Blanched hazelnuts in Italian Chocolate Nut Cake
Asked on 1 May 2021 by Manville
recipe: Italian Chocolate Nut Christmas Cake
Hi Lindsay,
I live in France and did this recipe for the first time last Christmas. I did not know what was meant by blanched hazlenuts and bought roasted hazlenuts. The cake turned out dry, crumbly and crunchy, but it was tasty.
This was my first try and my questions are:
- what should be the texture for the cake?
- what is meant by blanched hazlenuts ?
Is it unroasted (raw) peeled hazlenuts ? or should I have blanched unroasted peeled hazlenuts in boiling water for a minute or so?
Many thanks for your help.
Best regards,
Cara
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Posted on 14 Feb 2022 by Delia Online Team
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Hello Cara,
This recipe is flourless and also very dense with nuts so the texture is coarse and not cakey.
Blanched hazelnuts are shelled hazelnuts that are blanched in boiling water to remove the skin. Hazelnuts that have been roasted to remove the skin will taste lovely but they will be a dryer, so your right that is likely to be the reason that your cake came out little dryer but tasted so good.
Generally, I don’t think you can buy blanched hazelnuts in France but you can blanch your own hazelnuts. To do this bring a large pan of water to the boil, then add 1 dessertspoon of bicarbonate of soda and the shelled hazelnuts. Boil them for 3 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water. Pinch each nut between your fingers and the skin will just slip off. Spread them out on a clean kitchen towel and leave them to dry for a few hours.
Best wishes
Lindsey
If I find unroasted peeled hazelnuts. Is this the correct ingredients?
What should be the texture of the cake, with the correct ingrediants?
Many thanks for replying.
Hello,
Yes, unroasted peeled hazelnuts are the ones used in this recipe.
The texture is course with the nuts, and simply bounded with the chocolate and egg so not really cake like.
Kind regards
Lindsey
All is clear.
Many thanks, Cara.