A Four-Layer Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake for Festive Occasions

Info

• Active cooking time: 30 minutes
• From start to finish: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: one 6-inch cake with four layers

Ingredients

For the cake layers

• Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing the pans
• 1 cup unsalted roasted hazelnuts
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup hot coffee

For the frosting

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• A generous pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Mustard yellow food coloring
• Dusty rose pink food coloring

For decorating

• Marzipan tinted with food coloring and cut into shapes (this version uses little houses)
• Crushed unsalted roasted hazelnuts
• Green sprinkles, if desired
• Orange sprinkles, if desired

Instructions

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees F to preheat.
2. Grease four round cake pans, each 6 inches across and 3 inches deep, and fit parchment paper into their bottoms.
3. Pulse the hazelnuts in a food processor until they break down into fine crumbs. Take out 1/4 cup of the crumbs and reserve them for the frosting.
4. Tip the rest of the hazelnut crumbs into a large bowl. Whisk in the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the milk, oil, vanilla and eggs together. Add the wet mixture to the dry one and whisk to combine, then stir in the hot coffee; the batter will be quite thin.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick pushed into the middle comes out clean, starting to check at the 25-minute mark. Leave the cakes in their pans for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a greased cooling rack.
6. Make the frosting while the cakes cool: beat the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and salt with an electric mixer until smooth, then mix in the heavy cream until smooth again. Set aside a very small amount of frosting, tint it with the mustard yellow coloring, and stir until evenly colored. Put this yellow frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Color the remaining frosting with the dusty rose pink coloring, adding until you reach the shade you want. Spoon 1 cup of the pink frosting into a small bowl and fold in the reserved 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts.
7. Trim the domed tops off the cake layers to level them. Spread hazelnut frosting over the top of the first layer, set a second layer on it, and cover that with more of the hazelnut frosting. Repeat with the two remaining layers. Then coat the top and sides of the assembled cake with the plain pink frosting.
8. To finish, pipe small mustard-colored dots of frosting around the cake's edge. Top with marzipan houses featuring green shutters, the crushed hazelnuts, green sprinkles for grass, orange sprinkles for a sun, or any other decorations you like.