Hazelnut-Raspberry Tortlets

I love cake, but I wish people would either bake their own, or buy one from a nice bakery, rather than getting one of those store bought sheet cakes with whippy mystery frosting that appear at so many gatherings. It always seems to be served as sort of an afterthought, like they got a cake just because they thought they should have one, but didn't want to put too much effort into it. My mom is hosting a baby shower tomorrow, one of those occasions when the whippy sheet cake afterthought typically makes an appearance. Given my stance on sheet cake and since she is serving lunch, we opted instead for something small, like petit fours. Just a bite or two of something sweet and delicious to finish the lunch with. I volunteered to take on the project. 

I came home and dug out the cookbooks. The only recipe I could find for petit fours was in the Martha Stewart Baking Book. Accompanying the recipe was a picture of her petit fours - spectacular and brilliantly done, and her directions made it all seem so easy (this is, of course, the problem with Martha Stewart. She makes everything look so simple and easy to accomplish, but somehow that never turns out to be the case). I showed Mike the picture. He laughed and wished me well. Hmmm.... Back to the cookbooks.

I came upon a recipe for a hazelnut-raspberry torte in the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Dessert book. This sounded delicious, looked like something I actually had a shot at duplicating, and would be easy to make into individual servings. I got to work. The cake has a ground hazelnut base, lightened with egg whites. I baked this in a jelly roll pan to create lots of surface area and when it was cooled, I cut out small rounds with a cookie cutter. Early this morning, the kitchen was quiet except for the soothing sound of a cat purring nearby while I sugared raspberries, melted chocolate for the glaze and assembled the tiny cakes. I left them on the counter so the glaze could harden while I took a shower. When I came back to the kitchen, to my horror, one of the other cats was standing in the middle of my tortlets. I lunged for her and she took off across the pan, leaving a trail of smashed cake, raspberries and chocolaty cat prints through the kitchen. I managed to catch the pan before it hit the floor, but the tortlets on it were a total loss - an unkempt pile of chocolate and cake carnage. Unbelievable. Well, I'll take what's left of them. They taste elegant and amazing - moist, light nutty cake topped with a dark chocolate glaze hiding a subtle raspberry flavor and fragrance, finished with a sugared fresh raspberry. Thankfully, there's not even a hint of the trauma their friends suffered, and more importantly, they aren't sporting even a bit of cat hair.

Hazelnut-Raspberry Tortlets

10 oz. Hazelnuts, toasted and skinned, cooled

13 oz. sugar

2 oz.  flour

6 eggs, separated, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 oz. butter, melted and kept warm

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar   

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-15 jelly roll pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a food processor, combine the hazelnuts, 5 oz of the sugar, flour and salt. Process to grind finely. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until blended. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggg whites and cream of tartar on the high speed of a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Whisk one-third of the nut mixture into the yolks, then fold in one-third of the egg whites. Repeat in two batches. Do not overmix. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake about 20 minuutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack in the pan until completely cool.

Invert on a work surface and peel the parchment paper. Using a cookie cutter, cut out small rounds about 1 1/2 in diameter.

Sugared Raspberries

1 egg white

Superfine sugar

I made these by putting a raspberry on the eraser end of a pencil, and painting it with the egg yolk. I ground sugar in the coffee grinder to make it superfine, sprinkled it on the raspberries and let them dry on a wire rack.

Bittersweet Chocolate-Raspberry Glaze

4 oz. heavy cream

3 oz. seedless raspberry jam

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream and jam. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let stand about 10 minutes, until glaze is thick but pourable. 

Assemble your torlets, pouring some glaze over each one and smoothing it out with a offset spatula so it drips down the sides. Finish each one with a sugared raspberry. Let the tortlets sit for about an hour to let the glaze harden. These can be stored in the fridge in hot weather, but the cool air may dull the glaze. If so, hit them with a blast from a blow dryer just before serving. Keep the cats out of the kitchen.    

Comments

[Joy]

I'm the mom who hosted the shower and has an adventurous daughter who loves to bake new things. There were many sighs of bliss around the room as 17 women tasted these gorgeous Hazelnut-Raspberry Tortlets. They were as fantastic as they looked! Great work, Chelsea!