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.