This is one of the truly great tasting cakes of Italy as far as I am concerned. If you can get your hands on vacuum-packed hazelnuts from Piemonte, all the better. They are truly astonishing in flavor. I actually like the cake as is, but other than a side of zabaglione or sweetened cream, a drizzle of quality dark chocolate or a mild milky gelato can be nice. But frosting would kill the cake.
i would love this and i made a very similar cake with almonds around easter.
have had a dickens of a time lately finding fresh nuts though. 2 out of 3 bags seem to be rancid and i am never organized enough about it to do mail-order.
vacuum packed is best, and therefore should never be rancid, and you can order them way in advance so you don’t need to be organized. They will keep until you feel like making the cake.
I found this link for purchasing them.
http://www.greatciao.com/thats-amore-hazelnuts-from-piemonte/
[Edited to add: I don’t know if this Canadian outfit ships to the US, but they sell vacuum packed in quantities of 500 gr.
