Hazelnut soft Cake

 Recipe from chef patrick

Ingredients :
Hazelnut soft Cake, serves 6 to 8 people
200 grams (7 ounces) of roasted hazelnuts (turn the nuts into powder in a mixer, put the powder into a heated frying pan without any fat, stir continuously until you get a light-brown colour. Let cool and keep aside)
5 eggs
120 gr (4 ounces) of sugar
a piece of lemon peel
icing sugar

Direction :
Clarify the eggs.
Blanch the yolks with 120 gr (4 ounces) of sugar (blanch: whip until the mixture becomes white).
Whisk up the whites and at the end, mix in the remaining sugar (80 gr) and carry on whisking for 30 seconds.
Lay the whites on top of the yolks and gently mix by lifting with a spatula. When done, mix in the roasted hazelnut powder.
Poor the mixture into a a non-adhesive sponge-cake baking-tin (Tefal or Flexopan).
Bake for 35-40 mn at 180° C. As usual, probe the cake with the tip of a knife which should come out hot and dry.
10 mn after taking it out of the oven, remove it from the baking-tin, let it cool on a grille and powder it with icing-sugar.

Loads of little things can complement your hazelnut soft Cake :
A nice warm chocolate-sauce, custard with little bits of toasted coffee, that same custard flavoured with liquorice or even sauterne wine or acacia honey… A real love poem !