Torta di Nocciole delle Langhe

There is no flour in this cake. None. The ground hazelnuts provide all the structure, and the whipped egg whites provide the lift. When people tell me this cannot be done, I tell them to visit the Langhe hills in autumn, when the hazelnuts are harvested and every farmhouse kitchen smells of this torta.

The Tonda Gentile delle Langhe is considered the finest hazelnut in the world. It grows in the same hills that produce Barolo and Barbaresco, in the same soil that nurtures white truffles. This is not coincidence. Great ingredients come from great terroir. The hazelnut has a delicate, aromatic quality that Turkish or Oregon nuts cannot match. If you can find them, use them. If you cannot, use the best hazelnuts available to you and toast them properly.

This cake demands that you toast and skin the hazelnuts yourself. Pre-ground hazelnut flour will not do. The oils released during toasting are what make this cake extraordinary. They begin to dissipate the moment the nuts are ground. Freshness is everything.