It’s important to find ways to treat ourselves and those we love. It’s important to celebrate special occasions and to simply celebrate…. even if there is no special occasion. It’s important to celebrate life and love every day, if we can.
So in the spirit of celebration, life and love, I offer you a really good recipe that takes about 3 minutes to prepare (not including the baking time).
The recipe is from a book that my sister gave me called “Everyday Gourmet – A Collection of Family Favourites” by Margo McKimm. In the forward, Margo writes, “My children have been after me for years to put our favourite family recipes in some sort of permanent form. Everyday Gourmet is the result, a compendium of recipes culled from a file that I have accumulated over the last thirty years from family, friends, newspapers and countless cookbooks.” Margo’s family published this cookbook and sold it or gave it to friends and family. I am lucky to have a copy.
I wanted to share this recipe for Hazelnut Torte with caregivers, because it came from another caregiver (Margo), but also because it’s beautiful, delicious and very, very easy to prepare (leaving lots of time for conversation and celebration)!
This recipe is made entirely in the food processor, but I believe a blender would work as well.
Hazelnut Torte
The Cake:
4 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup hazelnuts (some people call them filberts)
Preheat oven to 350 F
Fit the processor with the steel blade, put in the eggs and process until smooth, about 6 or 7 seconds.
Add sugar and process until well mixed. Add flour, baking powder and hazelnuts, and process until nuts are quite fine.
Pour into 2 very well buttered 8 inch layer pans and bake for 20 minutes. Cool and remove from pans.
You can make this mocha filling, but bought chocolate icing works well as a filling too.
Mocha Filling Made in Food Processor:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 Cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
2 tablespoons hot strong coffee
1 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Put the cocoa, butter and hot coffee in the food processor with the steel blade and process till smooth. Add the icing sugar and the vanilla and process a bit more until well mixed and smooth. Spread between cake layers.
Frost the cake with whipped cream, Cool-Whip or decorate with spray-can type whipped cream.
Here’s the cake I made tonight. I melted one square of unsweetened chocolate for 90 seconds in the microwave and spooned the melted chocolate over the cream, Jackson Pollock style (modern art!).
Sending lots of love to all my caregiver friends from my home to yours. Let’s celebrate life and love today!