Dessert time with Shivesh Bhatia

Chocolate is not just a flavour, it’s a passion! Very few people know how to get the best out of it. Shivesh is one of them. We can’t get over how delicious his Chocolate-Hazelnut cake sounds. We’ve already put our cake in the oven and the frosting is WIP so there is no time to lose! Quickly read the recipe and get ready for the compliments.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp Nutella
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, roasted and crushed

Frosting:

• 340 grams dark chocolate
• 680 grams / 24 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 10-12 Hazelnuts, roasted and crushed for filling (Optional)

Chocolate and coffee macarons for decoration

INSTRUCTIONS

Cake:

• Pre-heat the oven to 170C. Oil the cake tin. Dust pans with cocoa, tap out extra
• Whisk cocoa, flour, baking soda and baking powder into a bowl
• In a large bowl, cream oil and sugar
• Add Nutella and mix well
• Add eggs, one at a time and mix well after each addition
• Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients alternating with milk, starting and ending with flour mixture. Beat until smooth
• Fold in the hazelnut
• Pour the batter into 2 pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. This will take 30-40 minutes.

Frosting:

• Melt chocolate in bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Let it cool.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low.
• Mix in melted chocolate until combined.

All together now!

• Keep a completely cooled flat layer of the chocolate hazelnut cake on the serving plate and cover with a generous layer of frosting. Sprinkle with hazelnuts
• Place the other layer of chocolate cake on it and cover entirely with frosting using an offset spatula.
• Decorate with macarons

This recipe is by Shivesh Bhatia and the original article can be found here.

Cover image courtesy: Shivesh Bhatia