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26
IN THE KITCHEN
with
Nadia
Ferrero Rocher
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
NEED I SAY MORE!
If you’re looking for a cake to really impress, you can’t go past this masterpiece!
Kids especially will be blown away by this light, layered, creamy, dreamy
chocolate hazelnut cake.
INGREDIENTS:
Speedy chocolate sponge cake
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• 1 Cup Caster Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Essence or Extract
• 4 Free-Range Eggs - at room
temperature
• 3 Tbsp Milk
• 75g Butter, melted
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 ¼ Cups Plain Flour
• ¼ Cup Dark Cocoa Powder
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
Crunchy hazelnut praline
•
•
•
•
½ Cup Caster Sugar
1 Tbsp Water
1 tsp Lemon Juice
¾ Cup Hazelnuts, roasted,
finely chopped
• ½ tsp Flaky Sea Salt
• ½ Cup Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes
• 4-6 Tbsp Cream (or 4 Tbsp
Frangelico liqueur or strong
coffee)
• 5 Ferrero Rocher chocolates
• ¼ Cup Dark Chocolate chopped
or shaved
Whipped milk chocolate ganache • 2 Tbsp Hazelnuts, roasted, finely
chopped
• ¾ Cup Cream
• Edible Gold Leaf and a Sparkler
• 250g quality Milk Chocolate,
(optional)
chopped (I used Whittakers)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
METHOD:
Speedy chocolate sponge cake
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Preheat oven to 190°C. Lightly grease and line two
20-22cm round cake tins with baking paper.
1 Use an electric beater to beat sugar, vanilla and
eggs in a large mixing bowl for 3 minutes on high
speed, until pale, light and fluffy.
2 Add milk, melted butter and salt, then sift in
flour, cocoa and baking powder, fold together
using a large metal spoon until just combined –
do not over-mix or the sponge will be tough.
3 Spoon mixture into tins. Bake 15-18 minutes or
until sponges spring back when lightly touched.
Cool in the tins for 5 minutes before removing.
• Measure flour by tipping it into cup. If you scoop
it, you end up with too much flour!
• You can make sponges a day ahead and keep in
an airtight container in the pantry (not the fridge
or they will dry out). If sponges do dry out, they
can be revived with a drizzle of cream, liqueur or
jam mixed with a little water.
Crunchy hazelnut praline
1 Place caster sugar, water and lemon juice in a
clean pan and heat over medium heat until an
amber caramel colour. Do not stir, but rather
swirl contents around pan to make sure all
the sugar melts evenly. Very quickly stir in the
hazelnuts and salt while still warm, then pour
over a piece of baking paper on the bench, leave
to cool to a hard praline (about 15 minutes).
2 Once praline is very hard, finely chop it, or briefly
blitz in a food processor, until it resembles coarse
crumbs. Mix one-third of praline with corn flakes
and reserve for a garnish.
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To assemble
Whipped milk-chocolate ganache
1 Gently heat cream and chocolate in a bowl in the
microwave or on stove for 1-2 minutes, stirring
often, until you have a smooth silky ganache.
Leave in fridge to cool for about 1 hour.
2 When ready to assemble, use an electric beater
to whip the cold ganache with the vanilla until
smooth, soft, fluffy and pale, much like chocolate
mousse (about 2 minutes) – add a bit more
cream to get a softer consistency if you need to.
Be careful not to over-whip or it may split.
To assemble
• Place one sponge on a serving plate or stand.
Drizzle with half the cream or liqueur. Spread
with half the ganache and sprinkle over the
praline crumbs. Top with the second cake
layer, drizzle with remaining cream and spread
over remaining ganache. Garnish with Ferrero
Rochers, praline and corn flake mixture (on top
and around sides and base), dark chocolate,
hazelnuts and gold leaf (if using). For even more
theatre, serve with a lit sparkler in the middle!
• Try to get your hands on fresh, good quality
hazelnuts from a healthfood store where the
turnover of nuts is high (often the ones in
supermarket packets have been sitting there
for ages and don’t have much flavour or crunch,
and may even be a bit rancid).
• You can assemble the cake up to
a few hours in advance and
leave it at room temperature
in a cool, dark place until
ready to serve.
BE IN TO WIN Nadia’s recipe collection special issue, Fast & Fresh
See page 5 for details
Recipe from NADIA magazine, Dec/Jan 2017 issue. Recipe: Nadia Lim, Styling: Tanya Wong, Photography: Todd Eyre