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It was my 29th birthday last Sunday and as every year I was searching for a perfect birthday cake to make. Birthdays have always been considered very seriously in our family as our mother has prepared some of the best birthday parties when we were little. Cake, as the most anticipated part of the event, had to be glorious. Unexpected. Breathtaking. And of course, made from scratch. It would take her from a couple of hours to a whole day to make the birthday cake for me, or my sisters. Those cakes were something else. Our imagination was running wild and we were wishing for castles, our favorite cartoon characters, everything was acceptable. And let’s make note that this was back in the 90s. With the crazy economic situation on Balkan, no infinite decorations to order from the Internet, no internet or any other today's commodities at all.

She would take A4 papers and draw different parts of the cake on them. Imagine how long was the hair of Marge Simpson for my 12th Birthday. She would assemble the drawing on the paper first, then bake different cake layers and cut them accordingly. My mom was so precise that the final result was too pretty to eat. And imagine how happy we were when all our friends were stunned by how gorgeous those cakes were?

I was waiting for my birthday every year and planning it for months. It was only one time a year, so it had to be spectacular.

Over the years, birthdays were celebrated far from home, far from my friends or even family. But the cake tradition always remained. Cake and flowers.

Even though no special cake shapes for this birthday, I still wanted to make something that reminds me of those happy, carefree days. And of course, we are not talking about a simple cake, but about Ferrero Rocher Nutella Cake to be exact. We don’t need boring desserts in our lives, am I right?

 This Ferrero Rocher Nutella Cake is one of those rich and tasteful recipes, that are perfect for celebrations. It’s soft, creamy, loaded with mascarpone and Nutella filling, and so delicious.

As the name of the cake indicates, with this recipe, we are bringing all the ingredients that a delicious Ferrero Rocher bite has - the soft chocolate filling, the crunch of the hazelnut wafer and those delicious toasted hazelnuts.

It’s a five-layer cake, covered in creamy Nutella filling and delicious, silky, dark chocolate ganache. This cake has a rich texture but it is not heavy at the same time. Mascarpone and heavy cream mixed with a couple of spoons of Nutella give a glossy, smooth cream that is very delicious and not too sweet.

Before jumping to the recipe, here are a few tips on preparing a perfect Ferrero Rocher Nutella layer cake:

• Before you start, make sure to have all your ingredients measured and in front of you. This will help you follow the recipe much easier and prevent you from forgetting anything.

• When mixing egg whites, make sure your mixer attachment and mixing bowl are completely clean. Once you obtain soft white peaks, Incorporate the egg whites gently into the rest of the batter. Don’t use the mixer for this step - egg whites are very sensitive and can drop in texture easily. Incorporate them with a wooden spoon or spatula by gently mixing the batter making up and down movement (not stirring in).

• Preheat the oven at least 10 minutes before putting the cake and once in, make sure not to open the oven until at least ¾ of the baking time has passed. This will prevent your cake from developing a whole in the center. Also, always line the bottom of your cake pans with parchment paper and grease and flour the sides for easy removal.

• Do not overbake the cake! Test them by lightly pressing your finger on top of the center of the cake. If you feel a slight resistance, it is ready. You can also test it with a toothpick to make sure that is cooked evenly. If you don’t want to bake 5 separate layers, you can divide the mixture and bake 2 or 3 layers together. Make sure to slice them only when they are cooled!

To make this cake even more pretty, I've used beautiful Birthday candles from OVO Things. They are made from natural beeswax, are handmade and colorful candle wicks make your cake even more festive. Make sure to check their website and their beautiful products!

Ferrero Rocher Nutella Layer Cake
Marija Gvozdenovic

INGREDIENTS

Serves 12

FOR THE  CAKE 

5 eggs

250g sugar

200 g all-purpose flour

60g hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts)

3 tbsp cocoa powder

100ml sunflower oil

100ml water, room temperature

16g baking powder

FOR THE NUTELLA FILLING


500g mascarpone cheese

200ml heavy cream

6 tbsp hazelnut spread (I used Nutella)

100g hazelnuts, chopped

50g hazelnut wafer, chopped

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE 


200ml heavy cream

200g dark chocolate (I used 70%) Ferrero Rocher truffles for decoration (optional)

METHOD

Prepare the cake:

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Start preparing the cake batter by mixing egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, add cocoa powder and 2-3 tbsp hot water, mix until combined well. Add to the egg yolk mixture and with a hand mixer beat everything on high speed. Start adding water (room temperature) and oil and mix continuously. Sift flour and baking powder and whisk until combined. Add ground hazelnuts.  Beat the egg whites until form soft peaks and carefully add them to the rest of the batter. Make sure not to use mixer in this step. Instead, with a wooden spoon or spatula, carefully mix them until everything is well combined.

Use a round baking pan (mine is 20 cm) and either divide the mixture into 5 thinner layers or bake 4 of them. The choice is yours. You can bake them separately or bake the cake 2 times and then, once cooled, divide both of them in half. The cake batter will take from 30 to 40 minutes, depending on your oven. Make sure to test it with a toothpick before taking out of the oven.

Prepare the Nutella filling:

In a large bowl whip heavy cream until firm. Add mascarpone, Nutella, chopped toasted hazelnuts and chopped hazelnut wafer. Mix until combined.

Prepare the Chocolate Ganache:

In a small saucepan add heavy cream and chopped chocolate. Heat on low, until everything is melted and well combined. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before covering the cake.

Assemble the cake:

Once you have divided your cake into 4 or 5 layers, start adding the 2-3 tbsp of filling on each of them. Make sure to leave some of the filling for covering the outside parts of the cake. Place in the fridge while making ganache cream. Once the ganache has cooled a bit, cover the top of the cake by letting ganache drizzle a bit on the sides. Decorate with some Nutella cream and Ferrero Rocher truffles. This step is optional and for decoration purposes only. If you prefer a simpler version cover your cake in chopped hazelnuts. Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight. The cake is best served if you take it out of the fridge 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Notes:

To toast hazelnuts simply preheat your oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Line the parchment paper and place your whole hazelnuts. In 10 minutes, they will be ready. Put them all in a clean kitchen cloth and rub them until their skin comes off. Cool them for few minutes before adding to the food processor.