Winter

Winter Hazelnut & Orange Cake

December  1, 2020
5
8 Ratings
Photo by Julia Gartland. Food stylist: Lauren Lapenna. Prop stylist: Sophie Strangio.
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 40 minutes
  • Serves 8-10
Author Notes

An aromatic, wintery, one bowl bake, very appropriate for this cold season. It takes less then 10 minutes to prepare, making it the perfect snacking cake. A quick fix for your cravings! —Barbara Polichnowska

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Ingredients
  • 150 grams caster sugar (3/4 cup)
  • 50 grams muscovado sugar (1/4 cup)
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 100 grams buttermilk (1/2 cup)
  • 100 grams vegetable oil (1/4 cup + 3 tbsp)
  • 100 grams pastry flour (1 cup)
  • 200 grams ground hazelnuts (1 1/2 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C/ Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease and flour the sides of a 23cm/9 inch round cake tin, lined with parchment paper.
  2. Place eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, mix for around 2-3 minutes on a medium speed.
  3. On low speed, stream in the oil and the buttermilk. Take your time, as your mixture might split if you rush it. Then mix for 2 minutes on low.
  4. Add flour, ground hazelnuts, baking powder, salt and orange zest and mix on low speed until just combined.
  5. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a cake tester/ knife inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
  6. Leave to cool and dust with icing sugar and a little more zest. Best served with unsweetened whipped cream and some orange marmalade. Enjoy!
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20 Reviews

Libby E. March 2, 2022
This has become my favourite cake! Only problem is getting hold of ready-ground hazelnuts in UK (I don't have a grinder). How come ground almonds are no problem, but hardly anyone sells ground hazelnuts? Brilliant recipe nevertheless - thanks very much Barbara.
plevee March 5, 2021
This was an incredibly liquid batter! I weighed everything except the salt and baking powder. Fingers crossed......
Antik January 30, 2021
Fabulous! What a perfect cake. I've made it twice already. With walnuts, and another time with lemon. Used 1/2 portion of sugar Spectacular results. Thank you.
Tara R. January 26, 2021
This was excellent; not too sweet and perfect with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. I did not blanch/remove the skin and/or my nuts prior to grinding them and they were not bitter at all.
mm January 26, 2021
Thank you, Tara!
mm January 17, 2021
Did anyone remove the skin and/or toast the hazelnuts? If not, did the nuts taste bitter? Thanks!!
Tara R. January 26, 2021
I made this today with unfrosted/unpeeled hazelnuts and it was fabulous!
Sharon F. January 9, 2021
Made this tonight to rave reviews and multiple requests for seconds. Used gluten free flour (cup4cup) and Ripple milk (daughter newly gluten and dairy free). Didn’t have muscovado sugar so subbed brown sugar. Batter needed a bit more flour - maybe 1/4 cup but turned out delicious. Don’t skimp on initial beating time...
mm January 7, 2021
This sounds delicious! are the hazelnuts skinned and toasted? thank you.
Zoë A. January 7, 2021
Hi there! What kind of muscavado sugar? Light or dark? Also is it ok to substitute the caster sugar by processing granulated sugar and subbing brown sugar for muscavado?
Barbara P. January 7, 2021
Hi! I would just use the granulated sugar instead of the caster.
Regarding the muscovado, I always use the light one. But you can definitely substitute it with the brown sugar, light or dark. Hope you enjoy it! :)
Mathieu G. January 6, 2021
Thanks for the recipe! I will try to make cupcakes out of the batter, and let you know!
Barbara P. January 7, 2021
Great idea!
Tammy S. January 5, 2021
Can anyone convert this for American measurements? Also what are these different flours
Barbara P. January 7, 2021
Hi Tammy! I've updated the recipe, it's in grams and cups now :) hope it helps!
Regarding the flour, what exactly would you like to know? In the recipe I'm using a pastry flour (or cookie flour), which will make the bake nice, light and fluffy. In the comments we were talking about replacing the hazelnuts with almond flour, which is basically just ground almonds. Does that answer the question?
Alison January 2, 2021
Is it possible to substitute almond flour for the ground hazelnuts ? I realize the flavor would be different but I usually have almond flour in my pantry, not hazelnut, and hate to purchase an ingredient with limited shelf life for a single recipe. It looks delicious, though!
Barbara P. January 3, 2021
Hi Alison! Thank you!
As you said, the flavors will change, but it's ok to substitute the hazelnuts with almonds. Might be lovely with an addition of couple of tablespoons of dark cocoa powder!
Alison January 4, 2021
that sounds lovely! I will give it a try later this week. thanks for the quick response...
Jennifer J. January 17, 2021
I made this today and because I didn’t have enough hazelnut flour I used half hazelnut and half almond (Bob’s Red Mill) and it turned out great- maybe the nutty flavor was a little more mild but my tasters had no issue ;-) I love baking with weight instead of measuring cups, thanks for that!
Wazowski December 1, 2020
Absolutely delicious. Delightfully light and moist and not overly sweet either.

Quite the opposite to many recipes, this is easy in preparation with an impressive end product!

*****