Petite Chocolate Hazelnut Cakes Recipes

THE BEST CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Bake two chocolate sponge cakes. Once cooled, slice each cake into two even pieces for a total of 4 layers.
• Toast the hazelnuts in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350°F.
• Whip the dulce de leche, cream cheese, butter, and Nutella together until smooth.
• Cover a plate with foil. Place the first cake layer on the plate and apply a layer of frosting on top of it.
• Sprinkle on some chopped hazelnuts on top of the cream. Repeat the process with the remaining cake layers, leaving the top layer unfrosted.
• Frost the outside of the cake with the remaining cake cream. Pop the cake in the refrigerator to set.
• Bring the heavy whipping cream to a boil. Pour it over the chocolate chips in a medium bowl and let it sit for a few minutes. Stir the mixture until smooth and creamy and let it cool to room temperature.
• Using a pastry bag or a plastic bag with the tip cut off, pipe the chocolate along the edge of the cake, allowing the chocolate to drizzle down the sides. Pipe some of the chocolate in the center of the cake and spread it evenly with a spatula.
• Scatter some hazelnuts on the outer edges of the cake. Place the cake in the refrigerator overnight or at least for 2-3 hours. Slice and enjoy!

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the springform pan by coating it in a thin layer with 2 tablespoons of the softened butter. Add the cocoa powder to the pan and tap the sides to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Discard any excess cocoa powder. Put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven on the center rack until just fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a kitchen towel to stop them from cooking. Use the towel to rub off the skins. Set aside to cool. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Fill a 1- to 2-quart pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a bare simmer over medium heat. Place the dark chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl and set it over the pot and simmering water (this is a bain-marie). The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Let the chocolate melt, and then stir gently. Remove from the heat when melted.
• Chop the hazelnuts into small pieces using a chef's knife or a food processor. Make sure you don't turn them into powder. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer with the salt until they are almost at stiff peaks. Try not to over-whip. Mix together the remaining 5 tablespoons butter with the chocolate hazelnut spread in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in the espresso. Add the yolks and stir briskly to combine. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts and melted chocolate. Add one-fourth of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate hazelnut mixture and stir to lighten the batter. Then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter in 3 additions. Don't over-fold. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
• Bake on the center rack of the oven until the sides of the cake start releasing from edges of the pan, 40 minutes. This cake is almost a hazelnut fudge, so no need to poke with a toothpick to check if the inside is ready or not. The cake will come out of the oven nice and fluffy and souffled, but it will deflate to half the size during its cool-off period. Serve garnished with some powdered sugar and whipped or cream or gelato, if using.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CELEBRATION CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease four 6-inch-round, 3-inch-tall cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
• Put the hazelnuts in a food processor and grind them until you have small crumbs. Measure out 1/4 cup of the hazelnut crumbs and set them aside for the frosting.
• Pour the remaining hazelnut crumbs into a large bowl and whisk in the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla and eggs. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then stir in the hot coffee. It will be a very thin batter.
• Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 25 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them onto a greased cooling rack.
• For the frosting: While the cakes are cooling, use an electric mixer to beat together the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and salt until smooth. Mix in the heavy cream until smooth. Scoop out a tiny amount of frosting for the mustard-colored dollops, add the mustard yellow food coloring and mix until combined. Transfer the yellow frosting to a piping bag with a small round tip. To the remaining frosting, add the dusty rose pink food coloring and mix until the desired shade of pink. Measure out 1 cup of the pink frosting and transfer it to a small bowl. Fold in the reserved 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts.
• Level your cake layers and spread the top of one of them with the hazelnutty frosting. Place a second layer on top, then frost the top with more of the hazelnutty frosting. Continue with the remaining 2 layers. Frost the top and sides with the remaining pink frosting without nuts.
• For the decorations: Decorate with mustard dollops of frosting around the edge. Add marzipan house cutouts of white houses with green shutters, crushed hazelnuts, green grass sprinkles, orange sun sprinkles or whatever else you'd like!

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use a 24 socket cupcake pan and line with paper liners. Set the pan aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and liqueur until blended, and set aside.
• In a large bowl of an electric stand mixer on low speed, gently combine the flour, granulated sugar, hazelnut meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt until blended. Add the butter and sour cream and beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.
• Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 1/2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. In three separate additions, add the egg mixture to the batter, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared cupcake liners and bake on the center rack until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool the cakes completely on wire racks, about 30 minutes.
• For the torrone filling: Mix together the butter and powdered sugar with the paddle attachment in an electric mixer. Once thoroughly combined, add the torrone paste. Continue to mix until evenly distributed.
• For the chocolate hazelnut fudge: In a food processor, place the powdered sugar, cocoa and salt. Blend to remove any lumps. Add in the butter and blend until smooth. Add the corn syrup. Process just until combined, and then scrape down the sides. Pulse. Add the chocolate hazelnut spread, and then pulse until completely combined, smooth and creamy.
• To assemble: Core each cupcake, and then fill with the torrone filling. Using a round tip and pastry bag, ice each cupcake with chocolate hazelnut fudge, creating a swirl on top.

