Ferrero Rocher Cake

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This Ferrero Rocher Cake is your favourite chocolate hazelnut treat in cake form! Chocolate hazelnut cake layers and with a Nutella buttercream.

Can you believe it’s already November?? I honestly can’t. These past few months (and this year in general) have gone by crazy fast! They say time goes faster as you get older, and I didn’t really believe it until I got older.

It was my birthday this past week, and I celebrated entering the last year of my 30’s, which is crazy to me. Next year I’ll be 40. 40! What in the hell?! I’m not sure if I’ve quite come to terms with that.

Ryan insisted that I *needed* to have cake on my birthday seeing as how I’m a cake baker and all, and that it would be sacrilege not to. Would it shock you to know that cake is actually the last thing I wanted? On my actual birthday day, I wanted nothing to do with cakes or baking or blogging. I think this is a reasonable expectation. I wanted a break from my day-to-day. So for that actual day, I got my hair done, did some shopping, went out to a fabulous dinner, and had PIE for dessert (cue gasps). It was a damn good pie, too.

Alas, I could not let a birthday go by without baking an actual cake, this was true. So, for my birthday weekend festivities I pulled out all the stops for this Ferrero Rocher Cake!

Perhaps this is my way of jumping the gun a bit on holiday baking. I know you can technically get Ferrero’s year round, but to me they are a holiday treat. Maybe it’s because of the commercials they always bust out during the holiday season. And it’s kind of a tradition these days that my parents always get Ryan a box of Ferrero’s for Christmas. It’s really cute actually.

Despite my many Nutella recipes, I’m actually not a huge fan of Nutella on its own. I used to eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon when I was younger, so maybe I just got sick of it. In a Ferrero though? Heaven.

With this Ferrero Rocher Cake, I wanted to make sure all the elements of a true Ferrero shone through. It is packed with chocolate and hazelnut flavour. There is hazelnut flour in the cake itself (optional, but it adds flavour and texture) and I added a layer of crunchy hazelnut meringue to emulate that crunchy shell that Ferrero’s have.

I initially planned to use feuilletine flakes to add the crunch, but I opted for something a little more elaborate and went with the meringue instead. The meringue will lose some of its crunch the longer it sits with the buttercream though, so you can choose to use the flakes instead if you have them on hand.

Now the rich Nutella buttercream is something I would happily eat with a spoon. It is SO good. A fluffier version of Nutella that pairs really well with the dense chocolate cake. The cake is fudgy and delicious. Paired with a smooth Nutella buttercream and crunchy chocolate hazelnut meringue, it’s really the best thing ever.

I may have gone a little heavy handed on the frosting between the layers, but I told you it was good!! You can’t totally see the hazelnut meringue layer, but I swear it’s there! And it’s delicious.

If you’re looking for something unique this holiday season, or really any time of year, this Ferrero Rocher Cake is sure to wow!

Notes & tips for this Ferrero Rocher Cake:

If you don’t have hazelnut flour on hand and/or don’t want to make any, you can just substitute in additional all-purpose flour.
To enhance the chocolate flavour of the cake, you can use strong hot coffee instead of hot water.
The hazelnut meringue will soften the longer it sits in the cake. Ideally serve same day. Regardless though, it will still taste delicious!
To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.

Cake on a white cake stand with opened Ferreros' in the foreground.

Print Rate

4.91 from 43 votes

Ferrero Rocher Cake

This Ferrero Rocher Cake is your favourite chocolate hazelnut treat in cake form! Chocolate hazelnut cake layers and with a Nutella buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 4 hours

Servings 12

Calories 733kcal

Author Olivia

Ingredients

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup hazelnut flour*
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup hot water
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Nutella Buttercream:

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
3/4 cup Nutella
3 cups powdered sugar sifted
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted

Hazelnut Meringue (optional):

2 large egg whites
5 Tbsp granulated sugar
pinch salt
pinch cream of tartar
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (toasted skinned)
1 1/2 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted

Assembly:

toasted hazelnuts to decorate chopped and whole
Ferrero Rocher chocolates if desired

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F, grease three 6" round baking pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment.
Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
In a medium bowl whisk all wet ingredients (pour hot water in slowly while whisking as not to cook the eggs).
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. Batter will be very thin.
Pour evenly into prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.
Bake until a cake tester comes out mostly clean, a total of 30-35mins.

Nutella Buttercream:

Prepare a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and whip butter until creamy (2 mins).
In a medium bowl, whisk together sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
Reduce speed to low and add in powdered sugar mixture 1 cup at a time until well blended. Scrape down sides of bowl and whisk as needed. Add in Nutella and whip on high for approximately 5 mins.

Hazelnut Meringue:

Preheat oven to 250F and line a 10x15" pan with parchment. Trace two 5" circles onto the parchment, flip over so the traced side is down.
Combine egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer**. Beat on high until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar (1 Tbsp at a time) and beat until stiff peaks.
Dab a bit of meringue under the corners of the parchment to secure it. Fold chopped hazelnuts and cocoa powder into the meringue. Pipe into discs using the 5" circles as a guide. Pipe or spread remaining meringue in empty spaces on the parchment.
Bake for 90mins and cool on pan.

Assembly:

Place one layer of the cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Top with 2/3 cup of buttercream and spread evenly. Place one meringue disc on top and top with additional buttercream if desired. Repeat with remaining layers and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins. Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream, smooth the sides and chill for 20mins. Press chopped hazelnuts into the sides and top with rosettes if desired.

Notes

* Grind up 1 cup toasted, skinned hazelnuts to a fine powder. Or sub in 3/4 cup all-purpose flour.

** Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue won't stiffen.

Calories: 733kcalCarbohydrates: 87gProtein: 8gFat: 43gSaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 401mgPotassium: 381mgFiber: 6gSugar: 71gVitamin A: 780IUVitamin C: 0.6mgCalcium: 98mgIron: 3.5mg

The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

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