Hazelnut Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Make the candied orange slices a day ahead if you can. Put the sugar and 300ml water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer, add the orange slices and cook for 1 hr-1 hr 10 mins or until the pith is translucent, turning occasionally. Line a baking tray with parchment. Carefully remove the slices from the syrup, place on the prepared tray and set aside to dry (at least 8 hrs) before cutting in half. Reserve the syrup.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly grease a loaf tin (mine was 900g) with olive oil and line with a strip of baking parchment.
• Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs (do not blitz them too much or they will become oily), then add to a bowl along with the orange zest, a pinch of salt and the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Mix together until evenly combined.
• Pour the oil and the orange juice into a jug and mix together. Put the eggs and sugar in a tabletop mixer or large bowl and whisk together for 5-10 mins or until the mixture has tripled in volume and holds a ribbon on the surface when the beaters are lifted out. Slowly pour the oil mixture into the egg mixture and fold together until combined.
• Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture in 3 or 4 additions, folding together until combined. You can't sieve this mixture over the eggs because of the hazelnuts, but try not to dump the flour in one place - you need to be careful and fold the batter to retain its lightness. Once fully combined, pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-55 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Prick the top of the cake all over, then pour over 5 tbsp of the reserved orange syrup. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Trim the top of the cake (keep this for a mini trifle) and turn out, cut-side down, onto a serving platter.
• To decorate, pour the orange juice into a small pan and bring to a simmer. Put the chocolate in a small bowl, pour the orange juice over and stir together to form a smooth ganache. Set aside in the fridge until thickened, about 20-25 mins. Tip the hazelnuts into a small bowl and add the gold powder with a dash of water, stirring together to coat. Put the ganache in a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip. Pipe in peaks over the top of the cake, decorating with the golden hazelnuts and the orange slices. Will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter two 20cm cake tins and line the bases, then dust well with flour and tap out the excess. Put the chocolate in a small bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir until melted, then set aside to cool.
• Mix the espresso with 250ml boiling water, then leave to cool. Blitz the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground.
• Combine the ground hazelnuts, sugar, flour, a good pinch of salt and the bicarb in a mixer. Mix the eggs, soured cream, vanilla, butter, hazelnut oil and the cooled espresso in a jug. With the mixer on a low speed, gradually add the egg mixture to the sugar mixture and combine until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat for 15 seconds.
• Divide the batter between the tins (it'll be quite thin at this stage) and bake for 35-40 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then run a knife around the edge and turn the cakes out onto a wire cooling rack. Leave to cool completely.
• For the buttercream filling, dissolve the espresso powder in 1 tbsp boiling water and leave to cool. Beat the butter and icing sugar in a mixer or by hand in a bowl, gradually adding the cooled coffee. Use a palette knife to spread the buttercream over the top of one sponge.
• To make the topping, gently heat the cream, espresso powder and sugar in a pan, stirring to help the sugar and coffee dissolve. Take off the heat and add the chocolate. Stir to melt until smooth and glossy, then leave to cool until thickened. Toast the whole hazelnuts in a dry frying pan, leave to cool, then chop very roughly (you'll want some halves in the mixture).
• Place the top layer of cake onto the bottom layer and cover with the glaze. Scatter the hazelnuts on top.

Steps:

• To make the cake, grease 2 (9 by 2-inch) round cake pans with shortening and line bottoms with parchment rounds. Grease parchment and dust each pan with 1 tablespoon flour, shaking out excess. Set pans aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, liqueur, and hazelnut extract until blended and set aside.
• In a large bowl of an electric stand mixer, gently combine on low speed 3 1/3 cups flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and hazelnuts until blended. Add the butter and sour cream and beat on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened.
• Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 1/2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. In 3 separate additions, add the egg mixture to the batter, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Divide batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake on the center rack for 40 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, discard parchment and cool cakes completely on wire racks, 1 to 2 hours.
• To make the hazelnut filling, in a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat.
