nutcake

For the dough:

 300 g wheat flour

 1 level tsp baking powder

 100 g of sugar

 1 pack of vanillin sugar

 100 g soft butter or margarine

 150 g crème fraîche

 For the filling:

 200 g ground hazelnut kernels

 100 g of sugar

 1 egg

 1 egg white

 5 drops of rum flavor (from the tube)

 4 tablespoons of water

 For painting:

 1 egg yolk

 1 tsp milk

 For apricoting:

 2 tbsp apricot jam

 1 tbsp water

 1. Preheat the oven.  Top / bottom heat: about 180 C;  Hot air: about 160 C.

 2. Mix the flour with baking powder in a mixing bowl for the dough.  Add the remaining ingredients and use a mixer (dough chop) to process them briefly at the lowest, then at the highest level to a smooth dough.  Shape the dough into a roll.

 3. Mix the hazelnut kernels well with the sugar, egg, egg whites, aroma and water in a bowl.

 4. Roll out the dough on the lightly floured work surface into a rectangle (approx. 40 x 35 cm) and coat with the nut mass, leaving about 1 cm free on the edge.

 5. Roll up the dough from the longer side and cut through the length of the roll completely with a sharp knife.  Make sure that the roll is divided exactly in the middle so that the braid opens evenly.  Loop the two dough strands around each other with the cut surface facing upwards, so that a braid is created.  Place the dough plait on a baking sheet (covered with baking paper).  Press the ends of the braids together firmly.

 6. Mix the egg yolk with milk to brush.  Brush the dough with it.  Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven.  Bake the nut plait for about 40 minutes.

 7. To make apricot, pass the jam through a sieve and bring to a boil in a small saucepan with water while stirring.

 8. Pull the nut plait with the baking paper from the baking sheet onto a cake rack.  Brush the nut braid with the jam immediately.  Let the nut braid cool down.

 Tip: Season the filling with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or 1 packet of orange peel flavor.  The braid stays well packaged for several days.