Chocolate Hazelnut Delight

A few weeks back I pulled a recipe out of a magazine for chocolate cupcakes with hazelnut liqueur and hazelnut candies. Wouldn't you know after buying nearly all the ingredients I couldn't find the specific candy so I've had the ingredients sitting around and have been brainstorming on what to do with the whole set up. Yesterday morning I woke up with a brilliant plan, we used to pick up a delicious cake from Randalls that was a white sponge cake on the bottom, mascarpone cheese-cake on top and then fresh fruit. They were so good that my Dad, who never was a big sweet-eater, would devour it quickly enough we'd have to buy a second within the week! So I set to the task of trying to make a similar cake but with chocolate as the base and hazelnuts instead of fruit. The sponge cake base came out a tad bit denser than I was expecting but it was delicious all the same, as for the hazelnut/mascarpone topping, well let's just say this will be a good go-to for special occasions in the future.


Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Mascarpone Topping

Cake:
2/3 C Cake Flour
1/4 C Cornstarch
1/2 C Cocoa Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
4 Eggs
2 Tbsp Hot Water
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Tsp Table Salt
1 Tbsp Frangellico

1. Measure dry ingredients by spooning lightly into a cup and leveling off. Do not pack flour. Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
2. Grease a 9 inch springform pan and line the bottom with wax paper, cut to fit. Flour the sides of the pan. Turn the oven on to 350°F to preheat.
3. Break 4 eggs into the bowl of a mixer, mix for 1 minute, medium speed. Turn to high speed and drizzle the hot water into the eggs while mixing. Add the sugar, frangellico and vanilla and keep mixing on high for about 5 minutes, or until eggs are creamy yellow and very thick, like a sauce. Remove from mixing stand and switch to a hand spatula for the next step.
4. Sift half of the dry ingredients over the egg mixture and fold in until almost gone. Repeat with the other half. Do not overmix (you will deflate the egg mixture) but scrape the bottom of the bowl several times, to make sure you have incorporated all the dry ingredients.
5. Pour batter into the springform pan and smooth top. Place in oven, on the second shelf from the bottom for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Topping

2 8oz containers Mascarpone Cheese, softened
1 C Cream
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tsp Frangellico
3/4 C Powdered Sugar
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar
1/4 C Toasted Hazelnuts

Whip together, softened mascarpone, cream, vanilla, Frangellico. Slowly add powdered sugar until consistency is just shy of the thickness of frosting. Spread over cake, let chill for at least 30 minutes. Shave chocolate over the top of the mascarpone mixture and sprinkle toasted hazelnuts on top with chocolate shavings.