Coffee hazelnut cake with marsala dates

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 2 deep 20cm round cake pans. Line bases and sides with baking paper.

Sift flour, hazelnut meal, baking soda, cocoa and salt into a medium bowl. Beat butter, vanilla and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until just combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Fold in combined sifted flour mixture, milk and coffee, in 2 batches (the mixture may look split at this stage). Spoon mixture evenly into pans; level surfaces.

Bake cakes for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Stand cakes in pans for 5 minutes before turning, top-side up, onto wire racks to cool.

Make the marsala dates: stir marsala and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium, then add dates. Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until dates are just starting to soften. Remove from heat. Cool dates in marsala syrup. Cut dates into thin wedges.

Make the ricotta filling: process the ingredients until just smooth and combined.

Split cakes in half. Place base of one cake onto a cake stand. Drizzle with a little syrup from marsala dates. Top with a quarter of the ricotta mixture. Repeat the layering with remaining cake, syrup and ricotta mixture, finishing with ricotta mixture. Top cake with dates, then drizzle with remaining syrup.