Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas Chocolate Pirouette cake with Nutella frosting

Christmas Chocolate Pirouette cake


Happy Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone :) 

This is a chocolate 4 layer cake with Nutella and Chocolate butter cream frosting.
Making a layered cake takes time and patience.So this post is gonna be quite long with lots of pictures.

A slice of yummy goodness

To make this cake it takes a few hours of baking, refrigerating and designing .So to break it down, it has 5 parts.

Part 1 : Baking the chocolate cake
Part 2 : Making the Nutella frosting
Part 3 : Making the chocolate frosting
Part 4 : Arranging Pirouettes
Part 5 : Preparing the chocolate ganache and final assembly of the cake 

Vanilla Pirouette


Pirouette is a very thin delicate wafer filled with cream.Pirouette cakes are so in trend right now and I wanted to try it as soon as I got hold of the 'Pepperidge farms Vanilla Pirouette'.

Everyone loves Nutella. I am a Nutella addict and I have been waiting to use it on some dessert.Christmas is a perfect time to indulge in all the rich scrumptious desserts without worrying about the nutritional facts.It is the best time of the year to make all those desserts you have been avoiding for so long.If you are looking for a low fat or on a diet please don't look ahead !!

Is there anything better in this world than a cake with Nutella in it.So what are you waiting for ?? Go ahead and make this cake and enjoy every bite of it :)

Part 1 : Baking the chocolate cake

Ingredients for chocolate cake (yields two 9 inch cakes)

  • Butter - 1 and 1/2 sticks or 170 gm (at room temperature)
  • Granulated white Sugar - 1 .75 cups or 350 gm
  • Large white Eggs - 3
  • Pure Vanilla Extract - 2 tsp
  • All purpose flour - 2 cups or 256 gm
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder/ Dutch processed - 3/4 cup or 128 gm
  • Baking powder - 1 tsp
  • Baking soda - 1.5 tsp
  • Salt - 1/2 tsp
  • Whole Milk - 1.25 cups
  • Hershey's Genuine syrup - 1/4 cup

Method for chocolate cake:

This batter makes 2 separate cakes.Each divided into two after baking which makes the 4 layers.
  • Preheat the oven to 325 degree F or 162 degree C.
  • Grease the cake pan with butter and then add some flour and gently coat them.Keep them aside.
  • Dry Ingredients - In a large bowl combine all purpose flour,cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda,salt .Stir using a wire whisk until well combined and then sift through a mesh to avoid large pieces.
  • In a large bowl add butter and using a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for 30 sec.Add granulated sugar in small batches and beat until well combined.This takes about a minute. Add one egg at a time and beat for 20- 30 sec. Add the vanilla extract.
  • Now add the dry ingredients and milk into the butter mixture in small batches in alternating ways.Beat using mixer for just 20-30 sec just until combined. Don't over-beat them for a long time.This makes your cake very dense.
  • Add the flour,then add some milk,then add flour and so on...Finally add the Hershey's syrup.Give a gentle mix using mixer for 10 sec.That's it.Your batter is ready.
  • Split the batter into two equal halves.If you have two cake pans,pour them and put them in the oven at the same time.
  • If you don't have two cake pans ,just make one wait for it to cool down and then pour the second batch.
  • Bake in the oven at 325 F for 25- 30 min.Keep your timer at 20 min.Check every 5 min until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  • Take the cake pan out the oven carefully and let them sit for 15 min.Then invert the cake into a cooling rack until they are completely cooled for about 3 hrs.
Keep in mind that we are going to make a 4 layer cake.This batter makes 2 separate cakes.Each divided into two after baking which makes the 4 layers.While they are cooling,lets go ahead and make the frosting.


Dry ingredients for the cake

Chocolate cake batter

Chocolate cake after baking


Part 2 : Making the Nutella frosting

Ingredients for Nutella Buttercream frosting
  • Butter - 1.5 sticks or 170 gm (at room temperature)
  • Confectioners sugar/powdered white sugar - 3 cups
  • Nutella original spread - 4 tblsp
  • Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
  • Whole Milk - 2 tblsp

Method for Nutella Buttercream frosting
  • In a large bowl add butter and using a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for 30 sec.Add confectioners sugar in small batches and beat until well combined.This takes about a minute. Add the vanilla extract and Nutella spread.Add milk.Then beat again until they are creamy.
  • If it is too creamy then add more sugar.If it is too thick add some milk.Adjust until the you get the right consistency.






Part 3 : Making the chocolate frosting

Ingredients for Chocolate Buttercream frosting ( Outer layer frosting)
  • Butter - 1.5 sticks or 170 gm (at room temperature)
  • Confectioners sugar/powdered white sugar - 3 cups
  • Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
  • Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
  • Whole Milk - 2 tblsp
Method for Chocolate Buttercream frosting
  • In a large bowl add butter and using a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for 30 sec.Add confectioners sugar  in small batches and beat until well combined.Then add cocoa powder and beat it again.This takes about a minute. Add the vanilla extract and milk.Then beat again until they are creamy.
  • If it is too creamy then add more sugar.If it is too thick add some milk.Adjust until the you get the right consistency.

Part 4 : Arranging Pirouettes

How to layer the cake - The best part :)
  • After the cakes are cooled completely,cut each of the two cakes horizontally in the center so you have 4 equal pieces.
  • Place the first layer on the surface on which you are going to display the cake.Scoop a small amount of  Nutella butter cream onto it and spread it gently.Careful not to press it too hard.
  • Place another cake layer on top of it.apply butter cream.Alternate cake and frosting until last layer of cake.
  • Now take the chocolate butter cream and spread it on all sides covering the entire cake.
  • Take out your pirouettes and cut them according to the height of your cake.Carefully arrange them around the cake like the pic below.
  • Keep it refrigerated until the frosting sets.We then move on to the chocolate ganache.
4 layers with Nutella frosting


Chocolate butter cream frosting for outer layer 



Part 5 : Preparing the chocolate ganache and final assembly of the cake 

  You can make the traditional Ganache by melting chocolate and heavy cream but I just used the Hershey's genuine chocolate syrup.It was both yummy and saved me loads of time.

After adding the syrup,refrigerate again for just 10-15 mins.Decorate your cake as much as you like.

Chocolate Pirouette cake is ready to be cut and served.

If you have tried my recipe ,please let me know your comments and suggestions.Thank you and have a great New Year ahead !


10 comments:

  1. Gosh!!! I love what I see though I'm not a fan of cakes. Beautifully made with beautiful visuals.

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  2. Scrumptious cake or a dessert,I must say.. Beautifully made, sure it would have tasted yummy !!
    Happy New Year wishes too !

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  3. Omg thats an fantastic cake dear :) beautifully presented and so moist !!

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  4. Beautiful and Yummy cake ! Excellent job !

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  5. Marvelous Look & Fantastic Preparation ! Eagerly waiting for your BEAUTIFUL. NEW Creations !

    ReplyDelete