Wow, what a weekend it has been. I made 3 cakes in 3 days, with very little sleep and 16 hours of work. My brother commented how I never left the kitchen from 3.00 in the afternoon to 1.30 in the morning.
Though some people might be thinking, they wont taste very nice by Tuesday when I gave away my cakes. But I prep all my garnishes before i make the cakes, even the icings.
For example I made these chocolate curls on Friday night. But the crystallized hazelnuts I had to make on the day of serving because the humidity gets to the sugar and evaporates.
I love this photo of looking down on the crystallized hazelnuts, I think it gives a very unusual and different angle on the cake.
I am missing my studio so much, I have to shoot outside on the concrete and it hurts my hands and knees scraping on the concrete. So once my studio is back I will be very pleased to work and style my shoots again.
These crystallized hazelnuts is what you will have the recipe too in this blog post. These garnishes are so elegant and are used very regular by pastry chefs in their desserts. Very fine and delicate looking, but simple to make.
I guess I better tell you what cake flavour you are looking at.
A rich chocolate macadamia cake, filled with rich chocolate ganache and hazelnut praline. Garnished with chocolate scrolls and crystallized hazelnuts.
My beautiful Yr13 hostel girls were very happy with their cake. So appreciative.
Recognize this photo anywhere else. My girls wanted to recreate the boys high hostel photo. They were very close.
Ahhhh, lets get into those hazelnuts (:
Recipe
30 toasted hazelnuts
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
30 toothpicks
Method
-Place the whole hazelnuts on a tray and place in a preheated oven of 150 degrees. Toast lightly for 5 minutes. Dont worry if you dont see a change in colour after the toasting. If you do see a colour change you will have over toasted the nuts and they will taste bitter. Set aside to cool.
-Place sugar and water in a medium saucepan and place on low heat, do not stir! Use a pstry brush with a ramakin filled with water, dip the pastry brush in water and brush down the sides. (this prevents the sugars that dont melt from crystalising)
-Once all the sugar has melted turn the heat up to medium-high and begin cooking the syrup until amber in colour.
-Have an ice bath all set up (a bowl with water and ice, that can fit the pot you have your syrup in the bowl)
-Place the pot in the cold water, this prevents it from continuing cooking when its off the heat and burning your sugar.
-Leave the sugar mixture to cool and thicken.
-Poke your hazelnuts onto toothpicks and dip into the syrup, cover the whole hazelnut.
-Lay some newspaper on the ground and stick down the toothpick off the side of the bench and stick with sallatape.
-Gravity pulls the sugar down creating this lovely fine delicate spike.
-When the sugar has set, heat it gently over very low heat and continue the process of dipping your hazelnuts.
Thats it lovelies, I hope you give these bad boys a try, they will be sure to impress.
Till next time xx
