Oops, I did it again…

Remember the cognac/whiskey-soaked chocolate cake?
Well, my mother-in-law baked that cake and sent me photos. And then, I just had to make it again. I had to!



However… since Valentine’s Day was approaching, I thought I’ll try to make it CUTE. Hmmm…

About a week ago, when I was looking all over the place for mini cupcakes pans for my little girl’s birthday party (that’s her cake here), I found this pan.

Doesn’t it look cute?
So I really really wanted to use it for something and soon. Valentines’ sounded like an appropriate opportunity.

So take the original cognac -soaked chocolate cake + a cute pan with small indentations, and try it.
The result – wonderful!

Mini Cognac-Soaked Chocolate Cakes
Adaptation to the new variation:

1. It looked like the cognac bottle had 1 cup in it, but after measuring it, it turned out to be only ½ a cup, so I added ¼ cup cherry kirsch and ¼ cup water.
The flavor turned out to be great. Less alcoholic and intoxicating than when using all cognac, with a milder flavor, and the texture was great.

2. I used the pan with 12 mini cakes and the rest of the batter was baked in a long loaf cake (12 by 4.5 inch, measured at the top).

3. Baking times:
For the mini cakes it took 25 minutes.*
For the loaf cake it took 50 minutes.*
* Baking times may vary as I opened the door a couple of times to check if the cakes were done, so of course, heat escaped from the oven. It might take less time when you don’t open the oven


Now. If I was not dieting, I would have topped each little cutie with some Nutella or a chocolate ganache, filled the cute little hole with whipped cream, AND garnished it with a little berry.
But I won’t. Should I?
Maybe next year?

Related posts:

The Original Cognac-Soaked Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Roulade Birthday Cake

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Flaky and Creamy

No, I am not going to give you another decadent chocolate dessert recipe for Valentine’s Day. They seem to be all over the place as it is. You don’t really need another one. Do you? On the other hand, what are you going to have for dinner before the dessert? Or is it going to be just dessert on your Valentine’s dinner? Have you thought about that? Do you have anything planned yet? If not, I got a lovely butternut squash galette for you.

Flaky, buttery, delicate crust and a savory-sweet and creamy filling. Do I need to say more? It’s so light and satisfying that you will have room for that decadent chocolaty dessert. Although I think vanilla might work better…

Now, a word about the dough. Ohhhh, and what a dough it is! So flavorful. I have already mentioned flaky, right?!
I always thought that the bottom of the pie/galette/crostata doesn’t get as much attention as it should have. See for example your typical cardboard tasting graham cracker crust for cheesecake. Don’t you think that cheesecakes deserve a better crust than that boring thing?! I really should do something about it. The dough’s potential is not stretched to the maximum. In this recipe, however, the dough gets an extra oomph from sage. I’m sure that thyme, oregano, and/or parsley, or any other herby friend will work excellent too in this recipe. You really really should try this.


Butternut Squash Galette
Slightly adapted (in *) from a recipe in Gourmet magazine, February 2009

For pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 to 6 tablespoons ice-cold water
1 large egg, lightly beaten

For filling:
1 (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2- by 1/4-inch slices (4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced crosswise
6 ounces soft mild goat cheese, crumbled
A few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked*
Pine nuts, partially toasted*

Make dough:
Pulse flour, butter, sage, and sea salt in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle ice water evenly over mixture and pulse until it just forms a ball. (Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.) Gently press dough into a 5-inch disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make filling while dough chills:
Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in middle. (I roasted it in a 425 F*).
Toss squash with sea salt and 1 Tbsp oil and arrange in 1 layer in a 17-by 12-inch shallow baking pan. Roast until golden brown on edges and undersides, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove squash from oven and reduce oven temperature to 375°F.

Meanwhile, wash leeks, then cook in remaining 2 tablespoons oil with a pinch of sea salt in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool slightly. Add squash, goat cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and toss gently.

Make galette:
Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Transfer to a baking sheet. Arrange filling in an even layer in center of dough, leaving a 2- to 3-inch border. Fold dough in on itself to cover outer rim of filling, pleating dough as necessary. Brush pastry with beaten egg and bake galette until crust is cooked through and golden on edges, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack 10 minutes before serving.

