Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C / 300F

If you have whole nuts, toast them in the oven first. Transfert them onto a baking sheet and roast the hazelnuts at 300F for 10 minutes and let them cool down a bit before finely grinding them in the food processor. Grate chocolate and mix with ground poppy seeds, flour, cinnamon and baking powder and ground hazelnuts. I mix everything together in the food processor to form a sandy mixture.

Now cream the softened butter and brown sugar for about 5 minutes and then add the egg yolks and rum (tbsp by tbsp) one after the other and stir in. Now add the nut mixtureand is carefully combine with the egg mixture to form a smooth dough.I use a handmixer on low speed but you can do this by hand. Beat the egg whites with the remaining 20 g of sugar until stiff using a handmixer and then carefully fold one third of each into the batter with a metal spoon.

Now pour batter into the greased and lined 20 cm springform pan and into the oven for about 50 minutes. But check in after 42-45 minutes! If the cake has risen nicely and a skewer comes out clean, it is done.

Brush the cooled cake with the warmed apricot jam. Roll out the marzipan into a 20 cm circle and place on top of the cake.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt over a water bath. Now stir in the warm butter first until the mixture is nice and smooth. Then stir in the sunflower oil. Allow to cool slightly.

Put a cake ring around the cake and pour the chocolate icing on the marzipan layer.

Let set at room temperature and decorate as you like.