I could not wait for someone to request this pairing as a commissioned cake, and it finally happened! A friend recalled the chocolate hazelnut cupcakes I had made earlier this year (because sharing cupcakes during tough times is always a good thing) and asked it I could make it as a giant birthday cake. Answer: of course. So here it is in all its glory: four layers of the most heavenly, moist, cloud-like hazelnut cake (made with heaps of finely ground, freshly-roasted hazelnuts because that’s truly the only way to eat these perfumed little beauties), enrobed in the silkiest chocolate hazelnut buttercream, topped with dark chocolate ganache, and then decorated…
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Gluten Free Chocolate Hazelnut (Nutella) Cupcakes
I have many more thoughts on hazelnuts now than I did three years ago. Despite growing up in Oregon, a region that proudly proclaimed this fragrant tree product its official state nut in 1989, I had little dealings with hazelnuts until I was about 17 and tried one of my all-time favorite ice creams at Zoey’s in downtown Ashland – the “Oregon Trail” (dark chocolate swirled with roasted hazelnuts and marionberry jam). My relationship to hazelnuts grew when, in college, I’d often scoop whole spoonfuls out of Costco-sized Nutella jars sitting temptingly in the dorm dining hall. But as many food relationships do when you become an “adult,” mine with…
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Gluten Free Roasted Hazelnut and Chocolate Snow Cookies
One of my dearest friends now lives a million miles away in the fairy-tale land of Vienna, Austria. Her moving was terrible news, until I considered the fact that this undisputedly meant that I had to travel to said fairy-tale land to visit her at least once a year. Not a bad deal. The first time I visited it was the second week of December, and Vienna, let alone us, was entirely frozen. Nevertheless, the city has a marvelous way of distracting you from the bone-chilling cold by decking itself in heaps of holiday lights and decorations, and by constructing myriad Christmas markets (or Adventmarkt/Weihnachtsmarkt) that seem to magically appear…
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Gluten Free Maple Hazelnut and Pear Upside Down Cake
If you’re like me, you’ve got two boxes of Harry & David’s “Fancy Gift Pears” sitting on your counter and you’ve already challenged your significant other to a competition for who can eat the most pear slices in one evening and there are still SO MANY PEARS LEFT. Thank you, mom, for these amazing pears, but what do we do with them now? We need to host a pear party. Or, look up recipes for pear desserts until inspiration strikes and you’re motivated enough to get off of the couch after work and toss this incredible cake in the oven. I promise you, it’s worth the effort. The main inspiration…
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“Oregon” Swiss Roll with Hazelnuts, Marionberry, and Dark Chocolate
If you’ve read our “About Us” section, you’ll know that we’re Oregonians, born and raised. We both were born in Ashland, Oregon, a small town nestled in the folds of the Siskiyous and celebrated for its theater (Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a must if you haven’t seen one of the dozen shows they put on a year), beautiful parks, extensive hiking trails that you can hop on anywhere in town, and a tiny but growing culinary and wine scene. If you’re ever driving up I5 (for international folks, this is the interstate freeway that connects everything from the Mexico-California border up to Canada) and need a rest in an idyllic…
