If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake

From the Recipe Box

In an attempt to blog more regularly (even when there's not a whole lot going on), I'm going to try to post a recipe every week. If you'd like to share a recipe that you like making this time of year, leave it in the comments!

For Valentine's Day (although, let's be honest, I don't really need an excuse to make something delicious and chocolate-y). I made hazelnut brown butter cake with ganache. Since it's not my recipe and I'm not really sure of internet protocol, when it comes to re-posting someone else's, I'll just tell you to use the link above for the recipe and add a few of my pointers/findings below.

yay, another terrible photo!

First, and most importantly, this may be my new favorite recipe. It is amazingly delicious and really not at all difficult. I followed her directions pretty exactly and everything went quite smoothly (I'd advise not even looking at the link she posts to more involved instructions at the bottom of the page, unless you're looking for a more involved/precise process, that may also be more authentically French, which very well might be your bag. . .).

Next, I love hazelnuts, but skinning them makes me crazy. I've never been successful with any of the suggested methods (toasting in the oven, then steaming in a towel or scrubbing with a brush). My current method is just to toast them in a cast iron pan over medium heat (be sure to move them around, so that they don't burn), then rub the skins off. A lot of the skins will remain and it has not been, in my experience a big deal.

I wasn't really sure about browning butter. It sounds simple enough, but having only inadvertently done so on the way to burning it on a number of occasions, I found this description helpful.

Lastly, and perhaps most surprising to me, I would not top it with the ganache again. The cake is delicious (really, I mean super, super delicious) and the ganache is delicious, but I don't think they're the right combination. The subtlety of the cake (particularly the brown butter) is covered up by the chocolate. Next time, and there will certainly be a next time, I think I will try whipped cream or perhaps a little drizzle of salted caramel sauce.