Can I Use Hazelnuts In the Clementine Cake?

Our answer

Nigella's Clementine Cake (from HOW TO EAT is a popular gluten-free cake that is made with whole boiled clementines and ground almonds. Ground almonds are popular for baking as they add moisture and also have a relatively neutral taste.

In theory you can use most other nuts as an alternative, though walnuts have a slight bitter edge that would not work well in this cake. So hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts with the skins left on) or hazelnut flour (ground, skinned hazelnuts) could be used as an alternative without changing the quantities used or the baking temperature or time. Hazelnuts do tend to have a stronger "nutty" flavour than almonds and this may come through slightly in the cake. We would mention that if you are using hazelnut flour, make sure that it is made from blanched hazelnuts and not roasted hazelnuts, as roasting the hazelnuts first tends to amplify the flavour and also could cause the cake to darken too much as it bakes.