Torta Alla Gianduia....or in simple language, Nutella Cake..yum!!!!

Yet another fabulously simple and super delicious cake from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess!

Yesterday, being a holiday on account of Vijayadashmi, we had friends coming over for lunch, followed by a "cut-throat" game of poker (Poker is taken very seriously at our place). As I wanted to make something which requires less efforts on my part (as I wanted to concentrate on "game" part) and make use of the ingredients already lying in my pantry, instead of rushing out to buy any, I chose this simple yet elegant "Nutella Cake" for our gathering.

It's so irresistibly good and elegant with it's glossy dark chocolate ganache and toasted hazelnuts on top. It is dense and moist with a wonderful hazelnut taste. This, no doubt, comes from a whole jar of Nutella and an added tablespoon of rum. It has a wonderful texture from the ground hazelnuts and a subtle crunch from the toasted hazelnuts as you bite into it. A total crowd pleaser!

This delightful hazelnutty creation is flourless and thus gluten free. A flour less chocolaty nutella filled cake frosted with gooey chocolaty ganache, believe me guys this is heaven!!!

Torta Alla Gianduia or Nutella Cake

Adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, separated
pinch of salt
125g soft unsalted butter
400g Nutella (1 large jar which is around 350 grams)
1 tablespoon frangelico, rum or water
100g ground hazelnuts (I used almond meal)
100g dark chocolate, melted

Icing:
100g whole hazelnuts (peeled weight)
150 extra thick double cream
1 tablespoon of frangelico, rum or water
125g dark chocolate

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease and line a 23 cm (9 inch) springform tin. The springform is necessary here because you will want to leave the cake on the base. Its too soft and moist to move.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs whites and salt until stiff but not dry (this means that they will hold their peaks, yet still appear glossy and smooth). In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, then add Frangelico (or what you have chosen to use), egg yolks, and ground hazelnuts.
Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.
Pour into the prepared pan and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on rack.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upward and the nuts are golden brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others.
Transfer to a plate and let cool.This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily.

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, add the cream, liquer or water, and chopped chocolate and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice just the top of the cake. Unmold the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece. Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts. If you have used Frangelico, put shot glasses on the table and serve it with the cake.

I m linking this to the AlphaBakes Challenge, hosted by Ros@The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline@Caroline Makes, where the alphabet for this month is "N".