• Sprinkle with flour and whisk until smooth. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the sugar and cream and cook, whisking constantly, for 7 to 10 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Stir in the hazelnuts, salt, liqueur, hazelnut extract, and chocolate and cook just until chocolate melts. Set aside in a bowl and cool completely.
• To make the chocolate buttercream frosting, melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler over medium heat until smooth. Set aside, off the heat, and cool completely. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and egg whites until blended. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until mixture reaches 140 degrees F.
• Remove mixture to a large bowl of a stand mixture with a whisk attachment and beat on low speed for 1 minute to cool slightly. Increase speed to high and beat for 4 minutes or until mixture is cool to the touch and doubled in volume. Reduce speed to low and add the softened butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until all of the butter has been added. Continue to beat until mixture looks smooth. Fold in the melted chocolate and the hazelnut extract and beat until fluffy.
• To assemble the cake, split each cake layer horizontally in half to make 4 separate layers. Spread equal amounts of the hazelnut filling between each layer and frost top and sides of cake with the buttercream. To garnish, press chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake. Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe rosettes around the top rim using remaining frosting. Place whole hazelnuts and chocolate curls on the top of the cake.
• Tip: To make this cake an easier undertaking, take the time to search out hazelnuts that have already been peeled. If peeled nuts are unavailable, working in batches, boil nuts in 2 cups water along with 2 tablespoons baking soda for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Run nuts under water and slip off skins. Dry the nuts well and toast on a baking sheet in a 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool and finely chop and proceed with recipe. If you purchase the nuts already peeled, toast in a 350 degree F oven for only 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix together the sugar, eggs and flavouring and set aside.
• In another bowl, cream the butter and gradually add it to the sugar mixture.
• Mix the flour, baking powder and ground nuts together.
• Add it to the sugar and butter mixture a spoonful at a time.
• Fold in the chocolate.
• Grease a 26 cm (10 1/2 ") ring baking tin and fill with the batter.
• Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 65 minutes.
• Test cake for doneness by piercing the middle with a wodden toothpick; if it's clean it's done.
• Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 to 10 minutes, loosen from sides of tin with knife then turn out onto a cake wire so that it can dry off.
• Dust the cooled cake with icing sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the springform pan by coating it in a thin layer with 2 tablespoons of the softened butter. Add the cocoa powder to the pan and tap the sides to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Discard any excess cocoa powder. Put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven on the center rack until just fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer immediately to a kitchen towel to stop them from cooking. Use the towel to rub off the skins. Set aside to cool. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Fill a 1- to 2-quart pot with about 1 inch of water and bring it to a bare simmer over medium heat. Place the dark chocolate pieces into a heatproof bowl and set it over the pot and simmering water (this is a bain-marie). The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Let the chocolate melt, and then stir gently. Remove from the heat when melted.
• Chop the hazelnuts into small pieces using a chef's knife or a food processor. Make sure you don't turn them into powder. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer with the salt until they are almost at stiff peaks. Try not to over-whip. Mix together the remaining 5 tablespoons butter with the chocolate hazelnut spread in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in the espresso. Add the yolks and stir briskly to combine. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts and melted chocolate. Add one-fourth of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate hazelnut mixture and stir to lighten the batter. Then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter in 3 additions. Don't over-fold. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
• Bake on the center rack of the oven until the sides of the cake start releasing from edges of the pan, 40 minutes. This cake is almost a hazelnut fudge, so no need to poke with a toothpick to check if the inside is ready or not. The cake will come out of the oven nice and fluffy and souffled, but it will deflate to half the size during its cool-off period. Serve garnished with some powdered sugar and whipped or cream or gelato, if using.

Steps:

• For the hazelnut cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round or square baking pan.
• Pulse the hazelnuts until coarsely chopped in a food processor. Reserve. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
• Combine the butter, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl, and then beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, using an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the hazelnut paste and beat until incorporated and there are no lumps. Gradually add in the flour mixture, stopping the beater when it is just combined.
• Fold 1 cup of the chopped hazelnuts into the batter, reserving the rest for garnish.