Cooks' note: Pastry dough can be chilled up to 1 day. Filling can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day!
Nurit

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Cranberry Cake to Celebrate the Beginning of a New Year

I want to dedicate a cake to you. To celebrate the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. You deserve it. It has been tough lately. But it will get better, right?! It has to.

I usually don’t fuss over a change of digit when a year ends, but this year it feels a bit different. I’ve been blogging since July and I Love it. The blog grew nicely thanks to you, so here is another reason to give you a cake! (As if I need an excuse to bake a cake). It is simple to make, inexpensive but festive, and makes a perfect cake for the holiday served with whipped cream, or for an after holiday or weekend brunch, served with whipped cream!

Speaking of whipped cream… We have beautiful snow outside. It’s been out there in the past week and our street looks like this.

Our backyard looks like this.

We’ve been kind of stuck at home in the past few days. It’s snowing here like never before. The snow is about 15 inches deep. Some roads are closed, some businesses are closed, schools are closed which means that the kids are at home and need to be entertained and fed 24/7, as well as Mr. Husband. We’ve been doing all kinds of cooking projects here to keep ourselves busy and happy. (All the recipes will be posted next year.)

Onion Quiche

Lamb shanks with Whole Wheat Couscous, Beans, and Garbanzo Beans

We made so many desserts and treats (Marshmallows, nut cookies, doughnuts, cheesecake) that my son suggested that I start a dessert blog.

Very cool idea, but, no, I’m not going to do that. I already have too many blogs on my hands (this one which is also published at the Seattle P-I, this one: Good Food & Bad Food, also published on the Seattle P-I, and at some point I thought of starting a salad blog, but I have to think about it. Would you be interested in a salad blog?)
So no, no dessert blog, but I do plan on buying a new camera and taking some photography classes, and I hope I can show you better photos. I’m so excited about that!!!

Cranberry Upside-Down Cake*
From Martha Stewart

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
(I also added orange zest - N.)

1 3/4 cups cranberries
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. Rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons butter. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon and allspice (and orange zest, if using - N). Sprinkle mixture evenly over bottom of pan; arrange cranberries in a single layer on top.

With an electric mixer, cream remaining 6 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well combined. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, until well combined.

Spoon batter over cranberries in pan, and smooth top. Place pan on a baking sheet; bake cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes (I added an extra 20 minutes to the baking time - N.). Let cool on a wire rack for 20minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert onto a rimmed platter.

For the whipped cream, click strawberry shortcake.

*A warning: Your baked cake is not going to look that bright red! I expected it to look that bright red, like the photo in the book/link, so I was a bit disappointed when I saw that it is actually a bit brownish-red in real life. That’s just the color of cooked cranberries. But, it is a very good cake, easy to make, and festive enough. Don’t forget the whipped cream!

I wish you ALL a very wonderfully happy New Year!!!!!

I am going to spend some time with my family and will be back in January.

Nurit

Previous December posts:

11 Tips for Eating Out (with Kids) While on Vacation
More than a Weekly Meal Plan – December
Holiday (or Birthday) Party Food – Appetizers
Time to Tell You What It Is

Gingerbread houses at the Sheraton, Downtown Seattle

More than a Weekly Meal Plan – December

The last weekly menu plan for 2008. Posted recipe for December were…

Party times – Holiday (or Birthday) Party Food – Appetizers

Entrées:

Breadcrumbly Pumpkin Ravioli – Sometimes Life Gives You Breadcrumbs
Upgraded/dressed-up Pizza – Sometimes it’s Pizza for Dinner
Surprise – Time to Tell You What It Is
Amazing, but simple, Chicken Wrap
Linguine with Shrimp Scampi
Orange-Colored Soup

Side dishes:

Zucchini Pancakes Addiction
Mashed Potatoes with Cheesy Crunchy Topping

On the sweet side:

Babbo Modenese Crumbly Cake
Apple, Cinnamon and Walnuts Cake
Cookie #3: Jam Thumbprint Cookies
Warm Winter Herbal Tea
If you’re still baking, I got some cookie recipes here.

Miscellaneous:

Last minute gift shopping? You don’t need to go to the store… Click the link, Holiday Gift Ideas for Kids Who Cook

Fun event in Seattle – Gingerbread houses at the Sheraton, Downtown Seattle

Previous weekly meal plan:

Weekly Meal Plan – November
Weekly meal plan - October
Weekly Menu Plan - September

Have a wonderful time in the season to be jolly…
Nurit

Sometimes Life Gives You Breadcrumbs

Do you have days when you don’t feel like cooking? Even if you are a foodie/chef/a person obsessed with food/can’t think about anything else but food all day and night? Do you always have something fresh in the fridge to cook dinner with? Hhmmm.

