You may have noticed things have been a little quiet around here lately. Not because I’ve got nothing to say (lol that could never happen). But there’s actually been a ton of commotion IRL that I’ve had to make sense of. During that commotion came this hazelnut cake with ombre cream cheese frosting, but we’ll get to that.

February was chaos. There was good chaos—I began trekking to Berkeley for my food writing class, making for long but fulfilling days. I took a girls’ trip to Sayulita and read a book that changed the way I thought about human consciousness. I saw Anderson Paak. And Drake re-released his first album, So Far Gone, for its 10 (!) year anniversary.

There was also unexpected chaos. A recruiter reached out on LinkedIn, and a few weeks later, I decided to leave my job to pursue this new opportunity. As sad as I’ve felt upon leaving (I spent most of last week unabashedly crying at the office), I’m beyond excited and nervous to push my career in the direction I’ve wanted.

Chaos is annoying and scary. But chaos is a form of entropy, and it is through entropy that the mind expands and reaches new heights. As I close this chapter and take a few weeks off before beginning the next, I want to give my mind some rest. Quiet the anxiety little by little and remember what I’ve learned and what to take with me forward. Remember that your path is your own; it needs no comparison to anyone else’s because it is good enough.

Another way to quiet the anxiety is by cooking. I made this hazelnut cake for boy’s birthday, so I wanted it to be unique. It’s a very personal thing, making a cake for someone you love. In restaurants, you’re designing recipes based on what you know and like and want to educate the customer on. In my home kitchen, I’m making this cake specifically for him, so I want it to showcase the flavors he likes. And since I decided to also throw him a surprise party, everyone would be looking at and eating this cake so no pressure.

Winter desserts are furthermore difficult because spring’s colorful produce hasn’t hit yet. Boy isn’t a chocolate fan, so I achieved a warm and dense flavor roasting and grinding hazelnuts into my own flour. Cream cheese frosting was easy cuz buttercream is gross (yeah I said it). And to get some color, I made it ombre blue and topped the cake with homemade candied orange peels.

This cake took time, as all good things do. And to create something personal for someone special makes all the chaos worth it.

Hazelnut Cake with Ombre Cream Cheese Frosting

Created by Shikha on March 3, 2019

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Yield: 1 cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups (260g) hazelnuts
240 grams all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
300 grams granulated sugar
4 eggs
20 grams plain yogurt
190 grams buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk

For the syrup:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom extract

For frosting:

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use Rodelle
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Blue food coloring

Optional:

Candied orange peels

Instructions

For cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Place the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes or until fragrant. Do not over-toast them.
Let cool, then grind in a food processor until they are a fine powder. Add to a medium bowl and mix in all remaining dry ingredients for cake, through salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Stir in buttermilk, yogurt, and vanilla.
Alternatively add in milk and dry ingredients, mixing well until everything is combined. Scrape down the bowl and make sure batter is smooth.
Divide the batter evenly between two prepared pans. Tap the pans a few times against the counter to get rid of air bubbles. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.

For syrup:

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water and heat until sugar is dissolved. Stir in orange blossom extract.

For frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter over medium speed.
Add the cream cheese and beat until completely smooth.
Slowly add the powdered sugar, in thirds, mixing on low speed until combined.
Add the vanilla and salt, and beat on medium speed until smooth.
Add ~1 cup of frosting to a small bowl and ~1 cup of frosting to another bowl. Stir in the the blue food coloring, making the pigment to your liking.

For assembly:

Place one cake layer on the cake stand. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the cake with half of the orange syrup. Spread about 3/4 cup of the white frosting over the cake.
Top with the second cake later and brush with the remaining orange syrup.
Using an offset spatula, use the white frosting to create a very thin crumb coat layer and chill for 20 minutes.
While cake is chilling, take 3 piping bangs, filling one with the darkest blue frosting, one with the medium blue, and one with the white frosting.
Remove cake from fridge and pipe 1-2 large rings of each color of frosting around the cake, finishing with white frosting on top. Smooth with an offset spatula, wiping after each use.
Top with candied orange peels if desired.