• Transfer the batter to the pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake, 45 to 50 minutes. Let the cake cool 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely.
• For the nutella mousse: Mix the Nutella and mascarpone in a large bowl to combine. Beat the heavy cream in another large bowl, using a hand mixer, until just under soft peaks. Add in the Nutella mixture in 2 additions, and beat until you don't see any streaks. Place the mousse in a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To serve and assemble the cake: Cut the cake into 3-inch squares or rounds and cut each in half equatorially. Pipe the mousse on both the bottom and top halves of each of the cakes, and then give each cake a light sprinkey-dink of the chopped hazelnuts.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275°F.
• In a large bowl beat the egg yolks and the whole egg together with a wire whisk, or rotary or electric beater, continuing to beat until the mixture is thick and light yellow in color. Gradually beat in ½ cup of the sugar, then the nuts and the bread crumbs. Continue to beat until the mixture forms a dense, moist mass.
• In another bowl, beat the egg whites with the wire whisk or electric beater until the foam, then add ¼ cup of the sugar, 1 tbs at a time. Continue to beat until the whites form stiff, unwavering peaks. With a spatula mix about ¼ of the whites into the hazelnut mixture, then sprinkle the flour over it and gently fold in the rest of the whites. Continue to fold until no trace of the whites remains. Do not overfold.
• Butter and flour a 10-in springform pan. Turn the pan over and strike it to remove any excess flour. Pour batter into the pan, smooth the top and bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until it shrinks away slightly from the sides of the pan. Remove the upper part of the pan as soon as you take it out of the oven and let the cake cool. Slice into 2 equal layers.
• Whip the chilled cream until it begins to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla adn continue to whip until the cream holds its shape. Fill the cake with the cream and cover as well. Sprinkle leftover chopped nuts over the cake. Serve at once.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Grease a deep 20cm round cake tin, line bse with baking paper.
• Beat eggs and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until thick and creamy.
• Fold in sifted flour and hazelnuts, pour into prepared tin, bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and firm in the centre.
• Turn onto wire rack to cool.
• Combine ricotta, jam and strawberries in a food processor or blender, blend until smooth, but with still some strawberry chunks.
• Cut cake horizontially into two, put ricotta mixture on bottom layer, place top on cake.
• Dust top of cake with icing sugar on completion.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin. To make the cake, break up the chocolate and put in a small bowl with the coffee over a pan of water. Heat gently, stirring a little, until the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth sauce. Set aside.
• Beat together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand whisk or wooden spoon, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time. Don't worry if the mixture curdles, it won't affect the finished cake. Fold in the chocolate, then the hazelnuts, then sift in the flour and baking powder.
• Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 45-55 mins, until firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 5 mins, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
• To make the filling, put the chocolate, butter, coffee and cream in a small pan and heat gently, stirring until dissolved and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar. Leave to cool, then put in the fridge, stirring occasionally until it is spreadable. This will take 1-2 hrs.
• Slice the cake in two horizontally and put the base on a serving plate. Spread over half of the filling and scatter over half the hazelnuts. Cover with the top of the cake and spread the remaining filling over the top. Scatter the remaining hazelnuts around the top edge of the cake.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Generously butter two 20cm sandwich tins (ideally about 4.5cm deep or deeper) and line the bases with baking parchment. Put the hazelnuts into a food processor with 2 tbsp of the sugar, then pulse until finely chopped. Don't expect them to go as fine as ground almonds and avoid over-processing, as this can make the nuts greasy.
• Put the butter, milk and coffee powder into a small pan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Set aside.
• Now start the sponge. Crack the eggs into the bowl of a tabletop mixer, add the rest of the sugar and beat for 5-10 mins (or beat with an electric hand mixer in a large deep bowl for 15-20 mins) or until thick and billowy, and the mixture leaves a trail that holds for a couple of seconds. It is really important that the mixture has thickened, almost doubling in size, in order to achieve a light sponge.
