Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

This cake is inspired by my favourite cake at The River Café. My friend Ruthie Rogers (the
restaurant’s co-founder) always makes each guest feel like the most important person in the
room. When I first moved to London, I tried to get a job at her restaurant but at the time they
didn’t have a pastry team, so I ended up answering phones. When the other co-founder, Rose
Gray, saw me she asked what the hell I was doing there – not only I was terrible at phones, but I
belonged in the kitchen. Now, 18 years later, they have a full pastry team, and I tease Ruthie
that I should apply for a job.

Serves 8

250g (1¼ cups) whole hazelnuts, skins on

250g (9oz) dark chocolate
250g (2 sticks + 2 tbsp) unsalted butter
6 eggs, at room temperature
½ tsp fine sea salt
250g (1¼ cups) caster sugar
¼ tsp flaky sea salt for top
Crème fraîche or whipped cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan/170°C/340°F/gas mark 3½ and grease and line a 20cm
(8in) cake tin with baking paper.

2. I recommend using whole hazelnuts with the skins on and going through the process of
toasting and removing the skins yourself. You can buy toasted blanched hazelnuts but the
flavour is inferior as they deteriorate much quicker once toasted and so inevitably taste slightly
stale. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking tray until deep golden and the skins are cracking off,
about 15 minutes. (Watch they don’t burn as this will spoil the flavour of the cake.) Remove the
nuts from the oven and turn them out onto a clean tea towel. Bring up the sides of the towel to
make a little satchel and rub the nuts together to slough off the skins as much as possible. Open
the cloth up and carefully lift out the toasted nuts, leaving behind as much of the skins as
possible. Place the skinned toasted nuts into a food processor and blitz until roughly chopped
but not a powder. Set aside.

3. In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water (make sure the bottom of the
bowl is not touching the water) melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally. Once
melted remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, but keep away from draughts.
4. Meanwhile in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip up the
eggs and fine sea salt until frothy, then slowly add the sugar in a couple of batches. Whip until
fluffy and voluminous.

5. Stir the chopped hazelnuts into the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Finally fold in
the whipped eggs and sugar. Pour into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle the top with the flaky
sea salt. Bake for 30 minutes until set but not dry. You want the centre to be a little wobbly and
gooey; it will continue to bake and set as it cools, so don’t look for a clean skewer test here.
Cool for at least an hour before cutting and serving with the crème fraîche or softly whipped
cream.