Nonos Mocha Praline Cake - hazelnuts

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350.
• Lightly oil a baking sheet.
• On another rimmed baking sheet, toast the hazelnuts for 8 minutes, or until fragrant and golden brown.
• Let them cool, then rub the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel to remove the skins.
• In a medium skillet, sprinkle the hazelnuts with 1/4 cup of the sugar.
• Cook over moderate heat, without stirring, until the sugar melts and browns, about 2 minutes.
• Stir to coat the hazelnuts with the caramel and scrape out onto the oiled baking sheet.
• Let the hazelnuts cool and harden, then break them into pieces.
• Reserve 10 whole hazelnuts for garnish.
• Transfer the rest of the nuts to a food processor and grind them to a coarse powder.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the instant espresso in the water.
• In a large, stainless steel bowl, beat the heavy cream until thickened.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and the dissolved espresso and beat until soft peaks form.
• Refrigerate 1 cup of the whipped cream.
• Put the coffee in a large shallow bowl.
• Moisten 12 of the ladyfingers in the coffee, lightly dipping each side, and arrange them side by side on the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
• Break a few of the ladyfingers if necessary to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
• Spread one-fourth of the espresso whipped cream over the ladyfingers and sprinkle with one-fourth of the hazelnut praline.
• Repeat with the remaining ladyfingers, whipped cream and praline.
• Refrigerate the cake until firm, about 1 hour.
• Warm a thin knife under hot water and run it around the inside of the ring of the springform pan.
• Remove the ring.
• Using a spatula, spread the reserved 1 cup of espresso whipped cream around the top and side of the cake.
• Garnish with the reserved whole hazelnuts.
• Cut into wedges and serve.