Hazelnut Cake Roll

|Friday Baking Project|Friday Blog, Holiday Desserts

03/23/2023

Quite a few years ago my middle brother and I were guests at a Seder hosted by a dear friend of our mother. Margaret was a lovely woman, an Austrian immigrant, very calm and soft-spoken, and the only one I knew growing up with concentration camp numbers emblazoned on her arm.

It was a lovely Seder, but our one very specific memory that we still talk about over half a century later was the flourless hazelnut torte layered with a type of buttercream filling. Thinking back, this light and flavorful torte had a deep impression on me past the taste sensations.

Margaret, even after the horror she had lived through, was comfortable including a classic Austrian style torte into the Seder meal. I now understand this provided me the reassurance to include the pastry and cake repertoire of the old Austro-Hungarian empire in my own work.

A plate with some strawberries and a piece of cake

This cake roll recipe below is part of the same pastry tradition and relies on finely ground hazelnuts as did Margaret’s torte. Ground nuts, also called nut flours, are light and fluffy, very different from what results by putting nuts in the food processor. The best the whirling blade can achieve is a finely chopped, granular nut.

Nut flours are available from various sources – see below.

I have included two possible fillings for the cake roll, one a basic whipped cream and the other a white chocolate mousse. The white chocolate mousse, used in my Ivoire et Chocolat elevates this Seder dessert to another level.

It may be finished with a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar just before serving or, spread a little of the whipped cream or white chocolate mousse on the outside and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.

Hazelnut Cake Roll

Yield: 1 9″ cake roll

# of Servings: 8

Method: Separated Egg Sponge

Ingredients
Cake:
6 large egg yolks
4 ½ tsp (.7 oz / 20 g) sugar

½ cup + 4 tsp (2.3 oz / 65 g) hazelnut flour

6 large egg whites
¼ tsp salt
3 tbl (1.5 oz / 43 g) sugar

Whipped Cream Filling:
1 ¼ cups (10 fl oz) heavy cream, well-chilled
3 tbl confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

White Chocolate Mousse Base:
1 cup (8 fl oz) heavy cream
5.6 oz (159 g) Valrhona Ivoire white chocolate

White Chocolate Mousse:
1 cup (8 fl oz) heavy cream
1 ½ cup (12.65 oz / 359 g) white chocolate mousse base

Finishing:
Confectioners’ sugar, as needed, or
⅓ cup (1.25 oz / 36 g) hazelnuts, finely chopped

Special tools and equipment:

10 ¼” by 15 ¼” jelly roll pan
Hand held or counter-top mixer with whisk attachment
Parchment paper, cut to fit jelly roll pan

Pre-recipe preparations:

If filling with White Chocolate Mousse, make the base the day before.
Cut a sheet of parchment paper 9 ¼” by 14 ¼”
Preheat oven to 375 °F
Lightly butter the jelly roll pan, including the edges. Line bottom of pan with parchment, and butter it as well.

Directions:
Baking the cake:

Place egg yolks and sugar in machine bowl and using wire whip beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow.
Remove bowl from machine and fold in hazelnut flour.
In separate bowl with clean wire whip beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Add salt.
Continue beating whites until soft peaks form then slowly add the sugar.
Beat just until medium stiff peaks. Do not overbeat.
Stir ¼ of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites just until blended and no white streaks remain.
Pour batter into prepared jelly roll pan, and spread the batter evenly using an offset spatula.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Remove from oven and place pan on cooling rack to cool completely.

Finishing with whipped Cream:

In a chilled bowl, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until firm. Set aside. Do not overbeat or the whipped cream will become grainy when it is spread on the cake.
Place a 12″ by 16″ parchment sheet or 14 ½” by 9 ½” Silpat on a clean counter with long side facing you and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen any spots where it may be adhered to the pan.
Place the pan upside down directly over the sugar-dusted sheet and lightly knock the back, if necessary, to have the cake release from the pan.
Pull the parchment paper off the cake.
Using an offset spatula, spread the whipped cream evenly over the cake roll.
Turn the cake so the short side is facing you and, using the paper or silpat as a guide, gently begin rolling into a tight cake roll. Place a spatula underneath and remove to an oval platter or cutting board. Refrigerate.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar right before serving. Cut slices with a serrated knife.
Serve with assorted berries.

Finishing with white chocolate mousse:

In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until it just starts to thicken.
With machine on low speed, pour in the mousse base. Stop machine and scrape sides and bottom of bowl with plastic spatula.
Whip the mousse on medium speed just until it thickens and holds its shape, about 50 seconds.
Place a 12″ by 16″ parchment sheet or 14 ½” by 9 ½” Silpat on a clean counter with long side facing you and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen any spots where it may be adhered to the pan.
Place the pan upside down directly over the sugar-dusted sheet and lightly knock the back, if necessary, to have the cake release from the pan.
Pull the parchment paper off the cake.
Using an offset spatula, spread the mousse evenly over the cake roll.
Turn the cake so the short side is facing you and, using the paper or silpat as a guide, gently begin rolling into a tight cake roll.
Place a spatula underneath and remove to an oval platter or cutting board. Refrigerate.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar right before serving. Cut slices with a serrated knife
Serve with assorted berries.

Notes:

¹Parve Whip It, sold as a liquid in a pint container may be substituted. In an experiment it did whip firm, but has more of a marshmallow than cream taste.

²Kosher for Passover confectioners’ sugar, which uses tapioca starch instead of corn starch as an anti-caking agent is available

Sources:

Online sources of hazelnut flour include my go-to choice: roasted Italian hazelnut flour from L’Epicerie (https://www.lepicerie.com/), a trusted online distributor of high-quality pastry ingredients. Another online source is nuts.com. In store, it is available at Trader Joe’s and stores carrying Rob’s Red Mill brand.