Hazelnut Cake from Piemonte

Some of the world’s most flavorful hazelnuts grow in the Langa Hills (Le Langhe, in Italian), a fairly small area roughly between the towns of Alba and Asti in Italy’s Piemonte region. This area offers seriously good food—to my mind, the most carefully prepared in all of Italy. It’s also the terrain where the rare, exquisitely perfumed white truffle is found, its presence inspiring the local cooking to even greater heights. I’ve been fortunate to visit the Langhe on several occasions