Friday, May 28, 2010

Miss Karolyn’s Cake

hazelcake 2

If you read my last post, you’ll probably recognize the name Miss Karolyn.  She took all the photos in my last post and the ones here and here

hazelnut cake3

Karolyn is my children’s sitter and has been taking care of them after school and during the summer’s for the past five years.  We are very fortunate to have her as the children’s caretaker and also as a family friend. What I didn’t mention is that Karolyn is our resident chocolate lover.  Being that we’re not fond of chocolate she’s stuck eating bread pudding and bars.  :)  This past Tuesday was her birthday and for her birthday I made her this glorious chocolate hazelnut cake I found on Bake or Break.

cake slice

The cake turned out splendidly considering I only made one slight boo-boo……I forgot to fold in the 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate!  Luckily it already had 14 ounces of nutella so it was still chocolate-y.  While Karolyn loved the cake, I tasted a slice and thought it would have benefited from the chocolate that I forgot to add in. It was chocolate-y but not that rich, decadent over the top chocolate taste you expect to get with a cake that has no flour in it other than 1/2 cup of ground hazelnuts. 

cake slice2

Click here for a printable recipe and my notes on toasting, peeling, and grinding hazelnuts.

38 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

Looks totally sinfully and completely fantastic! Love the frosting and the nuts atop!

♥peachkins♥ said...

stunning photo of a very yummy cake!!! Say hi to Ms. karolyn

blowing peachkisses
The Peach Kitchen
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Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A splendid cake! It looks so tempting...

Cheers,

Rosa

Monica H said...

Happy Birthday Miss Karolyn!!!

You know I am a chocolate lover and this looks incredible Ingrid. I'm lusting over that first picture of the cake slice, with those ever slightly imbedded hazelnuts in the chocolate ganache- oh yes! You did a fantastic job!

Hey my birthday is coming up, will you bake something chocolatey for me too? Yes?! okay, I'll be right over :-)

Monica H said...

PS. Your cake looks much better than BoB's :-)

Shelby said...

What a great looking cake AND photos!

Heather Baird said...

Wow! This is so beautiful and I looove hazelnut!!

thecoffeesnob said...

Oh this is Nigella Lawson's nutella cake isn't it? It was the first chocolate cake I ever made on my blog and I absolutely loved it.

Yours looks tons better though! And happy belated birthday to Miss Karolyn! :)

Paris Pastry said...

From the first picture I knew this was Nigella Lawson's Nutella cake! It looks phenomenal!

♥ Daniëlle

Lori said...

My mouth is totally watering. It looks so good. Love chocolate and hazelnuts.

Smitten Sugar said...

So pretty! This cake turned out beautiful and looks delicious! Happy Birthday to Miss Karolyn. You guys are lucky to have someone around to care for your kiddos and she is lucky you like to bake!!

RecipeGirl said...

what a delicious birthday treat. I know how comforting it is to have someone taking care of your child that you feel good about & trust! Lucky you!

Unknown said...

Wow! That looks so moist and...well...chocolatey! What a nice thing to do on her birthday. I love hazelnuts but not so much the chocolate...but I may have to make this just because. Thanks for sharing!

Mimi said...

Gorgeous cake Ingrid. You and Miss Karolyn make a good team.
Mimi

tobias cooks! said...

Delicious. I would live a piece of that!

White Toast with Butter said...

It looks fantastic. I too am not a chocolate fan but everyone else who lives with me is!

Jaime said...

i love hazelnut! what a great birthday gift :)

Get Off Your Butt and BAKE! said...

Sinful indeed! I think I would also leave most of the chocolate out. I like Chocolate, but not when it's too dark. The pic's are beautiful as well.

The Blonde Duck said...

That was so nice of you to make her a cake!

oneordinaryday said...

Oooh. This looks beautiful, Ingrid! And what gorgeous photos too.

Happy birthday to Miss Karolyn! I'm sure this made her feel very loved.

(btw - It's funny to hear YOU say something could benefit from more chocolate!)

grace said...

what a thoughtful thing to make for your multi-purpose friend! it looks absolutely luscious--nice teamwork. :)

Karen @ Mignardise said...

Recipes like this one are exactly why I love your blog. It's another keeper! Great photo too.
You're very lucky (and I'm sure you know it) to have such a loyal sitter. They're not easy to find. Baking a chocolate cake for her birthday should keep her happy another year!

teresa said...

gorgeous cake, and gorgeous photos! i love the hazelnuts on top!

Lisa said...

Insanely delicious, Ingrid. Really, you always have me thinking about luscious gooey things for hours after I visit your blog.

Julie said...

I'd say Miss Karolyn is a lucky birthday girl...delish!

Lot-O-Choc said...

Oh my this looks amazingly good :) the chocolate looks so thick and tasty mmmm!

Katy ~ said...

A stunning cake! A masterpiece for certain. Happy birthday to Ms. Karolyn.

Robin said...

Ingrid I like your new blog look, very nice. Karolyns photos are great and it is a good thing to have at least one chocolate lover around to eat the chocolate for you. You are very bleesed to have Karolyn too, wow five years of watching your kids, that is great!!

Heather S-G said...

Well, you can't tell by looking that anything was left out...it's divine!! I bet I still would have eaten it and enjoyed it...sounds delicious! =)

Faith said...

Happy Birthday to Karolyn! This beautiful cake is sure to please any chocolate lover (myself included ;) )!

Heidi said...

What a delicious looking cake! I LOVE chocolate and nutella and now I'm craving it!

Lucie said...

Bravo for making such an amazing chocolate cake as a non-chocolate lover! I don't see how 14 oz of Nutella could yield anything BUT deliciousness!!!

Reeni said...

This looks fantastic Ingrid even without the chocolate! And it's very elegant looking!

Jelli said...

MMM! This looks amazing! I love Nutella, though I must admit the imported stuff from Canada that arrives in stores here in Costa Rica is not the yummy equivalent of the Italian-made Nutella.

Justin said...

that looks divine. it's hard to imagine it was supposed to be even more decadent with the 4 ounces chocolate.

Abby said...

If I hadn't just scarfed down some banana pudding I'd be crawling through my screen for a piece of that cake! Lucky sitter is she...

Unknown said...

Ahh now this quite possibly is one of my favorite posts you've made!! It looks soo rich and decadent :)

Crepes of Wrath said...

What lovely photos; they are seriously making my mouth water! The slice looks so delicious!