Have you ever heard the term 'a little warm death'? How about 'la petite mort'? Well, hold on to your knickers, because this Ferrero Rocher Cake with Gianduja Ganache guarantees multiple warm deaths, delivered in eight sinfully delicious slices.
I made this cake back in December to celebrate the Dude's birthday. Christmas birthdays often get downplayed or overlooked. He doesn't make a big deal about his day, but I was looking for an excuse to use up some Gianduja I had on hand. Plus, come on, it was bae's birthday! What other reason does one need to bake a cake??
One sleepless night, I set out to purchase 500 grams of Gianduja and with the click of a button that transported my desires across the interwebs, I found myself unpacking 5 kilograms a few days later. Don't even ask... Fortunately, it came in separately wrapped 500g bars, so I wasn't too worried about shelf life.
Gianduja or gianduia is made from milk or dark chocolate and nut paste, hazelnut being the most common and it is beyond delicious. So the chances of it going to waste were pretty slim to none. I've used it in a number of confections that I will be sharing with you leading up to V-Day! One of my faves is gianduja buttercream - so out of this world silky and delicious!
OK, back to the Dude's b-day cake. I made to my tried and true chocolate cake recipe, adapted from the baking arts course I took just over a year ago. With the holidays almost upon us, we had ample Ferrero Rocher chocolates on hand to lend a little crunch between layers. BTW, how amazingly addictive are Ferrero Rochers? To further play up the hazelnut flavour, I made a Gianduja Ganache that is simply out of this world. I at first thought it might overwhelm the cake, but I tell you this cake is...well...read my first paragraph.
The batter made three seven-inch cakes. To achieve uniformed cakes, I always weigh the batter evenly into each pan. Also, be sure to always place your pans on a cookie sheet to bake, in the event of a spill, you will save yourself having to clean the oven. I say this from experience. Plus, it's just makes handling the cakes a whole lot safer and easier.
Once baked and cooled, if you find your cakes are domed, level for even stacking. I then torte each cake to create six layers. I used three of those layers for this cake and froze the other three for a separate cake. Finish the cake off to your taste. I kept it simple and allowed the flavours to deliver the wow.
The Dude proclaimed this Ferrero Rocher Cake with Gianduja Ganache the bestest birthday cake in all the land and he isn't the least bit biased. 😉
What's your favourite birthday cake?
More Chocolate Love:
Chocolate Oreo Cake with Raspberry Chocolate Ganache
Two-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake + Succulent Sugar Flowers
Ingredients
Cake
- 360 g granulated sugar 2 cups
- 100 g bread flour 1 cup
- 100 g cake/pastry flour 1 cup
- 73 g cocoa powder ⅔ cup
- 7 g baking powder 2 tsp
- 6 g baking soda 11/2 tsp
- 2.5 g salt ½ tsp
- 2 eggs
- 185 ml milk ¾ cup
- 93 ml coconut oil ⅓ cup
- 8 g vanilla bean paste 2 tsp
- 188 ml freshly brewed coffee ¾ cup, warm
Ganache
- 500 g gianduja 2 cups
- 250 ml 35% whipping cream 1 cup
- 25 g glucose 11/2 tbsp, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Grease three 7-inch pans, line with parchment rounds and place on a cookie sheet. Set aside.
- Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
- In a separate bowl, lightly whisk together all the wet ingredients, except coffee.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and use a whisk to stir the batter. It will be thick.
- Add the warm coffee and continue to stir with the whisk until fully combined.
- Divide the batter evenly into prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes on the cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven. Rotate cookie sheet halfway through baking.
To make the ganache:
- Roughly cut the gianduja into small pieces, place in a large bowl and set aside.
- Add the cream (and glucose is using) to a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Pour the boiling cream mixture over the gianduja and allow to sit for about 3 minutes without stirring.
- Use a whisk to gently stir the mixture until it has completely melted and the ganache is smooth and creamy.
- Allow to set for a few hours until a spreadable consistency that closely resembles peanut butter is achieved.
- Use a portion to fill cake layers and place the remainder in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip the ganache using a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
Assembly
- Level and torte cakes and fill layers with crushed ferrero rocher and ganache.
- Frost the entire cake with whipped ganache.
- Pipe rosettes around the top of the cake and finish with ferrero rocher chocolates.
- Best enjoyed at room temperature and within three days.
Notes
The cake recipe can easily be doubled or halved with good results.
Chilling the cakes shortly after they cool makes it easer to torte and decorate.
If you don't have bread flour, all-purpose flour works well. I have tried it with each.
Unless other wise noted, have all ingredients at room temperature before baking.
Regina @ Leelalicious says
YUM!!! This sounds soo delicious and looks incredibly decadent. Happy belated birthday to K. I totally know what it feels like having a just before Christmas birthday. I love the general festive spirit everyone is in (unless they are completely stressed out).
I don't think I've had gianduja before (maybe as a truffle filling?) It kind of sounds like marzipan in nutella flavor 😉
I Sugar Coat It! says
Yes! It's used in pralines and truffles, so you have most likely had it. So flipping good! HBB to you,Regina!! I had forgotten you guys are just a few days apart!
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says
Oh my gosh, what an absolute showstopper! Those perfectly even layers of moist chocolate cake between all of that gianduja ganache and Ferrero rochers on top = pure perfection! What a gorgeous birthday cake and I can only imagine how amazing each and every bite of this was! Happy December birthday to the mister, he must have been over the moon! My favorite birthday cake is lemon but chocolate cake always makes me happy 🙂
I Sugar Coat It! says
Citrus is definitely up there on the list that makes me happy - now I feel like making a lemon cake... Thanks Kelly!
