Chocolate and Hazelnuts? Everybody wins!

So this weekend was one of the singer's birthdays- and like the rest of us, his time was being devoted to incredibly long work days. Yesterday, his birthday, was particularly nasty with 5 hours of rehearsal for an extra performance of Carmina Burana followed by the opening night of Don Pasquale. So, one of my friends here found this recipe and I proceeded to make the necessary modifications. The original looked like it was en route to being one of those decadence dishes that were built primarily upon butter, chocolate, and sugar- but then the addition of flour and the absence of any kind of leavening agent beyond the eggs made me realize that it would have been closer to a oddly-textured torte. Maybe a brownie at best (which- is still a good situation). However, the occasion called for cake! And a cake happened... at nearly midnight by the time everybody was done with their day. Yay for being a singer!

Ingredients
Hazelnut and Chocolate Cake:

* 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup hazelnuts, skinned and toasted
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup hot water
* 4 eggs
* 1 stick butter, softened/melted
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


To make the Hazelnut and Chocolate Cake:
Directions

Position an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Put 1/2 of the chocolate chips, hazelnuts, and flour in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the hazelnuts are coarsely chopped. Pour the hazelnut mixture into a small bowl and set aside. Combine remaining chocolate chips and sugar in the food processor. Blend until the mixture is finely ground. With the machine running, gradually add the hot water until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Could also just use a double boiler and melt down the chocolate- which is what I did and preferred mixing this all together by hand rather than the whole food processor thing (though maybe if I had my fancy one from home, I would have used it)
Add the eggs, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and baking powder. Pulse until mixture is blended. Return the hazelnut mixture to the food processor and pulse to incorporate. Pour the mixture into a buttered and floured 9-inch pan. Bake for 35 minutes. Place the cake on a cooling rack and cool. (Top may crack during cooling.) Refrigerate for 2 hours. (Cake can be made 1 day in advance and stored in the refrigerator). Allow the pie to return to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberry slices. Delicious. The only thing missing was some prosecco... but we all need to be in good shape for the opening of Faust and more rehearsals today. WHOA!