Hazelnut Cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 300 grams (10.5 ounces) ground hazelnuts
• 8 eggs
• 250 grams (8.8 ounces) sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Topping

• whipping cream
• powdered sugar

For making the cake not stick to the tin

• butter (also adds a nice caramel hint)
• 75 grams (2.5 ounces) grated rusk, also called zwieback (unnecessary with teflon coated tins)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F).
2. Separate the egg whites from the yolks.
3. Mix the yolks with the sugar until they are foamy.
4. Incorporate the hazelnuts, the starch and the baking powder into the yolk and sugar mix.
5. Thoroughly clean your mixer and beat the egg whites in a clean bowl (easier with a spoon of sugar or two) until they are very firm.
6. Carefully fold the stiff egg whites into the dough. The mixture should be homogenous, but you don’t want to destroy the fluffiness of the egg whites.
7. Grease an oblong baking tin with butter. If it isn’t teflon coated, put the grated rusk on the buttered tin walls.
8. Put the dough in the tin and bake it at 160°C (320°F) for approximately 1 hour on the middle shelf.
9. Stick a toothpick into the cake and pull it out. If no dough is on the stick, the cake is done.
10. Take the tin out of the oven and let it cool down.
11. Turn everything over and carefully remove the tin.
12. Add powdered sugar and serve the cake on a nice plate with whipped cream.