4 days Ago By Sydney Evans
With Easter just around the corner, there’s no better time to try your hand at baking a chocolate dessert of some sort for the whole family to feast on. When it comes to chocolate cakes, it’s important to get a spongy texture that won’t quickly dry out, as there’s nothing worse than a slice of cake that instantly crumbles to pieces. Prue Leith’s recipe for chocolate hazelnut cake makes enough for 12 people to indulge in and uses one ingredient, which means you’re guaranteed a spongy cake that will keep moist for longer.
A condiment that you might usually pair with potatoes or use to add some flavour to a lunchtime sandwich, Prue adds mayonnaise to her recipe for chocolate hazelnut cake. Often used in savoury pairings, mayonnaise is also a great addition to baking, growing in popularity during World War II when eggs and dairy were rationed. Simply made from oil and egg yolks, when used in baking, it simply replaces the oil that’s traditionally used in chocolate cakes to give it a moist texture.
However, you might find that by using mayonnaise instead of oil, your cake will come out even more velvety thanks to the lecithin in the egg yolk. Lecithin is a naturally occurring fatty substance, which when mixed with flour, can make for a softer and moister cake. As mayonnaise is just oil and egg yolks combined, it doesn’t affect the taste either, but will help you avoid a crumbly cake.
Using a good quality cocoa powder will also ensure you achieve a rich, chocolatey taste. Ingredients 160g mayonnaise 200g self-raising flour 200g caster sugar One tsp baking powder 30g cocoa powder One tsp vanilla extract For the filling and topping 100g hazelnuts 150g caster sugar 300ml double cream 1⁄2 220g jar hazelnut praline caramel (or caramel sauce of choice) Method Line two 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment paper, making sure the sides are also lined with the paper. Heat the oven to 180C.
Whisk the cocoa powder with 200ml boiling water, mixing it into a smooth paste and leave it to cool. Mix the rest of your ingredients together in a bowl (mayonnaise, flour, caster sugar, baking powder and vanilla extract) using an electric whisk. Once the cocoa powder is cool, add this to the bowl.
Divide the batter between the cake tins and place into the oven. Let them cook for 20-25 minutes, keeping an eye on them. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Prepare your cake topping by placing the hazelnuts on an oiled piece of foil. Melt the sugar in a small saucepan until you have a caramel, and pour over the nuts. Leave this cool before blitzing it into a praline.
Whip the double cream and stir the caramel sauce in, keeping two tablespoons of the sauce to the side. Spread half of the combined double cream and caramel sauce on the bottom cake layer and drizzle over the two tablespoons of sauce left over. Place the top layer of cake on top, and evenly spread the remaining cream over this.
Sprinkle the praline around the edge to finish and cut into slices..
