Almond Cake with Hazelnut-Chocolate Ganache

Here's something very sweet for the weekend. Make it for your Valentine - you could even bake it in a heart-shaped silicone pan if you have one! The ganache is made with a special milk chocolate full of chopped hazelnuts - "Marabou Schweizernöt", but if you can't get that one, substitute your favorite chocolate. You can always add chopped (toasted) hazelnuts, or almonds, or.. not.

Serve it with some ice cream or whipped cream. Vanilla crème fraîche would be a good choice as well, to cut some of the sweetness.

Almond Cake with Hazelnut-Chocolate Ganache
(printable recipe)

2 eggs
270 g sugar
100 g almonds
75 g flour
100 g butter

Glasyr:
200 g schweizernöt-chocolate (or any milk chocolate, with or without nuts)
5 tbsp cream
1 tbsp butter



Chop the almonds in a food processor or run it through an almond mill. Melt the butter. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter a springform pan, about 24 cm in diameter.

With electrical beaters (or very strong arms), beat the eggs and sugar until pale and very fluffy. Add the almonds, then the flour and the butter. Stir to combine. Pour into the buttered pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes. It should look lightly golden and shrink away slightly from the sides of the pan. Let it cool in the pan, on a rack, and then turn out onto a serving platter.

When the cake is completely cool, melt the chocolate for the ganache (in the microwave or over a waterbath) and stir in the cream. Stir in the butter. Pour the ganache all over the cake, and spread with a small offset spatula. Place in the fridge for a few hours to let the ganache set completely.

Recipe in Swedish:
Mandelkaka med schweizernöttäcke