Well, I don’t. I know, I know, I have posted a few weekly meal plans before (for November, October, and September) but that is only one week in a whole month. And we have already covered that when we discussed pizza for dinner. Anyway, last night we had ravioli with breadcrumbs. Yes, you heard it right. Luckily, it wasn’t breadcrumbs with ravioli.

The first time I heard about breadcrumbs “sauce” for pasta was when I was in high school. That was the time when my culinary interest has started budding. The idea of breadcrumbs with pasta seemed too bizarre and out of this world to me, and I never thought of trying it. Until last night. That’s 20 years later! (Now you can do the math and guess how young I am.)

Sometimes life just gives you breadcrumbly pumpkin ravioli. You eat it and you enjoy it. With butter. I’ve decided to enjoy my fat and make a buttery sauce.


Breadcrumbly Pumpkin Ravioli

Makes 2-3 entrées or 4 servings as a side dish

1 package 10 oz. fresh pumpkin ravioli (look at the grocery store in the fridge section)
4-6 tablespoons butter
2 handfuls fresh breadcrumbs, with herbs or plain*
1 handful pine nuts, toasted**
A few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked off the stems
Salt
Ground black pepper
½ lemon

Bring water to boil + salt to cook the pasta while you make the “sauce”.
In a medium size skillet, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat and cook the breadcrumbs with thyme, salt and pepper until it is toasted, and crunchy, and browned (but not burnt). Add the extra 2 tablespoons butter to make it more sauce-y.

Cook ravioli according to instructions on package. Drain it and add to the skillet with the breadcrumbs, and toss gently.
Serve with the pine nuts and squeeze the lemon on top.

* Click here to see my tips on fresh breadcrumbs. If using plain breadcrumbs, use some herbs for more flavor, like thyme, oregano, parsley, basil, mint, etc.
** toast pine nuts in a 350 F oven for a few minutes or in a skillet over very low heat.

As good at this ravioli turned out, I think maybe you should take a pick at one of the weekly menu plans. Even if you pick out only 2 recipes, that’s 2 nights you don’t have to worry about what to cook for dinner. Doesn’t that sound good?!


I’ll “see” you again after Thanksgiving.
Have a GREAT feast!

Nurit


UPDATE: This part below was embedded in the post before Thanksgiving and was brought down over here after.

By the way, what are you planning for Thanksgiving dinner? No pressure, but you got 2 more days to plan. Since you are probably already flooded with recipes any way you look, I won’t post more recipes to confuse you. I’ll just share a little secret with you. It’s about the turkey.

This is year it’s going to be stuffed Cornish hens. Yep. I got the idea from Kari at Anticiplate blog and liked it a lot. Now I am plotting to tell the kids it’s, plan A - the tiniest baby turkey, or, plan B - a turkey seed (that you can plant in the ground and a turkey tree will grow by next year to give us more turkeys). Please cooperate with me here; do you think they will bite into it? I think it will be fun. Every person gets their own little “turkey”.

Cookie #3: Jam Thumbprint Cookies

For cookie #3 The Husband chose Jam Thumbprint Cookies. I made these many times before. When I bake them the house smells so nice from the toasted coconut. Lovely. They are very easy to make and don’t need special equipment or ingredients. Also a wonderful recipe to bake with your kid/s, which I did.


Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Recipe from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature*
1 cup sugar*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Raspberry and/or apricot jam*

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (If you have a scale they should each weigh 1 ounce.) Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.

* to bring butter to room temperature quickly, put it in the microwave and warm for 1 minute per stick at 10% power level.

* I think the cookies are a bit too sweet, and even my husband, the one with the sweet tooth, who eats 1/4 cup of jam on a slice of bread, has agreed! In cakes, I usually take ¼ cup sugar off Ina’ recipes because I think her cakes are too sweet for me. In this recipe I didn’t try it but next time I will omit 2-3 tablespoons and see how it goes. This time, I’ll leave it to your judgment.

* I also used Nuttela and hazelnut spread as fillings for the cookie. Very good.

