Chocolate and hazelnut cake

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Today I want to share a dessert that will be a perfect addition to your next family gathering. We'll prepare a cake inspired by popular sweets, made out of fluffy chocolate sponge cake, smooth custard-based filling and light-as-a-cloud layer of whipped cream.

 

Delicate and moist sponge cake tastes like Nutella for grown-ups. Cocoa and hazelnut combination is truly perfect! Add to that pleasant, smooth chocolate filling with chocolate sweets scattered throughout, whipped cream and crunchy hazelnuts... I think this cake completely pays back in flavour for the effort it requires.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (18 x 28 cm baking tin)

Sponge cake

  • 80 g cake flour
  • 25 g cornstarch
  • 25 g dark cocoa
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
  • Pinch if salt
  • 100 g sugar
  • 50 ml vegetable oil

Chocolate filling

  • 500 ml milk
  • 100g sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 40 g cornstarch (~2 heaped tbsp)
  • 40 g flour (~2 heaped tbsp)
  • 25 g (~2 tbsp) dark cocoa
  • 100 g butter
  • 200 g chocolate sweets

Cream layer

  • 300 ml whipping cream (36%)
  • 150 g mascarpone cheese
  • 40 g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • Chopped hazelnuts, to decorate (I'm using 60 g)

Cake soak

  • 100 ml water
  • 100 ml hazelnut liqueur
  • 200 g plum jam

Method

  1. Prepare the custard that will be the base of our chocolate filling. Pour around 300 ml milk into a medium pot. Add 100 g white sugar and stir shortly until they combine. Heat up the contents of the pot over medium low heat until milk starts to simmer slowly.
  2. Meanwhile, work on the remaining custard ingredients. Add 2 large egg yolks, 40 g wheat flour, 40 g cornstarch and 25 g dark cocoa to remaining 200 ml of milk. Mix the contents of the jug thoroughly with a whisk, until uniform, thick liquid forms.
  3. Decrease heat under the pot to low and add the custard base to simmering milk, stirring continuously. This will make the liquid combine without issues, and unpleasant lumps will not form in the custard. Once the liquids combine turn the heat back up to medium and cook custard for a few minutes, stirring continuously, until very thick.
  4. Take chocolate custard off heat, transfer it into a wide, flat dish and spread in even layer across the surface of the dish. Cover top of custard with plastic wrap to prevent unpleasant skin from forming. Set custard aside until completely cool.
  5. Sift 80 g cake flour, 25 g cornstarch, 25 g dark cocoa and a flat teaspoon of baking powder through a fine sieve. Stir through the dry ingredients shortly with a whisk until everything gets evenly distributed. Set the dry ingredients aside for a moment.
  6. Pour 4 large egg whites into a separate large bowl. Add a small pinch of salt and beat the egg whites until mixer starts leaving visible marks in the foam. I recommend starting at low mixer speed and increasing it gradually as the egg whites increase in volume. It is important that eggs are at room temperature, so it is worth taking them out of a fridge at least one hour ahead of preparing the sponge cake.
  7. Once you get the right texture increase mixer speed to medium-high and start adding 100 g fine white sugar to egg whites. Do it slowly, a spoonful at a time, and whip the contents of the bowl each time for at least 30 seconds until sugar dissolves completely. Once you've used all of sugar decrease mixer speed to medium low and add 4 large egg yolks. Add them one at a time and mix the contents of the bowl shortly after each one until it gets fully incorporated. It won't take long, around 20 seconds per egg yolk should be enough.
  8.  Once you've used all egg yolks add 50 ml vegetable oil to the batter. Pour oil in a slow trickle while mixing the batter at medium-low speed.
  9. Add dry ingredients to the batter. Do it in two batches, a few tablespoons at a time, and combine the contents of the bowl carefully each time with a silicone spatula, only until you can no longer see raw flour. It is worth being careful here and paying attention while not overmixing the batter. Otherwise, the sponge cake make come out quite dense.
  10. Pour the batter carefully into a baking tin, 18 x 28 cm. Bottom of the baking tin should be lined with baking paper, and the sides of the baking tin should be clean and dry. The sponge cake will stick to the sides of the baking tin and it won't shrink as it cools down. Spread the cake evenly across the whole surface of the baking tin and even out the top.
  11. Bake the cake in an oven preheated to 170 deg C (no fan) for around 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven then and set it aside in the baking tin until completely cool. An hour or two should be enough.
  12. Prepare a mixture to soak the sponge cake. Pour 100 ml cool water into a medium jug and add 100 ml hazelnut liqueur. Stir through the liquid shortly and set it aside until you need it.
  13. Once chocolate custard is cool, move on to the next step. Put 100 g soft butter into a bowl and cream it until light and fluffy. Once you get the right texture scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. It is worth doing it from time to time to make sure everything combines as it should. Add cool chocolate custard to the creamed butter. Do it in batches, a spoonful at a time, and combine custard with butter at medium-low speed, until you can no longer see custard lumps.
  14. Once chocolate custard and butter are combined, add around 200 g chocolate sweets cut into smaller pieces and stir them in with a spatula until they are evenly distributed. Put chocolate filling into a fridge as you work on the sponge cake.
  15. Cut sponge cake off from the sides of baking tin and remove baking paper. Transfer the cake onto a worktop and slice it into two even layers. I'm using a long serrated knife, but a string knife will work, too.
  16. Return one of the cake layers into a clean baking tin. The bottom of the baking tin should be lined with baking paper again, and the sides should be lined with baking paper or acetate foil. Pour around a half of cake soaking mixture you prepared onto the cake. Do it in such a way that the cake is soaked evenly. Put 200 g sour plum jam on top of the cake and spread it in an even layer across the surface of the cake. Put chocolate filling on top of jam and spread it as evenly as you can. I recommend placing a few batches of chocolate filling at different points to make it easier to spread it. If you put all of chocolate filling in one place, it may slide on top of jam. Place the second cake layer on top of chocolate filling and press it down lightly to make the layers stick. Soak the upper cake layer generously with remaining cake soak mixture. Put the cake into a fridge for a moment.
  17. Pour 300 ml cold whipping cream (36%) into a large bowl. Add 150 g mascarpone cheese, 40 g icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla paste. Whip the contents of the bowl with an electric mixer until thick. I recommend starting at low mixer speed and increasing it gradually as cream increases in volume. Transfer whipped cream on top of the cake and spread it in an even layer across the whole surface.
  18. Decorate ready cake with chopped hazelnuts or chocolate sweets. Put the cake into a fridge for a few hours, or best overnight, for all layers to set.
  19. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

  • 329 kcal
  • Carbs: 28 g
  • Fat: 21 g
  • Protein: 5 g
  • Fibre: 1 g

1 slice (recipe makes 15 slices)

  • 477 kcal
  • Carbs: 41 g  
  • Fat: 30 g
  • Protein: 8 g
  • Fibre: 2 g

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