Hazelnut Cake,
Greek-style
This is based on the Walnut Cake (Karydopita) of Mia Kouppa. When I mentioned that I don't like walnuts (I wish I did! 😄), Mia Kouppa kindly advised that I could try using hazelnuts, instead, for a different kind of cake. I had some ground hazelnuts in the fridge, and so, cake it was. The directions were easy: just mix everything together!
The baked cake is soaked in a syrup, and left to cool. When I went to taste it in the evening, I was a bit nervous that maybe I'd added too much lemon juice to the syrup. I've mostly used hazelnuts before only with something chocolatey. Plus, I had been afraid the recipe would be too rich for me, as written, and so I'd made a half-recipe only, but used one fewer egg and less sugar. I thought, Oh, did I ruin this lovely cake?
The next day, I tried a little more, and it was so good! I could understand how it would be great with walnuts. I had a little more still later, and decided that this is one cake that improves over time. I don't like to experiment too much, because when I veer off the recipe, it doesn't always turn out well. Fortunately, this time, it did!
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Mia Kouppa Website, Walnut Cake (Karydopita)
