The Friday Baking Project

Marjolaine

Yield: 1 8-inch cake

# of Servings:  18 to 24

Ingredients

Ganache:

1 ¾ cup (14 fl oz) heavy cream

10.5 oz (298 g) chocolate, 64% to 66%, pastilles or chopped

Buttercream: 

1 cup (6 ½ oz / 184 g)  Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

¼ cup hazelnut paste or Nutella¹

Cake: 

2 cups + 6 tbl (7.5 oz / 213 g) almond flour, lightly toasted

2 cups + 6 tbl (7.5 oz / 213 g) hazelnut flour

2 tbl + ½ tsp (.8 oz / 23 g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (7 oz / 198 g) sugar

14 egg whites (14 fl oz) 

1 pinch salt

¾ tsp cream of tartar 

½ cup (3.5 oz / 99 g) sugar

2 cups (16 oz / 454 g) crème fraiche

2 tsp (.4 oz / 11 g) light corn syrup (for the chocolate glaze)

1.2 oz (34 g) milk chocolate, pastilles or chopped, optional
1.2 oz (34 g) white chocolate, pastilles or chopped, optional 

Special equipment needed:

z (34 g) white chocolate, pastilles or chopped, optional 

Special equipment needed:

• Two half sheet pans, 12.5†by 17.5â€
• Parchment paper, same size as interior of sheet pans
• Countertop mixer with whip attachment or handheld mixer
• Large and small offset spatulas
• One 8†by 8†by 2†straight edge square pan. 
• Quarter sheet cake board

Pre-recipe preparations:

• Make ganache the day before assembly
• Butter the half-sheet pans, line with parchment paper, butter the parchment.
• Cut one 7 â…†(19.5 cm) square and one 7†square from the cake board, set both aside². 

Directions

Make ganache: (Day 1)

1. In 1 to 1 ½ qt sauce pan, bring heavy cream just to the simmer.
2. Remove from heat, add the chocolate all at once. Cover for 5 minutes.
3. Stir with a whisk until smooth and all chocolate is melted.
4. Strain into clean container, press a piece of plastic films against it, and poke a few holes with a sharp paring knife. Let sit at room temperature overnight.

Buttercream: (Day 1 or day 2)

1. Make and flavor buttercream, set aside. 
2. If made day before, refrigerate overnight and take out two hours prior to using. 

Baking cake layers:

Preheat oven to 350 °F

1. Combine dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl. Mix well, set aside.
2. On medium speed, start whipping egg whites with salt and cream of tartar.
3. Whip until soft peaks, then slowly add the sugar.  Continue whipping until a medium stiff meringue. Do not over whip.
4. Pour meringue into large mixing bowl (to allow more room for mixing). 
5. Gently fold â…“ of the nut flour mixture into the meringue in thirds. It is not necessary to achieve a complete mix of dry and meringue at this point. Do the same with the next â…“.
6. Add final â…“ of nut flour mix and fold just until no streaks of meringue remain. 
7. Divide batter evenly (19 oz per pan) into the two pans and spread evenly with offset spatula. 
8. Bake for between 16 and 20 minutes, until the cake is lightly browned and firm to the touch.
9. Remove from oven. Let cool for about 15 minutes, until warm side of room temperature^3.   
10. Place large cutting board over pan, flip and have the cake release onto the cutting board. Pull off parchment paper.
11. Using the first cardboard as a guide, cut two 7 â…†(19.5 cm) squares. Keeping the extra rectangular piece, which will form one of the layers. 
12. Repeat with second pan. You should now have four squares, and rectangles to make up the fifth layer. Save the best two squares for the first and the last layers. 

Assembling the cake:

1. Drape plastic film completely over the inside of the square pan.
2. Place the first cake layer in the bottom. Using small offset spatula, spread with hazelnut buttercream.
3. Cover with second cake layer on top and press gently into place. 
4. In chilled bowl, whip the crème fraiche just until firm. Crème fraiche will thin at first when whipped and then thicken. Spread ½ of the whipped crème fraiche over the second cake layer.
5. Cover with the third cake square. Spread with 1 cup (8.5 oz / 241 g) of ganache.
6. Line two rectangular pieces over the top of the ganache and cut piece to complete the fourth layer. Spread with the remaining crème fraiche.
7. Cover with the last cake square. 
8. Cover with plastic film and place in refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.

Finishing:

1. Remove the cake from the refrigerator, unwrap and dust the cake lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Place the 7†cardboard on top and turn upside down. 
2. From this point on, use a long offset spatula to lift the cake using the cardboard, now on bottom. 
3. Spread a very thin layer of the remaining ganache on the top layer of cake, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Using the white and milk chocolate, melt in small bowls in microwave. It should take around 45 seconds. Be careful, both these chocolates can burn quickly. 
5. Make two parchment paper piping cones, fill one with each chocolate, and set aside in warm place.
6. Place remaining ganache in small sauce pan, and using a heat-proof spoon or spatula, heat remaining ganache until just warm and spreadable, between 88 °F and 90 °F.  
7. Remove cake from the refrigerator and one a large cutting board or cooling rack.
8. Pour ganache over the cake and quickly spread with spatula so it completely covers the top, allowing it to drip over the sides.
9. Pipe thin lines of both white and dark chocolate on top of the glaze.  Using the tip of a paring knife, or end of a wooden skewer, pull the lines toward you, then do the opposite direction.
10. Place cake in refrigerator for 30 minutes to allow ganache glaze to harden.
11. Using a long knife dipped in hot water, and quickly dried with paper towel, cut the outer ⅓†of cake off each of the four edges.
12. Place on a square platter. Store in the refrigerator but allow to stand at room temperature for half an hour before serving. Cut in thin rectangular slices. Any leftover portion may be well wrapped and frozen. 

Notes:

1. Pure hazelnut paste is available from the online pastry ingredient supplier lepicerie.com. Nutella may be substituted, which will add chocolate flavor.
2. The 7 â…†(19.5 cm) square, the pan’s interior measurement, is used as the template to cut the cake squares. The 7†square will hold the finished cake.
3. The cake will release easier from the pan if it is unmolded before the butter holding the parchment paper to the pan totally cools off. 

Baking tips: 

• Toast the almond flour in a 325 °F oven until a light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Be careful, almond flour burns easily. This can be done two days ahead, and stored in a plastic container.
• Williams-Sonoma makes several excellent straight-sided 8†square pans.