Chocolate-Nut Cake

Ingredients

• 6 Eggs
• 120 g sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 125 g flour
• 2 tbsp Cornstarch
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 0.5 packet pudding mix (cream flavour)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 250 ml milk
• 50 g peeled hazelnuts
• 250 g butter
• 1 tbsp nut nougat cream
• 6 tbsp nut liqueur
• 300 g dark chocolate glaze
• dark chocolate pearls (for decoration)
• golden and silver sugar pearls (for decoration)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Line the bottom of two 20 cm springform pans with parchment paper, tucking in the edges.

2. 2.

   Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks with half the sugar and vanilla sugar until fluffy. Whisk the whites with salt until stiff peaks form, then gradually add remaining sugar and beat very stiff. Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture with a spoon. Sift flour, cornstarch and cocoa over the batter and fold in gently. Spread the dough evenly in the prepared pans, smooth the tops and bake for about 20 minutes (test with a skewer). Remove the finished bases from the oven, let them cool slightly, then carefully loosen them from the pan edges with a thin knife, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely for at least 3 hours.

3. 3.

   For the filling mix the pudding powder with sugar and stir in about 3 tbsp milk until smooth. Bring the remaining milk to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in the pudding powder and bring back to a boil. Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling film and chill in the refrigerator.

4. 4.

   Roast the hazelnuts without oil in a non-stick pan and set aside. Once cooled, finely grind them. Whip the butter until fluffy. Mix in the nut nougat cream. Gradually stir in the chilled pudding mixture by spoonfuls to create a homogeneous mass. Fold in the roasted ground nuts.

5. 5.

   Cut each chocolate biscuit horizontally once so that you have four layers in total. Soak all layers with nut liqueur. Spread one-fifth of the nut buttercream on each layer and stack them, spreading remaining cream around the edges and over the cake. Chill for 1 hour.

6. 6.

   Melt the dark chocolate glaze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place the cake on a rack and pour the glaze over it. Let it set slightly, then sprinkle the chocolate and sugar pearls on top. Allow the glaze to dry.