Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

This is my kind of cake, not only is it delicious and moist, but it only has 3 ingredients.

Catching up on my Master Chef Australia series, food critic Matt Preston whipped up this little beast in a contestant Master Class.  I could not believe how it turned out and had to give it a try.

The results ... nothing but delicious, light and moist.  Not you're usual textured chocolate cake for the obvious reasons, no flour and all the typical ingredients - but more like a mousse.

The secret here is fold, fold and fold.  You need to keep the folding light as not to let all the air out of the eggs.  However, it needs to be folded well so all the Nutella is mixed, otherwise it will weigh and cook to the bottom of the cake.

Happy scoffing

~ Michelle ~ 

RECIPE

(serves 4 - 6)

4 eggs

240g Nutella

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 175’C

Soften Nutella over a double boiler

Beat eggs for 6 min on high in an electric mixer

Add vanilla and a ½ of Nutella to the egg and carefully fold together

Add remaining Nutella and fold, fold and fold

Make sure you take the chocolate off the bottom of the bowl and fold it in

Place in a greased baking tin

Bake for 25 min in the middle of the oven

Jack Daniel's, Apricot & Cinnamon Cake

There is no better smell than something being baked with cinnamon in your kitchen.  It's a warm and comforting familiarity that makes a house a real home.

This particular cake is one of our favourites, which we usually enjoy over the Festive Season as it is made with Jack Daniels' Whiskey, Cinnamon and Apricots - comfort at its best!

You don't have to use whiskey and can easily substitute it with some orange or apple juice.

Also feel free to adjust the icing consistency according to your preference.  If it is too runny for you, add more icing sugar a little at a time to get the right texture for you.

I have also used this recipe for cupcakes - same everything, just keep an eye on your cooking time.  Cut it down by more than half. Remember the golden rule ... if you can smell them, they are done!

RECIPE:
200g dried apricots, roughly chopped
225g flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
200g brown sugar
3 large eggs
100ml olive oil (make it a good one)
100ml natural yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp Jack Daniel's Whiskey

Place apricots in a bowl and cover with boiling water, allow to rest for 20 min
Heat oven to 180'C
Grease a 20cm round cake tin with a loose bottom
Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl
In a jug mix eggs, olive oil, yogurt, vanilla and whiskey
Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and mix until smooth.  Do not over mix
Drain apricots and stir into cake mix
Pour into baking tin
Bake for 50 min or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

ICING:
140g cream cheese
80g butter, softened
250g icing sugar
1 tsp Jack Daniel's Whiskey

Mix all ingredients together with an electric hand whisk until smooth.
Spread generously over top of cake and sprinkle with some cinnamon.