Flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake. Photo: Citrus and Candy.

Whether you call it a chocolate craving or a "dirty mood," like Karen from Citrus and Candy, there are some days (and nights) when nothing but a big piece of chocolate cake is going to sate the need for, well, a big piece of chocolate cake.

While many would simply hit the nearest bakery to quell such a specific sweet tooth, Karen decided -- long past midnight -- that she was going to bake this flourless chocolate-hazelnut version of the classic gâteau because ... why not? As if this were not enough, she topped it off with a similarly hued, liqueur-infused chocolate ganache -- just enough decadence to incite a craving of our own.

[Via Citrus and Candy]

I don't know how lucky one person can get. I was able to go to a second pastry demonstration in two weeks. Not only that, the demonstration was done by Norman Love, the owner of one of the best lines of chocolate confections available in the U.S. today. He's been in the pastry kitchen for quite some, and was the corporate pastry chef for the Ritz-Carlton for 13 years before leaving to start Norman Love Confections

It was a really great demo, too. Chef Love was advised by his legal team to not demonstrate chocolate truffles, so he did cakes instead. He made from start to finish two cakes: a chocolate hazelnut cake and a milk chocolate raspberry cake. Of course he had brought some components with him for expediency, but for the most part Chef Love mixed all of the ingredients and built each of the cakes right before our eyes. He also did sneak in some chocolate work, making the garnishes for each of the cakes.

Chef Love was really personable as well. It's obvious that he is passionate about his chosen profession and incredibly knowledgeable. He was great about answering questions and he gave out lots of great tips. He was very easy to understand. Most of the people in attendance were pastry professionals, but there were also a lot of students and I'm sure a few lay persons. And yet I am 100% sure that everyone left knowing exactly what Chef Love was talking about all night. Check out the gallery for this post: it's comprised of images I took at the demonstration.

While the idea of Nutella filled crepes is very tempting and crepes are not too difficult to make, they do take a bit more effort than more the thicker, American-style pancakes. Pancake batter is so adaptable that just about any ingredient can be worked into it, so I decided to work the chocolate-hazelnut spread into a basic pancake recipe for breakfast. There is just enough Nutella in the batter to give it a good flavor without being overwhelming or making the pancakes too heavy.

And yes, that is chocolate syrup on top of the pancakes in the picture, but I actually ate mine with maple syrup - I just wanted to emphasize the fact that they have an underlying chocolate flavor. By all means, use chocolate syrup if you are so inclined, but spreading the pancakes with a thin layer of Nutella or tossing a handful of chocolate chips into the batter might produce an even more decadent result.

The recipe is after the jump.

Chocolate and hazelnut is a nearly-unbeatable combination and among the most popular in the world of confectionery. It seems only natural to combine the flavors in other things, like spreading Nutella on toast, adding hazelnut syrup to a Starbucks mocha or baking a cake. Jessica, at Su Good Eats, tested not one but three different cakes using a hazelnut and chocolate flavor combination in a quest to come up with the best one. Not only are they delicious, but they are also lower in fat than your average cake - quite a feat considering that nuts are rather high in fat, even if it is the heart-healthy kind. Her favorite of the cakes was the above-pictured version of Nigella Lawson's Nutella Cake, which she describes as being almost like a solid slab of nutella: rich, smooth and flavorful. It is definitely the perfect cake to make for a special occasion or on a day when you are feeling just a bit decadent.

Cybele, at Candyblog.net, was lucky enough to get her hands on some official Olympic candy, straight from Torino, Italy, courtesy of a friend. The candy is gianduia chocolate, which means that it is a combination of chocolate and ground hazelnuts. It has a slightly chewy, sticky texture that lingers on the tongue. Check out her site for a full review, but I definitely wouldn't mind if these bite-sized chocolates made their way over to the US. I'm willing to have a piece of chocolate (or two) to support the athletes!