Coming up next… Herbal tea that goes together perfectly with cookies. Even if you are a coffee drinker (like I am).

Related posts:

Cookie #2: NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookie #1: Cowboy Cookies

Baking with kids: Chocolate-banana cookies, recreating the magic – Part I.

Cool tools: Baking must-haves

Thanksgiving-y Chicken Dinner

Our friends, the M. family, cook chicken every Friday. What a great idea! I used to drive myself crazy thinking what to cook for dinner every Friday. We like to have a nice dinner to celebrate the end of the week and beginning of the weekend. So, I embraced their idea and was looking for a recipe with home-style feel that will warm the heart and soul with seasonal spices and down to earth ingredients.

Dinner tonight was inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks “Nightly Specials” by Michael Lomonaco. I cook from this book very often for the reason that it has many wonderful recipes like: Philly cheese steak; Roasted corn chowder with shrimp and tarragon; Beef and porter stew; Moroccan lamb stew; Alpine baked pasta; Coconut-scented basmati rice; Paella with chicken and sausage; Toasted barley and butternut squash; Pan-roasted halibut with asparagus, fava beans, and thyme broth; Floribbean-style tilefish pan-fried with limes, chiles, tomatoes, and avocado; Steamed bass with lemongrass and chile-coconut broth; Bitter greens and honey almonds… The list goes on and on, you got the picture.

I’ll just mention that the book has a recipe for the best French fries ever! And a very nice Flourless chocolate cake.
Anyway… let’s move on.

There is a recipe in the book for “Braised chicken with butternut squash, walnuts and sage” that I wanted to make. But I made so many changes in it that I think I can call it my own by now. I decreased the amount of spices to give the chicken a milder flavor than the usual Thanksgiving-y robust cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg combination so typical to recipes for the holiday season. And of course, like always, I made a few shortcuts, and added more vegetables. The result was terrific.

Thanksgiving-y chicken
Makes 4-6 servings

1 onion, medium diced
4 carrots, peeled and cut to large pieces
½ butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced large
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced large
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Salt and ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 whole chicken legs, divided to thighs and drumsticks
2 tablespoon butter, cut to small pieces
Sage for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a big pan, toss the vegetables with salt, pepper, the spices, and olive oil.
Generously sprinkle chicken on both sides with salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Add to the pan with veggies and mix so chicken gets some of the spices on it. Arrange nicely in the pan, chicken skin side up. Spread butter on top.

Roast for 50-60 minutes until nicely browned and skin is crispy. (If you like the meat falling off the bone, after 60 minutes of cooking time, reduce the temperature to 350 and roast for another 20-30 minutes.)
Add sage for garnish before serving.

Have a wonderful dinner.
Nurit

More dinner ideas:

A simple yet delicious fall stew

Grilling in the rain

Weekly meal plan - October 14th

Work & Cook: How to cook a dinner party for 6+5+2 on a conference day?

jamie’s dinners by Jamie Oliver

(The photo is copied from Jamie Oliver's web site and apears in his cookbook).

My friend T. brought me this cookbook for my birthday. I cooked Oliver’s recipes in the past and didn’t go crazy for them because of their simplicity – they don’t call him The Naked Chef for nothing (no, he doesn’t cook naked). Back then I was into more French style cooking, very elaborate, many steps, the more complicated the better, etc.

I changed my style of cooking after realizing two things: 1) I cook for hours and the food is gone in 20 minutes, and 2) I spend hours in the kitchen instead of spending time with my precious husband and kids. So I have done some serious rethinking. Then I started watching Jamie Oliver’s and Ina Garten’s shows on the Food Network channel and learned how I can prepare fabulous meals in no time.

It was a very helpful lesson as a personal chef too. Cooking in other people’s home the way I did before I would have had to move in with them. Not sure they would have liked that so much.

So this book is right kind of book for me now. I tried these recipes below. They were so easy to make and a no brainer. It’s a good book for the home cook (ooh, a rhyme!) who doesn’t have much time (another rhyme!).

Here is the recipe to the chicken in the photo above, taken from Jamie Oliver’s web site. It is basically, put everything in a dish and cook it ‘till it’s done.

