World Nutella Day: A Hazelnut Cake with Chocolate-Dipped Florentines and Nutella Mousse

Happy Nutella Day!

I love Nutella.  A friend once told me that my slogan should be "Life is Better With Nutella."  I use it to fill macarons, to decorate cupcakes, to flavor pastry cream, to enliven ganache or frosting... there are so many possibilties.  But this Nutella mousse is one of my favorite (and easiest!) Nutella recipes.  Here it is as the filling for my favorite yellow cake.

The cake, however, is not so easy.  The frosting alone took me over two hours, though that includes the time it took to skin the hazelnuts and make homemade praline.  If you're in the mood to spend a few cozy evenings in the kitchen with your mixer and your oven though, it's totally worth it.  If not, just make the mousse, and your guests will still be smitten.

For more Nutella recipes, see the World Nutella Day Website; World Nutella Day is sponsored by Ms. Adventures in Italy and Bleeding Espresso.

 

Pastry Class at the Institute of Culinary Education - Part 1

Paris Brest

Ok, I messed up with the Daring Bakers again - but I have a great excuse this time. I took a 5-day pastry class at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York last week. It was so much fun! I'm usually all about cake, so pastry was definitely a great change of pace. We did pie dough, sweet tart dough, choux pastry, quick puff pastry, classic puff pastry, strudel dough, phyllo dough. We didn't do anything with yeast, but they do have a 2-day Brioche and Croissants class which is mighty tempting.

I highly recommend the ICE classes. They have so many choices, you're bound to find something that looks good. The classes are at all levels; they have classes for kids, couples, families; they have food-based walking tours of NY. The facilities are great, class size is limited to 16, and our instructor, Faith Drobin, was excellent. I know I'll be going back.

After class every day, I went back to my sister's apartment and played with my 3-year old niece Kate. We read a lot of Dr. Seuss, baked snickerdoodles, and did a lot of dancing (she's particularly fond of the songs Boom Boom Pow and anything by Pitbull). I even went to African, hip hop, and Belly Dancing classes - such a great week!

Baking snickerdoodles with Kate... Tsuki wanted a taste!

Day 1 focused on sweet tart dough (pate sucree). We made frangipane fruit tart, chocolate hazelnut tartelettes, coconut custard pie, banana walnut pie, lemon cheese tartelettes (similar to an Italian cheesecake), blueberry crumble pie, sour cherry crumble pie, and pecan pie. Well, my partner and I only made the first three, but the class together made all of the above. I've made a lot of pie before, but I can always use more practice in rolling out dough.

Chocolate Hazelnut Tartelettes

Day 2 was all about apples. We used the flaky pastry dough (pate brisee) for these.We made apple tarte tatin, apple pie, a pastry that was sort of a cross between an apple crostata and an apple dumpling, and individual fruit tarts with orange flavored pastry cream. I am a truly pathetic apple peeler. Although I only cut myself once, my partner Ana peeled the apples at least three times as fast as I did - maybe the knife skills class is in my future... Perhaps I should just go crazy and try peeling a few dozen apples all at once in an attempt to improve - like Julia Child did with her onions in the movie Julie and Julia (great movie by the way, even though I had to shield my eyes whenever there was any sort of lobster slaughter or duck de-boning episode...).

I prefer the taste of the regular apple pie to the tarte tatin, but the tarte tatin was so spectacular to behold - and it was fun to make: making the caramel, carefully placing the apples in the very very hot caramel, laying the crust over the apples, and baking it. I'd love to try a peach tarte tatin sometime, but a fresh peach tastes so perfect on its own, I can never bring myself to do anything else to it! I forgot my camera on apple day, so no pictures unfortunately...

Frangipane Fruit Tart

Day 3 was delicious: choux pastry. We made more pastry cream - praline and coffee this time. Either one would have made a fantastic "dessert" alone on a spoon. But we used the creams to fill eclairs and cream puffs. We also made a Paris-Brest (a bicycle tire-shaped pastry named for the cycling race from Paris to Brest). To make it, you trace a circle of any size on a sheet of parchment paper, then flip it over. Pipe one circle of pastry outside the circle, and another circle of pastry inside the circle. Finally pipe a third circle on top of and between the first two. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top and bake. When cool, you just slice the top third off the pastry, fill with whipped cream and strawberries, slice the top of the pastry into however many servings as desired, and place it on the whipped cream and berries. Finally top with powdered sugar.

