A Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Meringue

    A few weeks ago my friend Danielle came over to bake a cake. She is a fellow Hasselblad shooter, and also shares my compulsion for baking. Obviously, a baking date with a ton of photography had to happen. It's only natural. She sent me a list of her bookmarked recipes, which I drooled over fiercely, and we settled on this beauty, a flourless chocolate cake, fitted with a  snug (smug?) cap of hazelnut-meringue. The recipe is originally from the illustrious Martha Stewart, but we followed Tartelette's delicious adaptation. The cake part is a pretty standard flourless chocolate cake. It's rich, and gooey, and will cause a swoon. If no swooning occurs, you should probably check your pulse. The meringue comes in and adds glorious crunch, but the real gem is the chocolate chunks contained within the meringue. When warm they are melty and decadent, and when taken cold from the fridge for lunch the next day, they add fantastic crunchy texture. I preferred the latter, but I'm also the sort of person that prefers my chocolate chip cookies to be totally cooled -- none of that hot out of the oven chocolate chip cookie stuff for me! 

Here are some of my process shots, and the recipe following that:

Chocolate and Hazelnut Meringue Cake from Tartelette

Makes one 9-inch cake


A few notes:
- This is not a food blog, so I have not tested this recipe more than once, but I do think it would be improved by chopping the hazelnuts more finely. Not quite to the point where it's a meal, but no large chunks either. I don't think the texture of the coarsely chopped hazelnuts adds anything, and that the meringue would benefit from having the flavor dispersed throughout instead of biting into one big chunk o' nut.
- Save yourself some trouble and buy hazelnuts that are already roasted and skinned. Unless you like skinning hazelnuts, then be my guest, but it is probably my most hated kitchen task.
- Don't spend an hour photographing the cake between putting the meringue on, and putting it back into the oven. The structure of the cake will thank you. Although, it was really fun, so there's always that. 
- If you have a stand mixer, this cake will come together easily, but it is not a requirement. 


Ingredients:


Cake:
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
6 large whole eggs, separated
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/2 tablespoons espresso (or vanilla)
1 1/2 tablespoons rum (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt


Meringue topping:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped (1 cup)
1 cup roasted hazelnuts (about 4 ounces), chopped well.
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar


First make the cake. Preheat your oven to 350, and butter a 9-by-3-inch springform pan. Line it with parchment, and butter the crap out of it. Mmm butter.


In a bowl beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth at medium speed, ~3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and be sure they are well incorporated.  Add the melted chocolate, espresso (or vanilla), rum, if using, and salt. Mix well, and set aside.


In another bowl, beat the 6 egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form, ~2 minutes. Gently fold one-third of the egg whites into chocolate mixture, and then fold in remaining egg whites and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. 


While the cake bakes, prepare the meringue topping. Mix the chopped chocolate, nuts, and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside. Place egg whites in a clean bowl, and beat on high speed until frothy. Slowly add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form, ~8 minutes. Fold in hazelnut mixture.


Now it's time to combine the two! Remove the cake from the oven, and gently spread the meringue on top of cake. and return to oven. Bake until meringue is a bit brown, and crisp. About 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack. After ten minutes run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan, then remove them. Serve coolish, or cold from the fridge.