The combination of white chocolate and hazelnut has been rattling around my brain for ages so last weekend I finally decided to pair them together in a cake. I'm happy to report that it turned out rather well.
Uggghhh night time photography. Sorry.
Towards the end of last year I was kindly sent a tub of praline white hot chocolate powder from Whittard along with other goodies (you can find the other bakes I made from these here and here.) It was a special flavour brought out for their hot chocolate month last October but I see from their website that the flavour has been brought back. YES! I'm definitely buying more because oh my word that drink was good. It tasted like a ferrero rocher melted into a white hot chocolate. In other words, it was heavenly. Sadly it never made it into a baked good, but I've recreated the flavour in a special cake for Mother's Day last Sunday.
The sponge is packed with nutty flavour. It might be a bit of a pain to roast, skin and grind hazelnuts but it is definitely worth the effort for the added flavour. The richness of the sponge was complimented by a sweet, creamy white chocolate buttercream and topped with a crunchy hazelnut praline.
PacMan cake angle
It's definitely the kind of cake where you should cut relatively slim slices as it's very filling. As you can see from my photos I cut my usual greedy sized portions but I really struggled to finish my slice. I do not like to be defeated by cake though, so I spaced my eating over an hour. Victory was mine!
Mum's only complaint was that there wasn't enough icing and I definitely agree. I originally intended to ice the sides as well but didn't have enough icing so I made do with just filling and topping the cake. If, like us, you are bonkers for white chocolate buttercream then I'd recommend increasing the amounts, perhaps even doubling it. There's no such thing as too much white chocolate buttercream.
White chocolate, hazelnut and praline cake
sponge:
250g butter, softened
250g butter, softened
250g soft light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
150g plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
150g hazelnuts - roasted, skinned and ground
1 tbsp milk
icing:
100g white chocolate, chopped
100g butter, softened
175g icing sugar
175g icing sugar
praline:
100g whole hazelnuts, roasted and skinned
50g caster sugar
Line a baking tray with parchment and spread the hazelnuts for both the sponge and praline on top. Roast in the oven at a relatively low heat, at something like 130 or 140C, for around 5-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as it really doesn't take long and you don't want them to burn! Once roasted, rub their skins off with a teatowel. Grind 150g of the hazelnuts in a blender (for the sponge) until they're a similar consistency to ground almonds.
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and grease and line two 8 inch round cake tins. Beat together the butter and sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, then the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. In a separate bowl mix together the plain flour, baking powder and ground hazelnuts before adding to the main bowl along with the milk. Mix everything together until fully combined.
Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes until well risen, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. I noticed that mine were starting to colour too much just after 20 minutes but weren't fully baked so I put a layer of greaseproof paper over the top to stop the surface from burning. Once fully baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before turning out to finish cooling on a wire rack.
For the icing, melt the white chocolate in short bursts in a bowl in a microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a small pan of simmering water (whichever method you prefer.) Once cool, add to the butter and icing sugar and beat together for about 5 minutes until soft and creamy. Use this to fill and top the cooled cake.
For the praline, put the caster sugar in a heavy bottomed pan and cook over a relatively low heat. Watch it like a hawk as it really doesn't take long for the sugar to dissolve and caramelise. Once it turns a nice caramel colour chuck in the remaining whole hazelnuts, give it a quick mix and quickly dump onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Once cool and set, roughly chop up the praline and press it onto the top of the iced cake.
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and grease and line two 8 inch round cake tins. Beat together the butter and sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, then the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. In a separate bowl mix together the plain flour, baking powder and ground hazelnuts before adding to the main bowl along with the milk. Mix everything together until fully combined.
Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes until well risen, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. I noticed that mine were starting to colour too much just after 20 minutes but weren't fully baked so I put a layer of greaseproof paper over the top to stop the surface from burning. Once fully baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before turning out to finish cooling on a wire rack.
For the icing, melt the white chocolate in short bursts in a bowl in a microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a small pan of simmering water (whichever method you prefer.) Once cool, add to the butter and icing sugar and beat together for about 5 minutes until soft and creamy. Use this to fill and top the cooled cake.
For the praline, put the caster sugar in a heavy bottomed pan and cook over a relatively low heat. Watch it like a hawk as it really doesn't take long for the sugar to dissolve and caramelise. Once it turns a nice caramel colour chuck in the remaining whole hazelnuts, give it a quick mix and quickly dump onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Once cool and set, roughly chop up the praline and press it onto the top of the iced cake.