Hazelnut Cake with Mocha Frosting

Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a fun weekend, wherever you may be. Stuart and I have been enjoying a nice "SLO" weekend here in San Luis Obispo, with not too much on the radar. It's been a nice change after our past weeks of traveling. Today, we potted plants for the sidewalk in front of our apartment, got groceries, and are planning to wrap up the evening with some homemade turkey burgers (recipe coming soon). Yesterday, we went to an office barbeque party for Stuart's work, which was a ton of fun. While there, we stuffed ourselves with tri-trip and garlic break, and for dessert everyone brought something to share, potluck style. I decided to experiment by making this cake that I found a blog that I follow called Bake or Break. Chock full of hazelnuts and topped with a coffee-chocolate frosting, this is a cake with flavors that work almost as well for breakfast as they do for dessert!

 

 

Pictured above is one half of the cake recipe that appears below. I made the full recipe as shown below, and brought one half of it to a barbeque with friends on Thursday night. The other half I saved in the fridge for the above-mentioned work barbeque on Saturday. If you are interested in making your cake do "double duty" like this, I kept the baked cake in the fridge on Thurs/Fri, then took it out, let the frosting soften up, and frosted it right before the BBQ on Saturday afternoon. It still tasted perfect two days later.

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

For the frosting:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-3 tablespoons brewed strong coffee (use 3 if you want a stronger coffee flavor)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Chopped toasted hazelnuts, for garnish

Instructions;
To make the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Butter paper.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
5. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour in three portions, alternating with two portions of sour cream. Mix until a few streaks of flour remain. Stir in hazelnuts.
6. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Smooth batter evenly in pans.
7. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until cakes are lightly browned and a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then, run a knife around the edges to loosen the cakes. Transfer cakes from pans to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove parchment paper.

To make the frosting:

1. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, cocoa powder, espresso, and vanilla until thoroughly combined.
2. Gradually add confectioners' sugar. Mix until smooth.
3. Add milk as needed to attain desired spreadable consistency.
4. Place one cake layer on a cake plate. Spread half of the frosting on top of the cake.
5. Place remaining cake layer on top of frosted cake layer. Spread remaining frosting on top of the second cake layer. Garnish with chopped hazelnuts.