There’s no simpler way to describe this cake: a Ferrero Rocher in the form of a cake, with a bit of coffee. There’s a hazelnut, almond, & espresso sponge with mocha buttercream and hazelnut chocolate filling. It’s topped with more toasted hazelnuts and finished off with Ferrero Rochers themselves!
This cake was inspired by my boyfriend’s obsession over Ferrero Rocher and Nutella. As it turns out, the obsession over Ferrero Rocher runs deep within both our families, despite his being German and mine being Indian. With his birthday coming up, I needed inspiration for a showstopper cake, and so the Ferrero Rocher Cake was born.
The recipe for the sponges was only slightly adapted from Emiko Davies’ Hazelnut & Espresso Cake. The sponge would be delicious on it’s own without any pairings, and is perfect for a weeknight dessert or with a cup of afternoon coffee or tea. To make this a layer cake, the filling choice was obvious, and the buttercream was adapted from the Orange German Buttercream in my previous post.
The main issues I ran into while baking the cake were the sweetness (see notes) and the temperature. For the sweetness, the addition of the coffee in the buttercream masked the sweetness more than I expected it to and threw the cake off balance. The soak ended up being key to help keep the sweetness balanced, and I increased the total sugar across the components to account for this. The temperature was a more difficult issue: it was a balmy day in the 90s F (low 30s C) and my buttercream was completely unstable, but it still tasted delicious. Be sure to follow the tips on handling unstable buttercream (though the internet as a lot more to say on the topic than I do here).
This recipe makes 1 fantastic 2-layer cake.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 100 g toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
- 100 g toasted almonds, finely chopped
- 150 g all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 180 g sugar
- 125 g butter
- 3 eggs
- 125 ml strong coffee
- 125 ml whole milk
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
For the Mocha Buttercream:
- 1 packet of German chocolate pudding (see notes)
- 2 tsp instant coffee powder
- 50 g sugar
- 1 tbsp of vanilla sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 500 ml milk
- 250 g softened butter
For the filling:
- 1 cup chocolate hazelnut spread
For the soak:
- 50 ml milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
For the decorations:
- 7 Ferrero Rocher chocolates
- ~ 100 g toasted hazelnuts, chopped
- ~ 50 grams chocolate sprinkles
Directions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Prepare two 7” cake pans (line bottoms parchment paper, lightly butter, dust with cocoa powder)
- In a medium bowl, measure and whisk together the dry ingredients: nuts, flour, baking powder, salt
- In a measuring cup, measure and mix the milk, coffee, olive oil, rum, and extracts
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (approx. 5 min on medium speed, using paddle attachment of stand mixer or beaters on hand mixer). Add one egg at a time and incorporate fully before adding the next
- Gently mix in the dry ingredients using a fork until there are a few streaks remaining. Mix in the wet ingredients until combined using a folding motion
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, rotating the pans half way through. The cakes will be done when you have a clean toothpick or cake tester in the center of the cake, the tops are golden, and the edges are have browned and pulled away from the edge of the pan slightly. Let the cakes cool in their pans for ~10 minutes and then transfer the cakes to a cooling rack to completely cool
For the buttercream
- Mix the coffee powder, sugars, salt, and cocoa powder with the contents of the pudding packet in a small bowl. Then, prepare the pudding according to the instructions on the package (mix in a few tablespoons of cold milk to make a smooth paste first, then gradually add the rest of the milk while whisking and heat everything until steaming and thickened, approx. 5 minutes). As the pudding cools, whisk occasionally until slightly cooled and place plastic wrap over the top to avoid creating a film as it cools the rest of the way
- Before continuing, make sure the butter and pudding are the same temperature (both should be at room temperature, 68-75 F). Beat the butter using the paddle attachment on a standing mixer until fluffy and pale, scraping down the bowl regularly (medium speed, ~10 min). If you prefer your buttercream on the sweeter side, beat the butter with 1 - 3 tbsp sugar
- Whisk the cooled pudding to ensure there are no clumps. Switch the mixer to the whisk attachment and add a few tablespoons of pudding at a time while the mixer is running on medium-low speed. Remember to scrape down the bowl as you go
- Store the buttercream in the fridge until you are ready to use, especially if it’s a warm day. You can make the buttercream a few days in advance if needed
- If your buttercream is unstable (looking grainy or weeping), it’s likely because it’s too hot or too cold. Put the bowl of buttercream in the fridge for 10 minutes or warm gently over a water bath. Whisk for a few minutes before proceeding, and wrap the bottom of the bowl in a hot / cold towel based on how you need to control the temperature. If you’re still having issues, melt 1/4 c of chopped chocolate on a double boiler or in the microwave until smooth, and once slightly cooled, drizzle into the pudding. The melted chocolate will help stabilize the buttercream
For the soak
- Warm the milk in the microwave until steaming and stir the sugar in until fully dissolved. Feel free to use vanilla sugar here or add a splash of bourbon (just remember the bourbon won’t cook out, so a little goes a long way). Let the soak fully cool
For the assembly:
- Make sure the cakes have completely cooled. If you have a cake stand, put a dollop of buttercream in the center and line the edges using 4 strips of parchment paper. The frosting will help keep the cake in place and parchment will keep your cake stand clean so you can use it for serving
- If your cakes have a large dome, level the cakes using a sharp serrated knife using long, smooth motions. This can take some practice, but you’ll be able to hide any unevenness using the frosting
- Using a pastry brush, paint the soak over the tops of each of the cakes. If you over-baked your cakes and they are dry, go over each cake twice. Otherwise, just once to avoid the risk of the cakes falling apart
- Place 1 cake in the center of the cake stand and scoop all of the chocolate hazelnut spread onto the center of the cake. Using a small offset spatula, spread the filling across the cake, edge to edge
- Place the second cake over the first, but topside down and gently press down to position. Make sure the cakes are aligned by rotating and visually inspecting the sides
- Apply the crumb coat to the cake, using approximately 1 cup of buttercream in total. Chill the cake in the fridge for 10 - 20 minutes, until the buttercream has firmed up
- Use the remaining buttercream to frost the rest of the cake. Remember to check the top of the cake to make sure it’s level before you continue smoothing over the buttercream, and keep in mind that less is more when fussing over the frosting. Once frosted to your liking, chill the cake in the fridge for 10-15 minutes
- Place the cake & stand in the center of a large baking tray. Using clean, frosting-free hands grab a handful of the hazelnuts. Open your palm so the hazelnuts are spread across your hand. Brace the bottom edge (pinky side) of your hand against. the cake and gently fan your hand up against the cake and press the hazelnuts onto the cake (almost as if you were gently patting the cake with hazelnuts). Continue using this motion to coat the bottom half of the cake. Start mixing in the chocolate sprinkles at this point and continue until the whole cake is coated. Collect any fallen hazelnuts and sprinkles from the tray to use them for more decorations
- If you have any more buttercream remaining, fill a piping bag to make 6 mounds around the edge of the cake and 1 in the center. Cover the top in sprinkles. Right before serving, place a chocolate on each mound
Notes
Overall sweetness This cake is not on the sweeter side, so make sure you taste as you go to adjust the sweetness to your liking. While I would not adjust the sugar in the cake too much (up to an additional 30 g of sugar if you’d like), you can play around with the sweetness of the soak, filling, and buttercream. Just remember that all the components should work together to create a balanced palate.
German Pudding Packet I use the Dr. Oetker pudding packets normally found in the grocery stores in Germany and across Europe. They make ~ 2 cups of pudding. You could easily use 2 cups of chocolate pudding from a homemade recipe or from a US packet.