted in the cutest mini-cake (you can see the size compared to the knife on this pic).
We enjoyed it very much. Both flavors come out very distinctly, and the inside is very moist and airy. It is a great companion to a cup of tea. The outside was a little too cooked for my taste, but my parents didn't mind (at least they said so!).
This is a recipe I will definitely repeat, as it is pretty easy to make, but here's what I will do next time :
- double the recipe,
- toast the hazelnuts to bring out the flavor even more.
Gâteau aux noisettes et au miel
- 80 grams (6 tablespoons) sugar
- 40 grams (1/3 cup) flour
- a pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 eggs
- 45 grams (1/3 cup) hazelnuts
- 70 grams (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 50 grams (3 level tablespoons) honey
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (360°F).
Blend together the sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly, trying to avoid lumps (unlike me).
Chop the hazelnuts, and fold them into the dough.
Melt together the butter and honey in a small saucepan, and pour this into your dough. Mix well and pour into muffin tins or a small greased and floured cake pan.
(In fact, the author has you incorporate the beaten egg whites into the rest of the dough at the end, but I hate beating egg whites so decided I would just ignore this and use baking powder as a leavening agent.)
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes (25 for cupcakes, more for a single cake). Let it cool down a moment, then turn it out on a rack to cool completely, and serve at room temperature.
 Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Marbles |
 Dukkah (Egyptian Spice Mix) |
 Raw Buckwheat Granola |
Never miss a recipe!
Sign up for the Chocolate & Zucchini newsletter to receive monthly news.
Wondering about the profile images that appear for some commenters? Get your own gravatar today!
I'm the mother who came over to tea. The cake was absolutely delicious, moist and tasty ! I'll try the recipe to make cupcakes.
Thanks Maman! :)
Yesterday, I made cupcakes but I changed a few items : wallnuts instead of hazelnuts, and 80g of flour beacuse I thought 40g of flour was not enough. The result was delicious, but not as moisty as Clotilde's. Probably too much flour ! I filled a silicon "6 muffins" mould, and cooked for 25mn, thermostat 6.
Hi Maman!
I'm so glad you tried the recipe and it worked out! Walnuts sound great too... The recipe also mentions you can use ground nuts (poudre de noisettes). It should make for an interesting texture variation!
Love,
Clotilde.
Hi Clotilde,
I made this cake for my parents' anniversary and drizzled it with a simple lemon and orange syrup just before serving. The citrusy tang was delicious with the richness of the honey and nuts, and everyone enjoyed the cake very much. Thank you for the recipe!
By the way, I set my oven to 355 F and baked it for 30-35 mins so you're right in that the lower temp is key in this recipe.
as well as doubling the ingredients....i seem to be a bit absentminded today.
Grace - Thanks for reporting back about the cake, I'm glad you liked it! Would you share the recipe, or just a bit more detail about the lemon and orange syrup you used? It sounds like a nice addition!
Here's Grace reply, sent to me via email :
Forgive me for not having exact measurements, I was in a rush when making the syrup so I simply melted sugar (2x as much as the juices, I think),
orange juice (from the carton box), and fresh lemon juice together in a saucepan. I also grated in some of the lemon zest. I reduced the syrup until
it thickened to a consistency a bit runnier than honey. The main point was
to just get a concentrated citrus flavor to complement the honey and hazelnuts. The syrup hardened up after a while so you'll probably want to fiddle around with the proportions. We didn't have to worry about it so much as we consumed the cake with the warm and dripping syrup as soon as it was made. I happened to read your post on the Bay Area the other day....I am a UC Berkeley student home in Southern California for the summer and am missing the cool weather and of course, food, up north.
Clotilde, I tried this yesterday. Can i ask whether the texture of the cake is suppose to be dense or fluffy? Reason is that i think i may have overwhipped the mixture and after baking it, there was a separation, i.e. fluffy top, dense bottom. It was really nice though. Also, how much is "half a packet of baking powder"??? Tks
Clotilde, Well for my wife's birthday she made it known that she wanted something from your website. And that's when our combined hazelnut craving sent us to this recipe. I did as you suggested - doubled the recipe and then cooked it at 350 for 40 minutes. Perfection. With a lemon sugar glaze as suggested by Grace. Yum. I have one happy birthday girl.
Tried the Honey nut cake and could not believe how easy it was.Did not double it but did 1 1/2 x.Mixed hazelnuts and Pecans (next try will be the bananacake flambe),roasted them before and used selfrising flour and beat the egg whites. It is delicious.
First tried the Orange cake and this was also out of this world and easy.
Hello Clotilde, I want to make this recipe...however, I am not sure of the quantity of baking powder (half a packet - how much does it measure?). Can you tell me the measure of baking powder used? Thank you! Uma
Uma - Half a packet of baking powder equals 1 1/2 teaspoons. (For more conversions, check this list.)
Clotilde,
I just made the cake and it came out really tasty. I toasted the hazelnuts. It is surprisingly not as heavy as I imagined. Rather it is kind of light, moist and delicious. I will try the walnut variation next time. Thanks!
Hey Clotilde,
this looks like gorgeous cake(: If I whip the egg whites, do I need to add in the baking powder? Thanks(:
Eligra - No, it is an either/or proposition!
Hello! I was hoping to make your honey & hazelnut cake recipe from your 6-Oct-2003 blog and wondered what 1/2 a packet of baking powder would be. 1 tsp?
Thank you!
Anna Gee
Sunnyvale, CA
Anna - I've just added conversions for the whole recipe. Enjoy!
Hi Clotilde,
I made this yesterday (doubled the recipe and used walnuts) and baked it for 35 mins. The tester came out clean but the cake "wobbled" in the middle when I carried it out of the oven. I also couldn't get it out of the 13-inch round pan. I guess I should have baked it a little longer, but the cake was very tasty, and there were no leftovers. I might try adding some orange zest the next time I make this.
I made this yesterday and the results were consistent with what everyone else has said.
The cake baked deeply around the edges, which lent it a nice caramelized flavor --it reminded me of the Belgian hazelnut praline spread you get at Le Pain Quotidien. The cake also separated into two layers, one moister than the other.
I modified the recipe by adding vanilla extract and a pinch of cinnamon and powdered ginger. The aroma was incredible!
I agree that I would toast the hazelnuts the next time or even use hazelnut meal instead of chopped hazelnuts.
I baked it in a 6" springform pan and it was very easy to unmold this way.
Thanks for posting this recipe, I was very happy with this cake!