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A Note and a Rustic Hazelnut Blackberry Cake with Mascarpone Cream

Hazelnut Blackberry Cake with Mascarpone Cream via Artful Desperado

Hazelnut Blackberry Cake with Mascarpone Cream via Artful Desperado

Hazelnut Blackberry Cake with Mascarpone Cream via Artful Desperado

Hazelnut Blackberry Cake with Mascarpone Cream via Artful Desperado

Hi friends! So I just wanted to quickly pop by to say that I’m still alive and around and well and kicking and cooking. My current schedule is bursting at the seams with work but I am not going to complain – in this day and this economy it’s a good thing to have.

So yes I’m hovering around and stuff, but I haven’t had time to properly sit down and post the regular content, but hey, I made this sloppy rustic cake this morning (5:45am alarm to bake and assemble, yah…insanity) and even though it ain’t the fanciest it was SO TASTY! I used all the blackberries I picked with friends over the weekend and made the cake in a jiffy. NOTE: picking blackberries is the most amazingly painful task, you bleed, you get attacked by wasps, but the reward is SO WORTH IT.

Anyways, I didn’t post the recipe for this cake, but if you do crave it let me know and I’ll upload it! recipe coming up tonight so check back! Recipe below!

Hope you’re having a wonderful summer so far and you’re getting to do lots of fun things!

Gab.

EDIT – I had originally called it sloppy cake, then my friends were like “gurl no, say rustic, never sloppy” haha – so there.

EDIT #2 RECIPE AFTER THE JUMP!

Hazelnut Blackberry Cake with Mascarpone Cream

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

CAKE:
– 3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts
– 2 and 1/4 cups white spelt flour
– 2 teaspoons baking powder
– 15 tablespoons soft butter
– 4 large eggs
– 1/3 cup superfine sugar
– 1/3 cup maple syrup
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– Zest of 1 lemon

MASCARPONE CREAM:
– 1 cup mascarpone cheese, soft
– 1 cup heavy cream
– 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Also have a bunch of fresh blackberries ready to go (about 1 pound).

NOTES:
– I suggest you leave a brick of butter out overnight so you can easily spoon the butter the next day.
– Leave your eggs out for a few hours so they are at room temp
– To soften the mascarpone, simply leave it out of the fridge at room temp for about 10 min.
– This recipe calls for 2 loose bottom pans, I used one small one for the photo above BUT I had to bake longer at a reduced temp to get the centre cooked. I suggest you follow the recipe below for fool-proof results (unless ur a master baker!…teehee).
– If you can find roasted hazelnuts in the store (I did!) just buy those, if you can’t, then roast them at home in a pan in the oven at 300F for about 5-7 min, careful not to burn them!

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease 2 springform 8 inch cake pan
2. Using a kitchen towel or napkin, shake the hazelnuts to remove skins (like this), then using a blender or food processor, pulverize those nuts ’til they become a fine meal (don’t make them butter tho!).
3. For the cake – In a large bowl, place the butter, sugar, and eggs and lightly beat til they incorporate (it’s ok if they look a bit “split). Sift the flour and baking powder and add it along with the rest of the ingredients (the vanilla, ground hazelnuts, lemon zest, and maple syrup). Gently incorporate all ingredients making sure you don’t over mix (say no to tough cakes!).
4. Divide the mix between the pans and place them in the oven for about 25-35 min. Check the centre with a toothpick and when no dough comes out and the sides look golden brown then take them out.
5.Let cakes cool completely at room temp.

Now make the mascarpone cream:

– In a bowl mix all the cream ingredients and whisk until nice and thick (stiff peaks).
– Mush a few blackberries and add this blackberry “paste” on top of the cream – don’t mix it tho!

Assemble the cake:

– If your cakes have a weird top, just level it with a knife.
– Place one cake on a plate, then top with dollops of the cream (you’ll see the blackberry paste will create a marble effect when you scoop it out, cool eh?).
– Arrange fresh blackberries all over the cream
– Add one more thin layer of cream on top of berries and place the 2nd cake on top.
– Place the rest of the cream on top, load it with berries and – if you have some – decorate with fresh chamomile.

That’s it!

