I found Hazelnut Cream Cake in a book called Food Editors’ Hometown Favorites. It was submitted by Barbara Durbin from The Oregonian, who credits Linda Dau Gray-Fellows of Hillsboro. I don’t know what to say about it right now because I’m kind tired and want to go to bed. It was a good cake – very light tasting and filled with hazelnut flavor. For this cake, it’s really helpful to have a stand mixer. Also, I wasn’t very happy with the amount of icing in the original recipe, so you may want to double it or make 1 1/2 times what is written below. That is, if you like icing.
Hazelnut Cream Cake
A hazelnut themed version of the popular Italian Cream Cake.
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Total Time55 mins
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 2 cups sifted flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt use ¼ if using salted butter
- 5 eggs separated
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup regular or butter flavored shortening
- 2 c. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup coconut more if desired
- 1 c. finely chopped toasted hazelnuts
Cream Cheese Icing (double this if you like more icing)
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 oz butter room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whole milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Spray three 9-inch round cake pans with flour-added cooking spray. If using dark cake pans, preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Sift the already-sifted flour once more with the baking soda. Stir in the salt and set that aside.
- Beat egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff; set aside.
- Cream butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl; add sugar and beat for 3-5 minutes. Add vanilla, then add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each yolk.
- Turn mixer speed to low or do this step with a mixing spoon or heavy-duty scraper. Add the flour and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with flour. When batter is uniform, fold in the egg whites in three parts (this helps keep the batter airy). Stir in the coconut and nusts.
- Divide batter among all three pans and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in cakes comes out clean. Cakes will look kind of flat.
- Prepare icing. Stir cream cheese, butter and some of the sugar together, then beat until smooth. Slowly add remaining sugar. Beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla. Add milk as needed to make icing creamy. Spread icing between cake layers and on top of cake.
I thought that the cake was a bit too moist. The icing was good, but kind of liquidy. What could I do to make it less liquidy?
I think I like the cake better, but the cookies are good too! It’s hard to compare the two ;).
Which hazelnut recipe do you like better? The cookies or the cake??
Jennifer, it’s a good cake. It came out of the oven in flat-top layers and at first, it scared me. However, that ended up being beneficial in building the cake.
Debra, I’m glad you were inspired to start a blog. I have so much fun with mine.
Anna-
That is too funny that you actually found my blog – Subtle Nuances…
I’ve been a big fan of yours for a long time! You were actually one of the first blogs that inspired me to start my own. Thank you! 🙂
Oh, wow! What do I not like about this cake?!? I will definitely have to try this one out. And I would absolutely double the icing. Cream cheese icing is the best!