In the two years I have lived in London, I have tried an unbelievable amount of restaurants. London's crowded restaurant scene provides thousands of options to chose from for your next meal, with the effect that I rarely go back to a restaurant more than once. Extraordinary restaurants or places that fill a void (e.g. Chilango for Mission-style burritos) are the exception, and they receive my utmost support. The Clove Club, Story Deli, and Nopi all fall into this category of restaurants, and I frequent them as often as my wallet allows.
Nopi in particular serves one of my favorite desserts anywhere, a chocolate-cardamom cake with spiced hazelnuts and orange crème fraîche. A dessert that was essentially designed for me with this list of ingredients, I knew I had to attempt to recreate it at home. The recipe below comes close to the original, albeit in simplified form. (I do not recall what the "orange soil" in Nopi's dish is.) The intense chocolate cake topped with unsweetened crème fraîche and crunchy spiced hazelnuts makes a perfect celebratory dessert for a birthday or Valentine's Day. All of the prep-work can be done ahead of time, so all you need to do on the day of the meal is slide the cake into the oven and top it with the crème fraîche and hazelnuts once it is done.
Address Book:
Nopi | 21-22 Warwick Street | London W1B 5NE
WARM CHOCOLATE-CARDAMOM CAKE
Adapted from this recipe in Cooking Light
TASTING NOTES:
The recipe below is halved to serve 4, but can be doubled and baked in a larger square baking dish or 8 ramekins /// Each component of the dish can be prepared up to 2 days before /// Watch the cake carefully towards the end of the baking time to make sure it does not overbake - you want the center to be slightly molten
INGREDIENTS:
3/8 cup (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 cup unsalted butter
scant 1/3 cup demerara sugar
1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1.3 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
DIRECTIONS:
Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and cardamom together in a small bowl. Beat the butter and sugars together in a medium bowl until blended and slightly fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract and the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg, until fully blended. Fold in the flour mixture gently, then the chopped dark chocolate. Transfer the batter to a greased 4 x 7 inch rectangular baking dish, or 4 (4-ounce) buttered ramekins. Refrigerate, covered in plastic wrap, for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Remove batter from the refrigerator 10 minutes before baking. Bake for 18-21 minutes (15-18 minutes in ramekins), until puffy and slightly crusty on the top, but still molten in the center. Serve warm with spiced candied hazelnuts and orange crème fraîche.
Serves: 4
Time to table: 60 minutes + minimum 4 hours in the refrigerator
Equipment: fine mesh sieve, small bowl, medium bowl, electric mixer or stand mixer, spatula, 4 x 7 rectangular baking dish or 4 (4-ounce) ramekins
SPICED CANDIED HAZELNUTS
Adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons water
small pinch of salt
small pinch of cayenne pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 205ºC (400ºF) and roast the hazelnuts for 7-10 minutes. Cool slightly, then rub hazelnuts between paper towels to remove skins. Chop hazelnuts coarsely and set aside. Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the color deepens to a light amber. (Reduce the heat if the mixture starts to boil and remove from heat if it darkens too quickly.) Add hazelnuts, salt, and cayenne pepper, and stir to coat. Taste (careful not to burn your tongue) and adjust salt and spice as necessary. Cook hazelnuts, stirring frequently, until the caramel darkens to a medium amber. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and spread hazelnuts out with a spoon or fork. Cool completely before serving.
Serves: 4
Time to table: 20 minutes
Equipment: medium saucepan
ORANGE CRÈME FRAÎCHE
INGREDIENTS:
200 grams crème fraîche
zest of 2 unwaxed tangerines or clementines, or 1 unwaxed orange
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
1-2 teaspoons Grand Marnier (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and adjust flavoring to your liking.
Serves: 4-6
Time to table: 5 minutes
Equipment: Microplane or fine grater, small bowl
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