CHOCOLATE, ORANGE & HAZELNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Make the candied orange slices a day ahead if you can. Put the sugar and 300ml water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer, add the orange slices and cook for 1 hr-1 hr 10 mins or until the pith is translucent, turning occasionally. Line a baking tray with parchment. Carefully remove the slices from the syrup, place on the prepared tray and set aside to dry (at least 8 hrs) before cutting in half. Reserve the syrup.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly grease a loaf tin (mine was 900g) with olive oil and line with a strip of baking parchment.
• Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs (do not blitz them too much or they will become oily), then add to a bowl along with the orange zest, a pinch of salt and the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Mix together until evenly combined.
• Pour the oil and the orange juice into a jug and mix together. Put the eggs and sugar in a tabletop mixer or large bowl and whisk together for 5-10 mins or until the mixture has tripled in volume and holds a ribbon on the surface when the beaters are lifted out. Slowly pour the oil mixture into the egg mixture and fold together until combined.
• Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture in 3 or 4 additions, folding together until combined. You can't sieve this mixture over the eggs because of the hazelnuts, but try not to dump the flour in one place - you need to be careful and fold the batter to retain its lightness. Once fully combined, pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-55 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Prick the top of the cake all over, then pour over 5 tbsp of the reserved orange syrup. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Trim the top of the cake (keep this for a mini trifle) and turn out, cut-side down, onto a serving platter.
• To decorate, pour the orange juice into a small pan and bring to a simmer. Put the chocolate in a small bowl, pour the orange juice over and stir together to form a smooth ganache. Set aside in the fridge until thickened, about 20-25 mins. Tip the hazelnuts into a small bowl and add the gold powder with a dash of water, stirring together to coat. Put the ganache in a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip. Pipe in peaks over the top of the cake, decorating with the golden hazelnuts and the orange slices. Will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT CELEBRATION CAKE

Steps:

• First, make the cake. Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 23cm loose bottomed cake tin with baking parchment. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Allow the chocolate to slowly melt, then set aside to cool a little.
• Meanwhile, blitz the hazelnuts in a food processor until roughly chopped, then add the sugars and blitz again to a fine, sandy consistency. Tip into a mixing bowl and add the 1 whole egg and 5 egg yolks. This will be a very stiff batter, but with a bit of elbow grease, it will combine. When well incorporated, beat in the melted chocolate.
• Put the remaining egg whites in a clean bowl and whisk until they form medium peaks. Scoop a quarter of the egg whites onto the batter and beat it in to incorporate, then gently fold in the rest. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 mins. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out reasonably clean, but the best indication that it is done is a smooth top with perhaps a few cracks, and a subtle springiness to the cake when gently prodded. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.
• To make the ganache, put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Put the cream and butter in a small saucepan and heat until the butter melts, but don't let it boil. Pour it over the chocolate and leave for 1-2 mins to melt, then stir to form a smooth, glossy ganache. When the cake has cooled, remove from the tin and place it on a cake stand or platter. When the ganache has cooled to a spreadable consistency, spread generously over the entire surface of the cake - as neatly or as messily as desired.
• To make the hazelnut spikes, place a large saucepan over a medium heat to get hot. Add the sugar and continue heating until dissolved. Increase heat and bubble, swirling the pan from time to time, until the caramel turns a gorgeous amber colour - but don't stir as this will cause the caramel to crystallise. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the caramel to cool and thicken to the consistency of golden syrup - if it sets too solid, simply place it over a low heat to melt again.
• Use a cocktail stick or wooden skewer to push into each hazelnut - make sure that you don't push it in where the seam is or the hazelnut will split. Place a sheet of baking parchment on the floor directly underneath your work surface - this will catch any drops of caramel. Dredge the hazelnut through the thickened caramel, coating it very generously indeed. Secure the cocktail stick to the work surface with some sticky tape or wedge under a heavy pan, so that the caramel covered hazelnut hangs over the edge. Allow the caramel to drip, like a stalactite, towards the floor and set hard. Repeat with all the hazelnuts and allow the caramel to set. When hardened, use scissors to gently trim the fine threads of caramel off the more robust, decorative spikes. Arrange the hazelnuts, spikes pointing up, in the centre of the cake.