Tyrolean Nut Cake

The most common cause is overmixing once the flour goes in - the recipe deliberately says to fold the dry ingredients and the milk in only briefly and not to overmix, because too much stirring develops the flour and makes the crumb tough. The second cause is baking too long: 50-60 minutes is a range, not a target, so start the skewer test at the 50-minute mark. Also make sure the butter and eggs are properly combined into a light, creamy mass before the flour joins, since a broken batter tends to bake up dense.

Ground almonds or walnuts work in the same 180 g quantity and keep the batter balance intact, though the flavour becomes milder with almonds and more bitter with walnuts. Ground hazelnuts here bring both fat and structure, so don't replace them with more flour - the cake would get dry. A gluten-free 1:1 baking blend can stand in for the 200 g all-purpose flour; let the batter rest a few minutes before it goes into the pan so the blend can hydrate.

They are scattered over the top rather than stirred in for exactly this reason, so the batter needs to be thick enough to hold them. Smooth the top first, then sprinkle the chips and nuts on and press them in only very lightly - pushing them deep sends them straight to the bottom during baking. If your batter looks loose because the milk went in all at once, alternate it with the dry mixture next time as the recipe describes.

Let it cool completely first - a loaf wrapped while still warm goes soggy from its own steam. Kept airtight at room temperature, it stays good for several days and the hazelnut and cinnamon flavour actually rounds out after a day, so baking it the day before you serve it is a real advantage. Only dust the powdered sugar on shortly before serving, since it dissolves into the surface over time. It also freezes well, either whole or in slices.

Mix the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ground hazelnuts - ahead of time and keep them covered, but don't let the finished batter sit: the baking powder starts working on contact with the milk and eggs, and the cake will rise less. If you use a different pan than a loaf pan, grease and flour it the same way and adjust the time, since a wider, shallower pan bakes faster than the 50-60 minutes given here. Whatever the pan, always check with a skewer rather than trusting the clock.