This simple trick Chef Drobin taught us - cutting through the top layer of pastry before putting it on top of the whipped cream - was one of the most useful tips I learned last week. When serving, you only need to slide the knife through the previous cut and then cut through the bottom layer - easily done without smushing the pastry and cream together and destroying the look of the entire thing. I always find it extremely difficult to slice cakes and pies and tarts and even brownies without making an ugly mess, so I'll definitely remember this!

Somehow my pastries even made it home unwrecked that day, even after a half hour subway ride on a 90 degree day. When I was in Turin in July, I bought a lot of hazelnut praline, and I can't wait to use it in pastry cream form!

Praline Cream Puffs

Days 4 and 5 were devoted to puff pastry and strudel dough. Puff pastry was probably my favorite part of the class, and it's really the main reason I took the class. The strudel dough was also fantastic, so I think I'll leave those pictures and recipes for another day... here are some more pictures of what we made as well as a recipe or two.

Swan Cream Puff - made by Chef Faith Drobin

Recipe for Choux Pastry (from ICE)

3/4 cup water
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs (approximately)

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When the mixture starts to boil, remove from heat and stir in flour.

Return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixtures dries slightly and begins to leave the sides of the pan. Transfer to a bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes to cool; if using a stand mixer, beat for one minute to cool.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time; be sure to wait until each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. You might not need the entire fourth egg; you might need another half egg. The dough should be stiff enough to pipe; if you swipe your finger through the dough, it should close up on itself.

Immediately pipe the dough into the desired shape (Paris Brest, cream puffs, profiteroles, or eclairs) and bake for about 10 minutes or until well-risen. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking until completely dry. Chef Drobin told us that once the pastry looks done, it needs another 20 minutes or so in the oven - it should be completely firm when you take it out of the oven or it will collapse.

Recipe for Frangipane (from ICE)

4 ounces almond paste
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour

Combine the almond paste, sugar, egg, and yolk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed with paddle attachment until smooth. Add the butter and beat until light. This will take a long time - go do other things. On low speed, beat until flour until just absorbed.

For Frangipane Fruit Tart:

Roll the dough (we used the sweeter dough, pate sucree) into a 14 inch disk, and line a 10 inch tart pan with it. Chill the dough for several hours or overnight. Spread the frangipane evenly on the bottom of the pastry shell. Top with fruit, pressing it in to the frangipane slightly. Don't cover the frangipane completely, leave plenty of space. Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes, or until the filling is set.




Recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Tartelettes (from ICE)

1 batch pate sucree
2 cups whole hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoon butter
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons dark rum (I'd use Frangelico or Kahlua next time)


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Melt the chocolate with the butter in a small bowl.

Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan and stir well to mix. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate mixture.

Whisk the eggs and salt with the rum. Beat in the chocolate mixture just until combined (this will keep the tart fudgier; it dries out if you beat too long). Stir in the chopped hazelnuts.

Roll out the dough and line a 10-inch tart pan or several smaller tartelette pans. Pour the filling into shell. Bake at 350°F until the filling is set and the crust is baked through, roughly 40 minutes for a large tart and 20-25 minutes for smaller tartelettes.

Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake

I love making birthday cakes. I love birthdays and I love cake. This year, Susan requested a cake with the flavors of chocolate and hazelnut - which just so happens to be my favorite flavor combination lately.

The base of this cake is a hazelnut dacquoise, topped with a crunchy layer of chocolate, rice krispies, and hazelnuts. This is topped with layers of chocolate cake and chocolate mousse. The whole cake is covered with a thin layer of chocolate mousse and then a layer of Nutella chocolate frosting. Finally, crushed hazelnuts adorn the sides of the cake. It's not a quick cake to make, but it's much easier when you spread the work over a few days.

I'm not sure which she liked better - the cake or the birthday dance that Derrick and I did for her - but I'm betting it was the cake.





Chocolate Cake (from Epicurious)

3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee (I used hazelnut coffee)
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 300°F and spray 2 9" pans with baking spray (I used 2 9" pans and made an additional 3 inch cake; I've also used just the 2 9" pans before; 2 10" pans also work). Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper and spray paper as well.

Finely chop the chocolate and place in a medium bowl; pour hot coffee over the chocolate. Let stand for one minute, then stir until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In another large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer).

Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well.

Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.

Divide batter between pans and bake in the middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool the cake layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove parchment paper and cool layers completely.

Note: You only need one cake layer for this recipe, so either half the recipe or freeze the unused layer for up to 2 months.


Hazelnut Dacquoise (adapted from Pierre Herme)

2/3 cup finely ground hazelnut flour*
1 cup powdered sugar
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 to 1 cup toasted, skinned hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper.

