I thought I would share this cake with you all because it’s tasty and looks very pretty. It’s killer rich, and you won’t want toooo big of a slice, either The cake is a hazelnut sponge cake and it’s topped with a mocha Italian buttercream and some chocolate run-out decorations.

Hazelnut Sponge Cake

• 50g egg
• 120g yolks
• 85g sugar
• 5g vanilla
• 55g pastry flour
• 160g ground hazelnuts
• 180g egg whites
• 85g sugar

Whisk eggs, yolks, first amount of sugar and vanilla to ribbon stage. (You should be able to take the mixer whisk out of the bowl and have the batter drip in ribbons for about 4 seconds before it stops dripping.)

Sift flour and combine with hazelnuts. Fold into egg mixture.

Whisk whites with remaining sugar to medium peaks.

Fold 1/4 of the whites into batter.

Fold remaining whites into batter and put in prepared cake rings.

Bake at 375F until golden- test with a skewer if you like.

Mocha Buttercream

• 7 egg whites
• 375g granulated sugar
• water as needed
• 625g lightly salted butter, softened

Place egg whites in a mixing bowl. Place 120-130g sugar in a saucepan with enough water to moisten all of it. Bring to a boil, and add candy thermometer. Begin whipping egg whites to stiff peaks. When the sugar syrup reaches 116 degrees C, remove from the heat immediately and slowly pour into egg whites with the mixer running. Continue beating until the egg whites are completely cool. Gradually add the softened butter. When all the butter is added, add a 1-2 oz of melted dark chocolate. Add coffee extract to taste.

Building the Cake

Cut the hazelnut sponge cake into three equal layers. Place buttercream between each layer, and a thin crumb coating on the outside of the cake. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Do the final presentation coating of buttercream. Add 8 even rosettes to the top of the cake, and top with chocolate decoration or shavings on each rosette.