MMMMM----------------------------CAKE---------------------------------
125 ml Hazelnut oil
175 g Soft light brown sugar
2 lg Eggs
1 ts Vanilla extract
75 g Hazelnuts; chopped, roasted
75 g Plain flour
75 g Dark rye flour
30 g Cocoa powder
2 ts Baking powder
1 pn Salt; generous
110 ml Water; hot
MMMMM---------------------------ICING--------------------------------
100 g Icing sugar
2 tb Cocoa powder
25 ml Water; boiling
25 g Hazelnuts; chopped, roasted
Grease and line a 900 g loaf tin and preheat the oven to
180 C/350 F/gas mark 4.
Stir the oil and brown sugar together then mix in the eggs and vanilla
extract. Whisk vigorously for a couple of minutes just to aerate the
mixture and bring it smoothly together.
Grind the hazelnuts to a fine meal in a food processor or coffee
grinder, taking care not to overdo it or the nuts will begin to
release their oils and you'll be left with a paste. If you don't have
any way to process the nuts, you can swap them for ground almonds
instead, although by using the oil alone, the hazelnut flavour will
be more muted. You should be able to find ready-ground hazelnuts in
the supermarket, too.
In a separate bowl, combine the plain and dark rye flours, then add
the ground nuts, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk lightly
to mix everything together and break apart any flour or cocoa powder
clumps (there really shouldn't be any need to sieve the mixture).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and beat together until
smooth. Add the hot water and fold in until the batter is smooth and
loose.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for roughly 45 minutes,
until it's well-risen with a proudly domed, cracked top. A small knife
inserted into the middle should come out without any batter stuck to
it. Leave to cool for half an hour or so in the tin, before
unmoulding and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cake is cool, prepare the icing. Sift the icing sugar and
cocoa powder together into a mixing bowl, then add the water a little
at a time, making first a paste, then a very thick icing, then a
pourable icing. Spoon the icing generously over the cooled loaf,
letting it drip down the sides and pool in the crags and dips of the
top of the cake. Straight away, while the glaze is still sticky,
scatter the chopped hazelnuts over. Leave to set for a little while
before cutting and serving.