*If you are making your own hazelnut flour, toast the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes until golden and aromatic. Remove from oven, wrap in towel, and let steam for 1 minute. Rub the nuts together vigorously (still in the towel) to loosen skins. This is messy! Most of the skins will have fallen off (it's ok to leave some on); pick out the hazelnuts and coarsely grind in food processor. I sometimes buy hazelnut flour, as the difference in taste is minimal. It is still necessary, however, to put it through the food processor with the powdered sugar to make it fine enough, especially if you're using it for something like macarons. Otherwise the small pieces of nuts will get stuck in your piping tip.

Place the hazelnut flour and powdered sugar in the food processor, and pulse a few times to combine.

Separate the eggs (Use a warm water bath to first bring the eggs to room temperature if you forget to take them out of the fridge soon enough). You can store the yolks in the fridge for a day or two for another recipe (ice cream, sweet tart dough, pastry cream, yellow butter cake, or lemon curd perhaps). You may want to add just a bit of water to the yolks for storage.

Whip the egg whites just until they turn opaque.

Gradually add the sugar, and beat to firm, glossy peaks.

Gently fold the nut mixture into the whites with a flexible rubber spatula. Pour the mixture into the springform pan and use the spatula to make it as even as possible.

Scatter the chopped hazelnuts over the top, and lightly press into batter. I've done this dacquoise with and without the chopped hazelnuts on top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and firm. Cool completely on a rack. The dacquoise can be up to 2 days ahead (wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature) or frozen for up to a month.


Chocolate Hazelnut Crisp Layer

3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate/hazelnut bar
3.5 ounces milk chocolate/hazelnut bar
2 cups rice krispies

Melt chocolate bars; stir in rice krispies. Spread over dacquoise layer.

Chill for at least 30 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan, and carefully peel off parchment layer.

This amount yields a relatively thick crunch layer. Use 1/2 to 3/4 of the recipe for a thinner layer. Feel free to use pure chocolate rather than the chocolate/nut bars, or stir in your own chopped hazelnuts into the melted chocolate.

Chocolate Mousse (adapted from Epicurious)

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 ounces milk chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream, separated
1/8 cup sugar

Combine chocolate, vanilla and salt in bowl.

Bring 1/2 cup cream to boil in heavy small saucepan; pour over chocolate. Let sit for one minute, then stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Beat 1 cup cream and sugar in large bowl to stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture.

Chill until spreadable, about 2 hours.

Chocolate-Nutella Frosting (adapted from Chocolate Chocolate)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to tepid
1/3 to 1/2 cup Nutella, depending on taste (taste is somewhat subtle with 1/3 cup)
Large pinch of Kosher salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5-6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2/3 cup milk, heated to tepid

Beat butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.

Blend in the melted chocolate, Nutella, salt, vanilla, 1/3 cup milk, and 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar.

Add in the rest of the milk; beat for 1 minute.

Add the rest of the powdered sugar; beat for 1 minute. Use more powdered sugar for a stiffer consistency, less for a softer consistency.

Refrigerate the frosting for 1-2 hours until spreadable.

You will have some extra frosting.



To Assemble:


Place dacquoise on a cake plate or cake round.

Cut one of the cake layers in half, horizontally. Carefully place one half on top of the dacquoise.

Spread a light layer of mousse on top.

Place the next cake layer on top of the mousse.

Spread the remaining mousse over the top and sides of the cake.

Chill for at least 30 minutes. The mousse needs to be hard enough to spread the frosting over.

Frost the cake. You will likely have frosting left over.

While frosting is still soft, cover the sides of the cake with chopped hazelnuts (I used about 1/2 cup). Refrigerate cake to set. Remove from fridge 2 hours before serving.


The birthday girl thought the cake was even better the next day, after the flavors had had a chance to meld.

Tips: This is a time-intensive cake, but you can break up the work over several days. I made the cake layers on Tuesday night and froze them and the dacquoise on Wednesday night. On Friday, I made the mousse, and assembled the cake up to the mousse. On Saturday morning I made the frosting, and I frosted the cake a few hours later. It was served Saturday night. You may also wish to make a slightly easier version of the cake, below.

Variations:

For a slightly less complicated recipe, use only the chocolate mousse or chocolate Nutella frosting for both filling and frosting the cake. You will need to make 1 1/2 to 2 recipes of the mousse if you use only mousse and 1 1/2 recipes of the frosting if you use only frosting.


Thank you Derrick for taking some of the photos!