CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CELEBRATION CAKE

Chocolate Hazelnut Celebration Cake image

Provided by Molly Yeh

Categories dessert

Time 1h30m

Yield one 4-layer 6-inch cake

Number Of Ingredients 24

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray, for the pans
1 cup unsalted roasted hazelnuts
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup hot coffee
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
A good pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
Mustard yellow food coloring
Dusty rose pink food coloring
Marzipan kneaded with food coloring and cut into cute shapes (we're making houses)
Crushed unsalted roasted hazelnuts
Green sprinkles, optional
Orange sprinkles, optional

Steps:

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease four 6-inch-round, 3-inch-tall cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment.
Put the hazelnuts in a food processor and grind them until you have small crumbs. Measure out 1/4 cup of the hazelnut crumbs and set them aside for the frosting.
Pour the remaining hazelnut crumbs into a large bowl and whisk in the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla and eggs. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then stir in the hot coffee. It will be a very thin batter.
Pour into the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 25 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them onto a greased cooling rack.
For the frosting: While the cakes are cooling, use an electric mixer to beat together the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and salt until smooth. Mix in the heavy cream until smooth. Scoop out a tiny amount of frosting for the mustard-colored dollops, add the mustard yellow food coloring and mix until combined. Transfer the yellow frosting to a piping bag with a small round tip. To the remaining frosting, add the dusty rose pink food coloring and mix until the desired shade of pink. Measure out 1 cup of the pink frosting and transfer it to a small bowl. Fold in the reserved 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts.
Level your cake layers and spread the top of one of them with the hazelnutty frosting. Place a second layer on top, then frost the top with more of the hazelnutty frosting. Continue with the remaining 2 layers. Frost the top and sides with the remaining pink frosting without nuts.
For the decorations: Decorate with mustard dollops of frosting around the edge. Add marzipan house cutouts of white houses with green shutters, crushed hazelnuts, green grass sprinkles, orange sun sprinkles or whatever else you'd like!