• Mix the cornflour, plain flour and 1/2 tsp salt, and sift onto the whisked mixture. Using a large metal spoon, fold in very carefully. Sprinkle in the ground nuts, then fold these in too. Pour the warm milk mix around the edge of the bowl, and fold this in. Don't rush the folding, and continue with a light lifting and cutting motion until ribbons of liquid stop appearing. Divide the batter between the tins, then bake for 25 mins until risen to the middle and a burnished gold.
• Loosen the sides of the cakes with a palette knife, then cool in the tins on a rack for 20 mins (the cakes will level off, and possibly go a bit wrinkly, but that's normal). Carefully remove from the tins and cool, paper-side down.
• Make the syrup and the frosting while you wait. Put the sugar and 4 tbsp water into a small pan. Bring to the boil and leave for 1 min then take off the heat. Stir in the coffee and alcohol. Beat the mascarpone, hazelnut chocolate spread and coffee together with a wooden spoon, until silky and even.
• To assemble, cut the cold cakes horizontally across the middle, using a long serrated knife. With a pastry brush, dampen the cut surfaces all over with the syrup. Use it all. Put one cake layer onto a plate or stand, cut-side up. Spoon on 3 generous dollops of the frosting, then spread to the edges with a palette knife. The frosting should be about 5mm deep. Repeat with the next two layers. When you come to the final layer, place it cut-side down, so that the top of the cake is smooth. Paddle the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. The layer on the top can be thin. Clean the knife then use it to press a neat ring of nuts into the frosting on the side of the cake. Brush any excess away.
• For the topping, put 3 tbsp of the cream, 1 tsp icing sugar and 1 tbsp milk into a small bowl. Put the rest of the cream, milk and sugar, plus most of the dissolved coffee into a larger bowl. Whip the white cream, then the coffee cream, until they look like soft cappuccino froth, thick but still able to flow from a spoon. Pour most of the coffee cream onto the cake and push it out to cover the top. Whisk a little more coffee into what is left, so that it turns a few shades darker.
• To decorate with a characteristic latte 'tree' shape, load a pointy teaspoon with a little of the white cream. Start at the base of the tree, just right of the centre of the cake. Push the spoon into the coffee cream and let the white cream flow slowly. As it flows, drag the spoon then pull it gently away, to make a leaf-like shape. Repeat with more white cream on the left to make another leaf, then repeat 3-4 times, working up the cake top graduating from large to small leaves. Use the same technique to sweep a couple of arc shapes around the edge of the pattern.
• Use the dark cream to add detail to each leaf - you can paint this on with the tip of a teaspoon or a clean cocktail stick. Use a cocktail stick to drag the points of each leaf up and outwards. Draw a line down from the top of the 'tree' to the bottom to finish. The cake will keep for up to 2 days. Loosely cover any cut edges but avoid covering the cake directly as you could damage the decoration. Serve from the fridge or at cool room temperature.

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add the butter to a small skillet over medium heat. Cook with the sage leaves until the butter is browned, then remove the leaves and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve for later. Let the butter cool slightly.
• Add the eggs and sugar to a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until it has thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add the grated parsnips, ground hazelnuts, reserved browned butter, flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Fold until just combined, then pour into a 9-by-13-inch nonstick baking dish.
• Bake until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.
• For the praline cremeux: Add the cream cheese, almond butter, caramel sauce, oat milk and salt to a food processor. Turn on the food processor and stream in the cream until fully blended, scraping down the sides as needed.
• Pour the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate while the cake is baking.
• Spoon the cake into jars or rocks glasses, then drizzle with the cremeux and garnish with the reserved fried sage leaves.

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!

Steps:

• Cake.
• Set a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 375 degrees. Lightly coat two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick vegetable spray. Line the bottom of each pan with a circle of baking parchment.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together three times.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter and sugar at high speed for 15 seconds, until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.
• Continue beating on high until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes more.
• With the mixer on its lowest setting, beat in a third of the flour mixture. Beat in half the buttermilk and all the Frangelico, then the hazelnuts and another third of the flour mixture. Beat in the remaining buttermilk and then the remaining flour.
