This comforting fall cake is the perfect addition to your festive celebrations and holiday meals. Featuring B.C. grown hazelnuts, paired with locally sourced honey, it’s truly a celebration of autumnal flavours.
Hazelnuts have a limited harvest season in B.C. but can be stored for up to a year in a cool dark place and can be found year-round at independent grocery stores. This recipe really lets the hazelnuts shine, so it’s worth finding some fresh and roasting them yourself.
Servings: 8–10 slices
Prep time: 25 minutes
Bake time: 35–40 minutes
Total time: 65 minutes
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup roasted B.C. hazelnuts, finely chopped
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour (like Anita’s Organic Mill)
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup honey (like Honey Bee Zen)
- ½ cup sour cream (room temperature) (like Avalon Dairy)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (like Avalon Dairy)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ cup milk or water (optional – if batter needs to be thinned out)
Honey Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream (like Avalon Dairy)
- 1–2 tablespoons honey (like Honey Bee Zen)
Preparation
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Take the sour cream out and place it on the counter if you haven’t already brought it to room temperature.
- Roast and grind hazelnuts. Spread fresh shelled hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they turn golden brown. Pulse roasted hazelnuts in a food processor into a fine chop. Maintain some bite to add crunch and flavour to the cake.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, chopped hazelnuts, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Combine wet ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, honey, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. The sour cream acts as an egg substitute, adding moisture and tenderness.
- Bring the batter together. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Gently fold until just combined. If the batter feels overly stiff, add a tablespoon or two of milk or water to loosen.
- Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool and serve. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Honey whipped cream. If you’d like to add a topping to the cake – whip cream and honey together until stiff peaks have formed and use a topping.
Tips
This cake has a thicker batter than usual cakes because it’s eggless. However, if it feels too stiff or the all-purpose flour hasn’t incorporated into the wet ingredients, you can add between 1-3 tablespoons of milk or water to thin it out.
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Raj Thandhi
@pinkchai | pinkchailiving.com
Raj Thandhi is a beloved community-rooted chef, recipe developer, educator, and content creator whose work celebrates cultural recipes made with B.C. ingredients. Inspired by her grandparents’ agricultural roots and childhood summers spent in local berry fields, she brings a deep appreciation for seasonal, local food to everything she creates. Raj has built a vibrant online community of over 100,000 followers by simplifying traditional Punjabi recipes and making them accessible to home cooks. Her culinary expertise has been featured by CBC, The Globe and Mail, Vogue India, and more. As a Buy BC Chef Ambassador, Raj shares practical tips and easy recipes to inspire delicious meals using ingredients grown right here in B.C.
