Photo: Hazelnut Crunch Cake with Mascarpone and Chocolate Recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
Crunch:
- 1 cup (about 4 1/2-ounces) hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup water
Filling:
- 2 (8-ounce) containers mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup cream
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
For the cake:
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) cake pans. Prepare the cake mix according to package instructions. Divide the batter between the 2 cake pans and bake according to package instructions. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
For the Crunch:
Place the toasted nuts close together in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir the sugar mixture until dissolved. Bring to a boil and let cook until the sugar is light brown, about 8 minutes. Let the bubbles subside then pour the caramelized sugar over the nuts. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and let the sugar nut mixture cool until hard, about 30 minutes. When the sugar nut mixture is hard and cool, top with another piece of parchment paper and pound into small pieces, or place the sugar nut mixture on a cutting board and cut into small pieces. Set aside.
For the filling:
Put the mascarpone cheese, cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer whip the cream mixture to soft peaks. Fold the Crunch mixture into the whipped cream.
For the topping:
Place the chocolate, sugar and zest in a food processor. Process the mixture until the chocolate is finely ground.
To assemble the cake:
Put 1 cake on a serving plate. Top with 1-inch of the whipped cream crunch mixture. Top with the second layer of cake and continue frosting the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream crunch mixture. Sprinkle the top and sides of the cake with the ground chocolate. Serve.
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By tlmurphy87
London
on December 24, 2011
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This was an amazing recipe!!! Everyone loved it! The frosting was light and the best part!!! Easy to make too!
By MaxCanCook
on December 23, 2011
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This is a great recipe which I made a few times. On the third time and made some changes. Used espresso in the mascarpone and used a bit orange extract instead of vanilla in the cream filling. I also used a butter cake and chocolate cake recipe. Peeling the hazelnuts is the worst part of the recipe but well worth it. For the crunch, I found it easier to put sugar and hazelnuts in the pot, caramelize it and then lay it out flat on a tray. I agree to whip the cream first and then add the mascarpone cheese. Over all this is an excellent recipe no matter which way you make it.
By yaldaavila
on October 04, 2011
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this was a great a recipe. i ended up only using 1 (8 oz container of mascarpone, left out the orange zest and used a brownie mix instead of regular cake. the roasted hazelnuts were easy to toast the peeling not so much but well worth it. whipping the mascarpone, whip cream, powdered sugar all in one bowl makes the frosting so much simpler. the hazelnut crunch is harder to make than Giada makes it out to be. had to put it in the freezer so it would harden. overall a superb recipe
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