Rich and decadent Eggless Ferrero Rocher Cake is filled with hazelnut praline and ganache filling and topped with Nutella Buttercream and toasted hazelnuts! Indulgence at its best!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 150 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 180 minutes
  • Yield: 10
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar (15 ml)
  • 2 cups all purpose flour (260 grams)
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder (62 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (12 grams)
  • 1 & 1/2 cups granulated white sugar (300 grams)
  • 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons oil (I used canola oil, 120 ml + 45 ml)
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup hot coffee (by mixing together 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon instant cofee)

Hazelnut Praline

  • 1/8 cup granulated white sugar (25 grams)
  • 1/4 cup hazelnuts (blanched & toasted, 38 grams)

Ganache

  • 5 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 5 oz heavy cream

Nutella Buttercream

  • 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks butter/227 grams, at room temperature)
  • 3 cups powdered sugar (360 grams, also known as icing sugar/confectioners sugar)
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder (62 grams)
  • 3/4 cup Nutella
  • 1/3-1/2 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)

Method

Make the Eggless Chocolate Sponge

  1. Spray two 8-inch round baking pans with non-stick spray and set aside. Also, preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Start by making buttermilk, to a bowl add 1 cup milk. To that add 1 tablespoon white vinegar and stir. Let it sit for 5 minutes. This is homemade buttermilk.
  2. In a bowl sift together all the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until all the dry ingredients are well combined. Set this aside. To make the flax egg, add 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed to a bowl. To that add 4 to 5 tablespoons of water. Stir with a spoon until it's all uniformly mixed and then set aside for 10 minutes. During this time, the flaxseed will absorb water and transform into a sticky, gelatinous like texture.
  3. To the steel bowl of your stand mixer (or use your hand mixer), add sugar and oil. Mix using the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 minutes until well combined. Then add the vanilla extract and the prepared flax egg (which would have transformed into a gelatinous texture by now). Mix for a minute until combined.
  4. Meanwhile also make a cup of hot coffee by mixing together 1 cup water with 1 teaspoon instant coffee. Add half of the flour-cocoa powder mix and the prepared buttermilk to the bowl and mix until combined. Then add the remaining flour and cocoa mix and mix until combined.
  5. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the prepared 1 cup of hot espresso from the sides until it is all combined with the mixture. The batter will be thin, that's okay.
  6. Divide the batter equally between two 8-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350 F degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Baking time may vary since every oven is different. My cakes were done in 30 minutes. Let the cakes cool completely before assembling.

Make the hazelnut praline and whipped ganache filling

  1. To make the praline, to a pan on low heat, add 1/8 cup sugar. Do not stir and let the sugar melt. The sugar will clump at first and then begin to melt and become smooth.
  2. As soon as the sugar melts and caramelizes, add 1/4 cup blanched & toasted hazelnuts to it. Turn off the heat and stir until all the hazelnuts are well coated with caramelized sugar. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper and quickly spread it using a bench scraper or spatula. Let it cool down while you work on the ganache.
  3. Place 5 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips in a bowl and set aside. Add 5 oz heavy cream in a pan and put it on medium heat. Let it heat up, do not boil the cream but it should be warm. Remove cream from heat and pour it over the bowl of chocolate chips. Let sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, take a wire whisk and stir. The chocolate chips would have completely melted by now. Mix until it is all combined and you have a smooth ganache. Let the ganache cool down completely.
  4. Transfer the cooled caramelized hazelnuts to a food processor. Pulse few times to break the praline. Do not crush it too much into a powdered form, you need some chunks.
  5. To make the whipped ganache, take the cooled ganache and add it to the steel bowl (or you can also use a wire whisk), whip using the wire whisk attachment for 1 to 2 minutes until it's fluffy, now fold in the prepared hazelnut praline into it using a spatula. The filling is now ready.

Make the Nutella Buttercream

  1. Add 2 sticks of room temperature butter to the steel bowl of your stand mixer. Beat the butter for 2 minutes using the paddle attachment on medium speed until it's smooth and creamy.
  2. Now sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl. Don't skip the step of sifting, it results in a smoother buttercream. Add the sifted cocoa powder and powdered sugar into the bowl with the butter and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Make sure speed is low else the sugar will blow everywhere.
  3. Add nutella and 1/3 to 1/2 cup cream (depending on how thin or thick you want the buttercream). Mix on low speed first for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium and mix for 2 to 3 minutes until it all comes together and the buttercream is smooth and creamy. You can adjust the thickness of the buttercream at this point and add more cream to make it thinner.

Assemble and Frost the Cake

  1. Place one of the cooled chocolate layer on serving platter. Brush it with simple syrup (simply mix 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a pan and let the sugar dissolve, remove from heat. This is your simply syrup). Add the prepared hazelnut praline whipped ganache on top of the cake layer. Spread it evenly.
  2. Place the second cake layer on top. Brush it with simply syrup. Coat the cake with nutella buttercream from the top and sides.
  3. Decorate with toasted hazelnuts (I crushed it a little using food processor) on the sides. I also used extra buttercream to make some swirls on the top and decorated with ferrero rocher chocolates. Enjoy!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.