Ferrero Rocher cake

An old school mate of mine recently contacted me over a social networking website asking whether I could make a birthday cake for her. She had seen pictures some of the cakes I've made for friends and family over this past year, and apparently seemed to like my work :D I was genuinely honoured that she thought so highly of my cakes. I was only too happy to agree to her request.

This was my first commissioned birthday cake. Previous to this, I have always made cakes as a "surprise" for others. There's not much the way of pressure when people don't know what to expect from you. In this case, however, my old school mate and I decided on a Ferrero Rocher-based cake together, and it was up to me to...realise her vision.

*cue the dramatic music*

Up to the moment when I put the ribbon bow on, I honestly didn't know what the final result would look like. I kept coming up with new ideas for the cake: "ooh, what if I was to replace one of the layers with crumbled chocolate crackles to simulate the texture of a Ferrero Rocher?" Even the actual Ferrero Rocher chocolates on top went through several 'editing' processes in my mind before I settled on just seven, as opposed to a dozen or so covering the entire upper surface.

I put a great deal of thought into this cake. Which is only right, and something I would expect every cake craftsman to do. The client is the boss, after all!

For the cake, I decided to go with the classic chocolat devil's food cake. Previously, I've made many-a-batches of cupcakes out of the recipe I chose; this was the first time I've baked large cakes out of it. I got two 9" cakes by making 1.5x this recipe from Cupcake Bakeshop by Chockylit. It trial and error with the baking times. I did each cake separately, baking it at 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for around 45 minutes. The cakes looked worrying dry and crumbly after they cooled down, but when I sliced into it to make thinner layers, the crumb was so fine and moist - just perfect. And the flavour was superb, as usual.

(I really need to stop baking for a while. I tell myself to never lick the cake batter or chocolate frosting off the beater, but it's usually in my mouth already before I realise what I've done. Not that there's anything wrong with the occasional indulgence, but almost everyday? Grr).

As soon as you say "Ferrero Rocher cake", I'm sure most people would think to some sort of filling involving Nutella. Or a Nutella-substitute. I made a swiss meringue buttercream and incorporated around a cup of Nutino, which is a hazelnut spread that tastes exactly like Nutella. At this stage, I became slightly despondent because for some reason, I failed at making swiss meringue buttercream for the first time ever. Maybe it was because I had some water on my beaters, or because the new recipe I tried out had the proportions wrong to begin with, but the meringue just would not whip up! I contemplated throwing the whole thing out and starting anew, but decided to soldier on to see what the final product looked like. Hey, in for a penny, in for a pound.

The resulting buttercream was actually not too shabby! In fact, it had the consistency of soft mousse, which in my opinion made it more suitable for filling a cake as opposed to, say, piping with. And did I mention how fantastic it tasted?

My new cake leveler made everything so smooth and...level. It was definitely money well spent :D

This turned out to be one heavy cake. Some day, I'll master the art of constructing those delicate entrements. Until then, I'll make do ones like this :D