Graveyard Dirt: Two Worlds and In-between

Italian Hazelnut Cake
"This cake is gorgeous with whipped cream and warm chocolate sauce. For the sauce, warm 142ml of double cream until just boiling, take off the heat and stir in 100g of dark chocolate pieces to make a smooth, glossy sauce. To serve, drizzle the sauce over the cream." Mary Cadogan's recipe for Italian hazelnut cake's been adapted from the April 2005 edition of Good Food.

INGREDIENTS:
* 200g bag blanched or unblanched hazelnuts
* 5 eggs
* 175g/60z caster sugar
* 100g/4oz butter, melted
* 1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD:
01. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160c. Butter and line the base of a 20cm round deep cake tin. Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor or blender until they are as fine as you can get them. If they seem damp spread them out on a baking sheet to dry for half and hour or so, mixing occasionally.

02. Separate eggs into two large bowls. Tip sugar onto the yolks and use an electric hand whisk for about 3 minutes until the mixture leaves a trail on the surface when the whisk blades are lifted.

03. Gradually whisk in the butter, then fold in the hazelnuts and vanilla.

04. Whisk egg whites until stiff, then fold into the cake mixture in four equal batches, using the whisk blades. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until cake feels firm and bounces back when pressed in the center. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out, peel off the paper and cool.