Goreti says
This looks so delicious but I have to admit my ignorance. Had no idea what giunduja was and had to google it.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks, Goreti! Stay away from the stuff, it is ADDICTIVE! 🙂
Goreti says
Like I need anything else to become addicted to. I'm still struggling with my Biscoff addiction. lol
I Sugar Coat It! says
Hahahaaaa... we all have our battles, but know that you are not alone. 🙂
Paula says
Like Goreti, I too did not know what gianduja was. After seeing this cake I'm really looking forward to sampling some. Got to tell you, this is one decadent and gorgeous looking dessert. Ferrero Rocher are THE best chocolates...very addictive too 🙂
Belated and sincere Birthday Wishes to your Mr. All the best to him for a wonderful year.
I Sugar Coat It! says
I think you will really enjoy it, Paula! The mister says thanks!
Kimberly | Chic & Sugar says
Sinfully delicious, indeed! This looks amazing! Love your blog.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thank you, Kimberly! And ditto on the blog - love the mix of topics you share.
Amy says
Chocolate is my weakness. This cake looks divine!
I Sugar Coat It! says
I share that very weakness, but no plans to correct it. 😉 thx!
Deb|EastofEdenCooking says
What a grand birthday cake! My husband also has a December birthday and also adores chocolate.... Therefore I am saving this recipe for the next special event that "requires" a fantastic dessert!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Happy belated to your hubby! Hope he enjoys it when you do.
Maya @ Treats and Eats says
This is such a gorgeous cake! I love rocher and really any chocolate/hazelnut combo. Yum! I'm pretty sure I need to find myself a huge hunk of chocolate cake right now 🙂
I Sugar Coat It! says
Well, you would most certainly like this. It was like one big FR!
Chrissy says
Those late night clicks...this cake is absolutely gorgeous, and FRs are possibly the best thing ever. To put it in a cake earns you the Nobel.
I Sugar Coat It! says
LOL... I graciously accept! Thx!
of Danemark says
This looks sooo good - planning to make it for a friends birthday this weekend, however I'm having a bit of trouble figuring the cake part out - in your presentation you say, that the batter made three 7-inch cakes, but in the recipe you suggest to use two 6-inch pans. I would be so grateful if you could clarify that part for me! Thank you
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks for pointing that out. I've made the correction. Two 6-inch pans will work as well - you'll have taller cakes that can be split into three thin layers,but that's more work. 🙂 Would love to hear how it turns out!
Lokness @ The Missing Lokness says
HELLO, beautiful cake! I want one of these for my birthday! Absolutely perfect! And I think any cake needs to top with ferrero rocher! 😀
I Sugar Coat It! says
LOL - It's on its way!
Erin says
This looks sooo good! What would the world be like without chocolate? Hopeless.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Hopeless, indeed... 😉
Claudia @ HomeMade with love says
OH I love how you decorated the cake.. pinned 🙂
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thank you, Claudia!
Medha @ Whisk & Shout says
Wow! I'm loving all the step by step pictures and this is one seriously gorgeous and decadent cake! 🙂
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks, Medha! It did not last very long. 🙂
Naila says
Gorgeous cake!! Definitely going to try making this! I wonder, can Gianduja hazelnut paste instead? Saw that on Amazon.
Sharon M says
I adore your work and your amazing flavors, recipes! I’m curious about the bread & cake flour. I fell in love with cake decorating, obsessed would be more accurate but I never really learned to cook or bake. My oldest grew up thinking Hamburger Helper was a homecooked meal, shameful I know but let’s chalk that up to me being a single mom in my twenties. Anyway, I decided that I needed to learn to make these wonderful cakes as good, if not better on the inside and I’m fascinated by the science behind it all! I have definitely developed a deep appreciation for recipe development, there’s so much more involved than I ever imagined-mad respect! I find myself trying to consume as much knowledge as I can about pastry and baking, I’d never paid much attention to the bread flour before, thinking it was simply for bread I’ve noticed some choux recipes call for it, and I plan to research it after leaving this. I understand the different protein levels/gluten development and obviously everyone has different preferences but do you mind me asking the thinking behind the combo in this recipe? I realize this is an older recipe, I plan to look at more recent posts to see if this is your ‘go-to chocolate cake’, your cake has been on my ever-growing list of ‘recipes to try when I have time’ but I’ve been wanting to go back to basics and start with a vanilla & chocolate ‘cake off’ of my own so that’s why I ask. Thank you for so generously sharing your amazing recipes, wonderful stories and experience! I enjoy your style of baking and your interest in chocolate, always inspired by your culinary journey! Thanks
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hi Sharon - my sincerest apology for the delay. I found your comment in my spam folder. Thank you ever so kindly for your thoughtful comment and constant support. I grew up watching my grandparents, aunts and uncles cooking and baking, but I did not embrace it until about eight years ago. I hated being in the kitchen, but found that cooking came naturally once I knocked the feminist chip off my shoulder. Baking, being more of an exact science, I found taking the pastry classes extremely helpful for understanding some of the more advance techniques, how ingredients work and playing with ratios. It's continuous learning and discovery, which is what I enjoy most. All that to say, we all come into our own at various stages in life, so don't be too hard on yourself or compare. The recipe is adapted from one we used in class and I found the crumb and overall texture so much better, in part to the higher protein in the bread flour, so it has become my go-to. Also love that it is all done by hand in one bowl. I adore your growing passion for the culinary arts, it reminds me of how I felt after taking that first course that set me on the road to this sweet place. Have you thought about starting a blog?