This Gal Cooks

Hazelnut Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

This Hazelnut Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce by Zainab from Blahnik Baker is the perfect sweet treat for any cake lover!

Hazelnut Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce  - Blahnik Baker for This Gal Cooks

 

Hazelnut Butter Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Hi everyone! I’m Zainab and I blog over at Blahnik Baker. I am so excited to be guest posting for Julie today while she is on vacation. I hope she is enjoying herself because girlfriend deserves a break from all her hard work. I met Julie a few months after I started blogging and she has not only become an amazing blogging friend but also a great mentor!! A lot of what I know today, I owe to her kindness. :) So when she asked me to guest post for her while she frolics in the Carolinas, I knew I had to bring one of my favorite things to bake: a cake! Before we talk about this indulgent hazelnut butter cake with salted caramel sauce, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my love for baking! I live in (cold…oh so cold) Upstate NY where I love to bake cakes to stay warm and share with friends and family. But that’s not the only reason why I love baking. Another major reason is because I’m always looking for reasons to use my ever-growing collection of cake stands. Some may say (cough cough *my husband*) I have a problem but I just think I have an eye for beautiful things. :)

hazelnut cake with caramel sauce_2

A few weeks ago on our way back from a road trip to DC, I picked up this lime green cake plate and I’ve been dying to use it. So I figured I’d bring it over on this very special visit here today. After all, This Gal Cooks readers are fabulous! Of course I had to make an extra special cake for you guys. This hazelnut butter cake with salted caramel sauce is an ode to simple, moist, delicious and nutty cakes. The cake is made with a rich nut mixture of blanched hazelnut, butter and eggs. A simple cake batter with no liquids yields a very fluffy, aromatic cake that is baked with a sprinkle of raw sugar that makes the top crusty and crunchy. A deep amber sea salt caramel sauce is then drizzled (or flooded if you are me :)) over the top to give the perfect sweet and salty dessert.

This cake is very easy to put together and, because it is just one layer, it is perfect for a small dinner party with friends or you can scale up the recipe for a bigger crowd.

Hazelnut Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce  - Blahnik Baker for This Gal Cooks

Thank you very much for having me here today. I hope you will stop over at Blahnik Baker to say “Hi” at some point. :)

Hazelnut Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • ½ cup blanched hazelnuts
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For Salted Caramel Sauce

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • ½ tablespoon flaky sea salt

Instructions

For the Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment circle. Grease parchment. In a bowl of a food processor, finely process hazelnuts with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Set aside 2 tablespoon of nut mixture. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining nut mixture, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter with the remaining sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium speed. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating to blend after each addition and scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients in two additions. Mix until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the reserved nut mixture over batter. Sprinkle granulated sugar as well. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center of cake comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out. Let cool completely.

To make Salted Caramel Sauce

  1. In a medium saucepan, bring to boil over medium-high heat two tablespoons water, granulated sugar and corn syrup, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. Once boiling, leave for 8-10 minutes until mixture turns deep amber in color, swirling pan occasionally. Remove from heat and slowly add in the heavy cream to the mixture. The mixture will bubble vigorously. Return to medium heat and stir occasionally until smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and sea salt. Let sauce cool before serving with cake.

Notes

Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

hazelnut cake with caramel sauce_4

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

27 comments on “Hazelnut Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce”

  1. OMGosh! I am DROOLING over here, Julie & Zainab! This looks amazing! I have to make this for my mother- you have combined 2 of her favorite flavors here- hazelnut and caramel! :)

  2. I love all that salted caramel sauce smothering that yummy hazelnut cake! It’s so nice of you to cover Julie with such an incredible recipe, Zainab, but she does deserve it. :)

  3. This looks ahhmazing Zainab!! And I am loving that cake plate – so pretty. Pinned!

  4. Salted caramel, yes please! Zainab, this is stunning as usual. And I love that mint cake stand!

  5. Julie, thank you so much for having me over today!! I hope you guys had a great time in NC. I am so excited you saw snow!! So do you want to live in my winter wonderland now?

    • You are so very welcome, Zainab! I love this cake. Wish I had a slice right now. :) Ha, I do not want to live in the NE or the Midwest. But I can handle NC cold.

  6. This cake looks stunning Zainab, hazelnut and salted caramel sounds like the best combination!! I am loving all of this drool worthy sauce slathered all over the cake, makes me want to reach right in and grab a big slice :) Awesome recipe and love the pretty cake stand! Hope you had a great time on your trip Julie and so glad you got to see some snow:)

  7. Always love Zainab’s amazing cakes! We both share a love of cake stands :) And I definitely wouldn’t be able to eat just one slice of this gooey cake. I hope that you enjoyed your trip, Julie!

  8. I am drooling over this rich buttery cake with that oozing caramel sauce! And I LOVE that cake stand!! The color is gorgeous!!

  9. Oh girl, it does look amazing indeed! Hazelnuts + caramel?? I’m sold. What a divine cake!
    Hope Julie is having a great vacation as well! :–)

    • Thank you for stopping by, Consuelo! Vacation was nice…could have been better if I wasn’t sick! but I did enjoy visiting North Carolina. Now I want to move there. :)

  10. This cake is looking amazing Zainab! Love anything hazelnut! And that plate is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!

  11. Zainab, this looks so drool worthy!! This cake plate is so you… and Julie! Love the color! I am a caramel lover (it beats out chocolate!), so I am all about your delicious recipe. Already pinned… and bookmarking.

  12. Zainab, This cake looks great on your green cake stand. I agree, wonderful dessert for a dinner party. Julie, hope you’re having a relaxing vacation.

  13. Hey Julie! Aren’t Zainab’s desserts amazing? I didn’t even have to look at the dessert to already know I was in love. The flavor combination sounds divine! Great meeting you through her. I love your blog!

  14. Hazelnuts are so delicious and not used enough. This cake has my mouth watering with all that fabulous caramel!

  15. I’m visiting from Zainab’s blog and Julie, I’m so happy to meet you and your wonderful blog! This is a fabulous guest post, which is no surprise given how awesome Zainab is. I’m going to start using the word “flooding” to describe the perfect amount of caramel/chocolate sauce over cake. That’s always the right amount! None of that silly “drizzling” that just leaves me wanting more!

    • Hi Nancy! Welcome! I’m so happy you stopped by to check out Zainab’s recipe. :) I just love her and her recipes! Oh yea, I agree with you, caramel and chocolate sauce should be flooding over a cake and/or ice cream!

  16. I’m a huge fan of anything that gets more salted caramel into my face, lol! This cake looks like simple perfection! I love the fluffy texture and butter + hazelnut sounds amazing!

  17. Yummy, this sounds delicious. going to make this today, thanks for sharing.

    Simon