I was wondering a few days ago what flavours went well with raspberries besides the classic vanilla and rose. I eventually had this idea that chives would pair well with raspberries. Yup. Chives – relatives of the onion. So, I tried to find a recipe online that used chives with raspberries and found none. At that point I questioned whether or not chives were a good choice. Online research made it seem as though chives would complement raspberries as well as Worcestershire sauce would (you know, the sauce that no one knows how to spell). At first, I decided against using chives with raspberries since it would be too risky. But, eventually, I did it anyway just to see what would happen (and to entertain you).

I decided to made a hazelnut dacquoise for the cake layers. Dacquoise is made very similarly to French macarons, except when the nuts are folded in the goal is not to deflate the egg whites (while making French macarons you’re trying to deflate then). Here, you want to keep as much air inside the egg whites as possible so that the cake is light and fluffy.

If you’ve ever peeled hazelnuts before you know it’s quite a task. That’s why I didn’t do it – it was R’s job. He had three shifts that day where he would come down to the kitchen and peel hazelnuts. At one point, he got so tired that he suggested buying a factory-sized nut peeling machine so that he would never have to peel nuts again. I didn’t need another one though; he was my factory-sized nut peeling machine. I suggest investing in a human sized nut-peeling machine.

The next step was the raspberry-chive layers. These were a pain. After I created a sauce from the raspberries and chives (and froze it), unmoulding it and placing it between cake layers drove me crazy. It kept on falling apart and just wouldn’t stay together; I had small pieces of raspberry gelatin covering the cake instead of one solid piece. I was putting the cake together at 3:00am, and I didn’t have the patience for the raspberry gelatin falling apart. At this point I had given up. I spread the raspberry pieces onto the cake in a layer and covered them with chive-infused pastry cream. I thought that this cake was going to be a write off. Chives with raspberries? Raspberry gelatin that fell apart? I was pretty upset.

The next morning I decided to taste my failures.

They were delicious.

Somehow, the raspberry gelatin formed one solid layer (perhaps it melted slightly in the fridge and expanded?) and the chives in the pastry cream added a slightly piquant undertone to the cake that balanced its sweetness. The tart lemon gelatin layer that I added on top brought out the flavour of the raspberries perfectly. The hazelnut dacquoise? It was perfect. It was sticky and flavourful, with a simple and refreshing hazelnut flavour that went so well with the raspberries. The one thing that the cake was missing though was some crunch.

I considered adding rice krispies, but that wouldn’t be particulary elegant (although probably quite tasty). Chopped hazelnuts just wouldn’t do. What the cake needed was nougatine: a crunchy, nut caramel that’s often put in chocolate bars.

So, I made hazelnut nougatine. In under thirty minutes from start, to cooling, to finish. I didn’t even know that was possible. Plus, I even made it without a candy thermometer. I felt like I had magical nougatine-making powers. The crunch of the nougatine went so well with the creamy cake underneath it.

This cake, although at times unnerving, is quite amazing. It’s the best cake I’ve had in a long time, and so I’d definitely recommend it. If you’re looking for a challenge (or an awesome slice of cake!), this recipe is for you. Just don’t stress too much about the raspberries, and don’t forget about the chives.