• Spread the batter in the prepared pans and bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until cake is golden brown and the center springs back when lightly pressed and a cake tester comes out clean.
• Set the pans on a rack to cool. Turn out the cakes when cool enough to handle. (If the cakes are refrigerated for 2 hours at this stage, they will be easier to handle and frost.).
• Praline Buttercream.
• Put 1/2 cup water and the sugar in a small saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Over high heat, bring the temperature to 240 degrees (soft-ball stage).
• In the meantime, in the completely clean and dry bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar until creamy, foamy, and barely able to hold very soft peaks. With the mixer running on slow, carefully drizzle in the hot syrup. Continue to whisk on high speed until mixture is fluffy, firm, and cooled to room temperature; gradually beat in the butter and then the praline paste.
• When the cakes are cold, trim the tops with a large serrated knife. Split each cake into two layers.
• Spread a 1/4-inch layer of the buttercream between each layer. Frost the outside of the cake with the remaining buttercream, and then coat the sides of the cake with the chopped hazelnuts.
• Optional.
• Decorate top of cake with whole hazelnuts, blackberries, or raspberries to form a row around the edge.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (nonfan)/375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of 2 (20-centimeter/8-inch) cake pans (tins) with a removable base with parchment paper and grease the sides. Alternatively, grease the bottoms and sides of 2 (20-centimeter/8-inch) regular cake pans, line with parchment, and grease the parchment.
• In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugars. In a separate bowl, add the oil, eggs and kefir, and whisk just to combine. Add to the dry mixture and use a spatula to gently fold through. Add the 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons/220 grams hot coffee and mix gently to combine. It'll look very runny at first, but will soon come together into a glossy, pourable batter.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans, about 21 ounces/600 grams per pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Set aside to cool for about 30 minutes, then slide a butter knife along the sides to help release the cake. Brush the tops lightly with the remaining 1 tablespoon/14 grams extra coffee (discard any extra).
• Invert one cake onto a board, remove the parchment, then invert it again onto a cake stand or the platter you intend to serve it on (domed side up now). Invert the other cake onto a board (don't remove the paper). Invert it again, onto a plate, so that it's paper side down. (This will help prevent it from sticking.) Set both cakes aside to cool completely.
• Make the praline: With the oven still at 200 degrees Celsius/375 degrees Fahrenheit, spread the hazelnuts onto a parchment-lined medium baking sheet (tray) and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until deeply golden, shaking the pan halfway through baking. Set aside, keeping the tray and parchment paper. You'll use them again later.
• Place a large saucepan over a medium-high heat and, once quite hot, sprinkle in a third of the caster sugar to cover the base. It should immediately start to melt at the sides but not brown too quickly. Swirl the sugar in the pan a little, then add another third of the sugar, allowing it to melt a little before adding the remaining third. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until the sugar is an amber caramel, stirring with a spatula just a couple times (but not much more). Add the hazelnuts and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring to coat, then quickly transfer the mixture to your parchment-lined tray and leave to cool completely.
• Once cool, roughly break apart the praline and add it to a food processor. Pulse a few times until you have very coarse crumbs, then measure out about 1/2 cup/75 grams of the mixture and transfer to a bowl. Blitz the remaining mixture in the food processor for about 5 minutes or until it turns into the consistency of a smooth nut butter, stopping to scrape the inside of the bowl as necessary. Transfer this to a separate bowl.
• Make the mascarpone cream: Add all the ingredients to a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until you have medium peaks. Refrigerate if not assembling right away (you want it nice and cold).
• When ready to assemble, top the cake on your cake stand with half the cream mixture. Spoon over about 2 tablespoons of the smooth praline and gently swirl it through the cream with your spatula. Top with another 2 tablespoons of the praline, this time without swirling. Sprinkle with half the praline crumble. Carefully invert the other cake on top now, removing the paper. Top with the remaining cream and repeat the same process with the smooth praline and praline crumble. Serve right away, or refrigerate overnight to firm up the cream before serving. (The cake will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.)