Recipe: chocolate, hazelnut & coffee dacquise

Layers of nutty dacquoise and creamy coffee crème légère, enrobed in milk chocolate ganache and roasted hazelnuts

I’ve memories as a child of receiving box upon box of Ferrero Rocher at Christmas; feverishly peeling the gold-embellished tape that sealed the lid, selecting my chocolate and then ceremoniously unwrapping it from it’s golden foil blanket. I ate them then the way that I do today–carefully biting the chocolate and hazelnut coating, then eating one half of the wafer, then from that point, complete joyful demolition.

For as long as I can remember they’ve been my favourite chocolate, which was clearly widely known. I’d come to know that simply by looking at a wrapped gift if it was a box of said treats from the shape and size, and my glut of golden-wrapped chocolates would only just see me through the festive period. Being as much of a textural eater that I am, they satisfy every want–the soft crunch of the chocolate & hazelnut coating, crispness from the wafer that lays beneath, subtle chew from the chocolate/hazelnut ganache inside and a further crunch to finish it off from the hazelnut inside.

I didn’t receive a box of my own Ferrero Rocher this Christmas, something that I trust I will get over with time (…), but I did still manage to eat a generous amount. This cake is inspired by them, with the addition of a kick of coffee in the crème légère, because what’s a better combination than chocolate and hazelnuts, but chocolate, hazelnuts and coffee. This cake is a perfect example of my favourite sweet flavour combinations, and while we don’t have the crispness of a wafer, we do have the feather-light, soft texture of dacquoise sponge. I think this could be one of my favourite things that I’ve created to date.

The recipe is made over a couple of days–the dacquoise sponges and coffee crème pâtissière are both made the day before assembling, then on assembly day, the crème pâtissière is transformed into crème légère, the cake is built and is coated with a milk chocolate and hazelnut ganache. I would say that it is an easy cake to make, too, and one that keeps well in the fridge for a few days after assembling.

In the photos here, I made 3x 6 inch rounds and 5x 3 inch rounds of dacquoise sponge to make a two layer cake. You could do the same if you like, but I have detailed the recipe to make 4x 8 inch rounds in the name of simplicity.