Coffee and hazelnut cream cake
A cake that'll wake you up from your food coma.
• 2 sponge cakes (about 350g each)
• Liqueur of your choice
• 800 ml milk
• 180g sugar
• 70g plain flour
• 250g roasted, skinned hazelnuts, finely ground
• 6 eggs
• 2 shots of rum
• 250g butter
• 250g mascarpone cheese
• 200g icing sugar
• ½ cup of strong espresso coffee
1. To make the hazelnut cream, beat together the sugar and egg yolks in a saucepan. Add the flour, warmed milk and one shot of rum. Place over heat and stir. When just starting to thicken, remove from heat. Once cooled, stir in 150g of ground hazelnuts.
2. For the coffee cream, beat butter to a creamy, fluffy texture. Stir in the sugar, coffee and remaining rum and finally the mascarpone.
3. Slice off the crusty surface of the sponge cakes and cut each cake one horizontally in two. Moisten with liqueur, then spread the hazelnut cream over the base. Place a second slice of cake on top and another layer of hazelnut cream on it. Repeat for the third slice and top with the last slice of sponge.
4. Pour the coffee cream onto the cake and spread it all around with the help of a spatula rounding off the edges. Decorate with remaining hazelnuts.