Hope you enjoy this delicious summery treat.

CREDIT:
Photos and styling: Artful Desperado
Recipe: adapted from Love Bake Nourish by Amber Rose

Reader Interactions

66 Comments

    • Hey you!! Aw, thank you! It was super tasty! If you have a chance to get fresh blackberries, go for it! :D

    • Aw! thank you kindly Liz! I guess sometimes even if you don’t plan things, they turn out good! :)

    • Hi! You could use almonds as well, maybe pecans? But the flavour of pecans is quite strong, so I’d stick with almond or hazelnuts.

  12. This looks amazing! Do you think the spelt could be swapped out for a gluten-free flour? I’d love to make this for my sister-in-law’s birthday and she is gluten intolerant.

  14. This looks delicious…. but do you really mean 15 tablespoons of butter? Whats does that weigh in ounces?

    I’ll definitely give it a try.

    • Hey Buffy, yes indeed 15 Tbs of butter, i know, odd counting. In grams it would be something around 210g, I recommend using the spoon measure to be safe.

  15. thank you for this recipe, I made it yesterday for my sister in laws birthday, it was a hit! Delish cake not too sweet or over the top

  16. This looks amazing! I will make that for MY birthday. Although I appreciate the gesture, my friends or family always buy me a cake but this should be worth the effort.

    • Hi Elizabeth. They should be fine, but mind you the cake is a bit more on the dense side of things, so it may be a tad heavy for a cupcake.

    • Hi! If you’re using plain all-purpose flour, I would reduce the amount of 3/4 of what the recipe calls, this is because spelt flour has less gluten, so if you do a one-to-one your cake will come out too tough.

  19. Looks gorgeous! Thinking of making this for my mothers birthday tomorrow. Do you think its best with blackberries or could they be substituted with some other type of berries? Like strawberries? Raspberries?

    • Hi Anette! It can be done with any berries, I like blackberries because they’re nice and tart and go very well with the sweet dense cream. I’d recommend raspberries too!

  20. Hi! This is the first time I have been on this site, and I think it is wonderful! Thank you, Gabriel, so much for your beautiful cake! You have created this cake from two of my most favorite treats, blackberries and hazel nuts. I am a type 2 diabetic, and am always looking for recipes, like this one, that I can tailor to my needs, that are yummy for everyone else, also. Our food budget is very limited, and I would like to know what kind of flour I could use, that wouldn’t have as many carbohydrates, as wheat flour. I love carbs, but my senior citizen, diabetic body doesn’t. I have used Splenda, in place of sugar, and for butter, I find that Smart Balance works and tastes just like butter, in recipes. Other than these two main ingredients, I am at a loss, for the flour. I apologize for such a long message, but diabetes may be my condition, it is not my life, and I plan to enjoy every blessing that life has to offer, ( modified, of course, LOl ) So, thank you once again, Gabriel, for this awesome cake. Carla

    • Hi Carla! The recipe doesn’t use wheat flour, it uses spelt. You could use another kind of flour but the ratio may need to change, I only have tested it with the ingredients in the recipe. Glad you liked it tho!! Hope you can find a suitable ingredient! (ps. if you google the substitutions you will definitely find something that could work).

  21. Hi

    Your recipe calls for loose bottom 8in pans, is that the same thing as springform pans?

    • Hi Lisa. I would only refrigerate the bare cake (no cream or anything) wrapped in plastic film so it doesn’t dry, then dress it up just before cutting, otherwise the cream would get dry overnight and the berries will stain it so it won’t look pretty for your gathering. Thanks!

  25. Forgive me if someone’s already asked this, but is it okay to use an electric mixer for the cake and mascarpone cream, rather than hand-whisking it? Thank you!And this looks fabulous!

    • hi! You can use an electric mixer but be very careful as to not over-mix or the cake will come out tough. Mix just until ingredients come together. Enjoy!

  26. I found some hazelnut meal I’d like to use instead of grinding whole hazelnuts, do you happen to remember what the measurement of the ground hazelnuts were?

    • Hi Kimberly! I’m sorry to say I don’t have that measurement as I only tested the recipe with the whole/then ground hazelnuts, I would say around 1/2 cup is a safe bet!

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