Hazelnut and Buckwheat Cake with Cinnamon Icing Sugar
Family guests from LA! Our American grandfather Jim and his wife Gina came to visit us and - as always when guests stay with us - we let the feast begin from day one! When they arrived at noon, we sat down at our long wooden table and we only got up in the early evening, after hours of savoring. I carried one dish after the other to the table, so much so, that at one point my boyfriend stated I must have mistaken his grandparents for goats! There was so much to talk about, so many memories and stories to share, so much to show after years of not seeing each other, that a good amount of nice food seemed like the perfect company for a day like that. Also, it was a very successful way to fight their jet lag. 9 hours of time difference and my food kept them awake till 9!
One of my personal table highlights of that first day was my hazelnut and buckwheat cake. I love to welcome friends and family with a cake on the table. The sweet smell of freshly baked food in the house wakes you up even after the longest flight and makes you feel home right away! I had been in the mood for a cake like that for days, simple and spongy with the deep flavour of hazelnuts and I got what I asked for. I made the dough with ground nuts and buckwheat which adds a nuttiness to it that I wouldn't have achieved with wheat or spelt flour. It's a very popular combination in the Tyrolean mountains which always start to have a growing influence on my cooking and baking as soon as the temperatures drop. So it's a mountain cake, honest and rich in taste, refined with lots of cinnamon mixed in and sprinkled on top with some icing sugar.
I wanted to put even more food on the table, but at one point, they all stopped me. My plan was to finish the day off with my famous Swabian Cheese Spaetzle, hearty cheese and onions with homemade southern noodles, but they didn't let me go back to my kitchen! I saved it for another night and dinner and they loved it, like the Blue Cheese Crackers, Beluga Lentils with Pear, Tyrolean Plum Dumplings, Sicilian Chard, Radicchio Crespelle and all the other goodies I will write about in the coming days!
Hazelnut and Buckwheat Cake
For one 26cm / 10" springform pan or two 18cm / 7" pans you need
ground hazelnuts 225g / 8 ounces
buckwheat flour 225g / 8 ounces
granulated sugar 200g / 7 ounces
ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon plus more for dusting
baking powder 4 1/2 teaspoons
a pinch of salt
butter, at room temperature, 250g / 9 ounces
organic eggs 6
icing sugar for dusting
Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F (fan assisted oven).
Combine the dry ingredients.
Beat the egg whites and salt until stiff.
Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and continue mixing for a few minutes until the mixture is thick and creamy.
Gently fold the dry mixture and the egg whites with a wooden spoon into the butter and sugar mixture, alternating, 1/3 at a time, combining well in between.
Bake for 35 minutes (or a bit shorter if you use smaller pans) or until golden brown on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let it cool for a few minutes.
Combine 2-3 tablespoons of icing sugar with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over the cake.
