Verdict: Hazelnut cake

This is, without doubt, one of the best cakes I have ever baked. At first, I thought it was a little bland, but the more I ate, the more and more I became aware of the wonderfully subtle flavour of hazelnuts. There is the slightest hint of lemon too from the lemon zest, but that is much more noticeable as a scent rather than a flavour. The cake was wonderfully moist, with a fantastic texture - soft but not soggy, but also with a wonderful bite from the nuts. The sweetness was perfectly balanced and I thought it was complemented really well by the mascarpone. Between the three of us, we finished over half of the cake. This was truly an unmitigated success!