Servings : Serves 12-16
A show-stopper cake that is easier to make than it looks. This decadent beauty consists of a light and airy sponge, layered and coated with a smooth and creamy nutella frosting, and then topped with delightfully crunchy ferrero rocher and maltesers chocolates. It is then finished off with crispy crushed wafers and roasted hazelnuts pressed all around the sides.
This is the PERFECT cake for those super extra special occasions where you need the extra WOW factor that sets this cake apart from all the rest. If you are a fan of Nutella, and Ferrero Rocher, and Maltesers, and Hazelnuts…and dreamy creamy chocolaty delicious CAKE, then this is the right choice for you.
Ingredients for Sponge Cake
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour (150 gm) - instructions on how to make cake flour can be found below
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (30 gm)
- 1 level tsp baking powder
- 6 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 cup fine castor sugar (200gm)
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
Ingredients for Cake Syrup
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 9 tbsp hot water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Ingredients for Nutella Frosting
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups dark or semi sweet chocolate (chips or grated dark chocolate)
- 1/2 cup Nutella
Other Ingredients
- 10-12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates
- 1 packet Maltesers chocolate (optional)
- 1 packet Hazelnut/plain wafers, lightly crushed (optional)
- 1 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly crushed
Instructions
Please read through the steps carefully and plan ahead so as to make it easier to bake and assemble. There are several details but that is only to make it very easy not to go wrong on any step.
If you do not have cake flour, you can make your own by simply measuring 1 1/4 cups plain/all purpose flour, then remove 2 and a half tbsp from it and substitute with 2 and a half tbsp of cornflour/cornstarch. Sieve together and use as per the recipe.
First prepare the Sponge Cake:
Preheat the oven at 170 degrees C. Grease and line two 8 inch round pans, then grease over the parchment paper and dust the inside of each pan lightly with flour.
Sift the flour with the cocoa powder and baking powder 3 times, then add the salt to it and set aside. These will be your dry ingredients.
Put the butter and milk in a small heatproof bowl and set aside.
Take a pan filled a quarter-way with water and put in on the heat, allow it to gently heat up but not come to a rolling boil. We will need this to act as a double boiler in a little while.
Put the eggs and castor sugar in a large bowl and beat using a hand mixer for 1 minute. Then place this bowl over the prepared pan of simmering water and continue beating the egg mixture for 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the double boiler and turn off the heat. Place the bowl with the butter and milk in this hot water so that it melts gently. Take care that the water does not go into the butter/milk mixture.
In the meantime, continue beating the egg mixture for another 5 minutes until thickened. Then take a hand whisk and whisk the egg mixture for a few seconds just to make sure everything is well combined.
Now put the dry ingredients in a sieve and sift ALL of it gently over the egg mixture. Using a spatula, fold the flour into the egg mixture using long gentle strokes, you can count the strokes, they should not exceed 40. Then add the vanilla and the melted butter/milk mixture. Again, fold the mixture with your spatula using gentle strokes, this time not more than 60 strokes to ensure everything is well mixed. Be very gentle and use a light hand to avoid deflating the batter too much.
Once done, pour the batter into the prepared pans. Tap the pans once on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Then bake in the preheated oven for about 23-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Careful not to over bake.
Immediately on taking the pans out of the oven, tap them on the counter (pick the pan and drop gently a couple of times) to prevent the cake from shrinking as it cools.
Now turn the cakes over on a rack but do not remove the pans. Let the pans cool down until they are easy to handle with your hands without getting burnt. Then lift off the pans and peel off the greaseproof paper. Once cooled, these cakes can be wrapped in cling film and refrigerated for up to a day in advance.
Then, prepare the Syrup:
Mix the sugar in hot water until dissolved and then add the vanilla. Set this aside for later.
Next, prepare the Nutella Frosting:
Melt the chocolate and then allow it to cool to room temperature. You do not want the chocolate warm when adding to the butter. Once cooled down, add it to the butter and nutella, whip together until smooth, light and creamy.
Finally, assemble the Cake:
First drizzle the syrup evenly all over the two cakes. This will ensure they remain nice and moist. Place the first cake on your board and add a generous layer of frosting. Sprinkle some crushed hazelnuts in there for an added nutty flavour and some added textural element. Then top with the second cake and cover entirely with the Nutella frosting. You can decorate the cake with some rosettes on the top and some waves around the sides if you want. Add the ferrero rocher chocolates and the maltesers on top and press the crushed wafers and roasted hazelnuts all around the sides. Refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving.
Enjoy!