Tender and crisp chicken legs with sweet tomatoes

This recipe takes literally minutes to put together but then requires slow, gentle cooking. However, in return for your patience, what happens in the pan from just a couple of ingredients is an absolute joy and never fails, so it’s a good one to serve if you have guests.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs, preferably free-range or organic, jointed

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• a big bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped

• 2 big handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved, and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered

• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken up into cloves

• 1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped• olive oil

optional:

• 1 x 14 oz. can of cannellini beans, drained

• 2 handfuls of new potatoes, scrubbed

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Season your chicken pieces all over and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer. Throw in all the basil leaves and stalks, then chuck in your tomatoes. Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chili and drizzle over some olive oil. Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath. Place in the oven for 1½ hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through (I didn’t touch the pan until it was done – N.), until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone.

If you fancy, you can add some drained cannellini beans or some sliced new potatoes to the pan and cook them with the chicken. Or you can serve the chicken with some simple mashed potato. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. You could even make it part of a pasta dish – remove the chicken meat from the bone and shred it, then toss into a bowl of linguini or spaghetti and serve at once.

Jamie's recipe for Lamb with chickpeas, yogurt and pan-roasted veg

serves 4 – 6 (even 8-10, perfect for a holiday meal, or a big dinner party – N.)

1 leg of lamb, butterflied and opened up like a book

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely choppeda large bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

a large bunch of fresh mint, chopped

1 x 14 oz. can of chickpeas, drained

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 x 500ml tub of natural yogurt (I used goat yogurt - N.)

12 baby turnips, scrubbed

a bunch of baby carrots, scrubbed, tops left on

1 butternut squash, unpeeled, cut into 8 wedges

2 red onions, peeled and quartered

1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves

2 teaspoons ground cumin

extra virgin olive oil

Score the lamb on both sides. Using either a pestle and mortar or a food processor, grind or whizz up the coriander seeds with the garlic, fresh coriander, mint and half the chickpeas until you have a paste. Season the paste or "marinade" with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then add the lemon juice and yogurt. Place half of this flavored yogurt in a large plastic bag and add the lamb. Put the other half of the flavored yogurt in the fridge. Tie the bag up to seal it and turn it around to allow the yogurt to coat all the lamb. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, but up to 24 hours in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Place the turnips and carrots in a roasting tray with the squash, onions, garlic and remaining chickpeas, then sprinkle with the cumin, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss together to coat. Remove the lamb from the marinade, then place the meat directly on the oven rack with the tray of vegetables on the shelf below. Cook for about 1 hour, tossing the vegetables halfway through. Serve the lamb well cooked with the vegetables and flavored yogurt on the side.

I am a fan.
Have an easy and fun time cooking!

To buy the book, click here.

If you liked this cookbook review, you might be interested to read:

Beef Goulash

Jewish Cooking For Dummies cookbook

Thanksgiving-y chicken dinner

Nurit

Jewish Cooking For Dummies cookbook

In the spirit of the Jewish holidays, here is a cookbook where you can find wonderful recipes, which are easy to make, of course.
Some of the recipes I have tried and liked are: Latkes, Oznei Haman/Hamantaschen, Haroset, Sufganiot, Blintz, Cheesecake, Noodle kugel with pears, Cholent, Tzimmes, Yemenite soup, the list goes on and on. There are many traditional recipes, Israeli, Mediterranean and Middle-eastern. I highly recommend this book.
To buy it online, click here.

Here is their recipe for honey cake:

Orange Hazelnut Honey Cake

1 teaspoon instant coffee
1/3 cup hot water
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Small pinch of ground cloves
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
½ cup honey
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons grated orange zest, orange part only
½ cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, line it with parchment or waxed paper and grease paper.

In a cup, dissolve instant coffee in hot water. Let cool. Sift flour with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.

Beat eggs lightly in large bowl of mixer. Add sugar and honey and beat until mixture is very smooth and lightened in color. Gradually add oil and beat until blended. Add orange zest.

Stir in flour mixture alternately with coffee, each in two batches. Stir in hazelnuts.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 15 minutes. Turn out onto rack and peel off paper.
When cake is completely cool, wrap it tightly in foil and keep it at room temperature.

If you liked this cookbook review, you might be interested to read:
Beef Goulash
jamie’s dinners by Jamie Oliver

Enjoy.
Nurit

More cakes:
Cocoa-Marzipan Pound Cake
Rose-orange cheesecake
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Crostata with Summer Fruit
Blueberry crumb cake