This Chai Hazelnut Layer Cake is the perfect cake for welcoming the changes of the season whether you’re a tea lover or not. The aromatic spices in a cup of chai are unreal and totally reminiscent of Autumn. This cake is filled with a layer of Nutella in between two layers of soft sponge cakes and frosted with a spiced chai buttercream generously. It is then topped with some beautiful chocolate curls to finish. This is truly a showstopper and is the best way to celebrate any occasion with family or friends.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Eggs: Use large eggs and bring them to room temperature before mixing in. Eggs strengthen the binding of your cake and also add moisture. Having your eggs at room temperature makes it easier to incorporate them and allow them to mix thoroughly in your cake batter. A good way of doing this is by letting them sit in a bowl filled with room temperature water for around 10 minutes or until they come down to room temperature.
- Sugar: Fine granulated sugar or caster sugar is ideal for this recipe, as they dissolve quicker.
- All-purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Leavener: You will need baking powder to help the cake rise and turn out light and fluffy.
- Nutella: Nutella is a brand of sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread. You can use any chocolate hazelnut spread alternatively or even make one at home.
- Unsalted Butter: It is very important to have your butter at room temperature. You can ensure this by lightly pressing your finger on the block of butter. It should slightly leave an imprint. I also prefer to use unsalted butter because salted butters have varying amounts of salt content in them and it is always a good idea to add it on your own and avoid your bakes from being too salty.
- Powdered Sugar: You will need powdered of confectioners’ sugar to add to your chai buttercream. It mixes in like a breeze and leaves no grainy lumps at all!
- Ground ginger: You will need ground ginger to add to this chai buttercream. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for the cozy weather.
- Ground cinnamon: You will need ground cinnamon to add to this chai buttercream. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for the cozy weather.
- Ground nutmeg: A small amount of nutmeg along with cinnamon helps to bring out its flavours even more and add depth to them. I don’t recommend leaving this out.
- Ground cloves or cardamom: A pinch of ground cloves or ground cardamom helps to enhance the flavour of all these spices and goes very well with this chai buttercream.
- All spice powder: You will need all-spice powder to add to this chai buttercream. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for the cozy weather.
- Kosher salt: Adding a pinch of salt helps to balance out the flavours in this chai buttercream.
- Heavy Cream: You will need high-fat heavy cream or heavy whipping cream to make a smooth and silky buttercream. If you’re using low-fat cream, make sure to drain out the water content from it before starting.
- Vanilla: I highly recommend that you use a high quality, pure vanilla extract. This helps in giving a rich flavor to your baked goods. Pure vanilla extracts are typically dark brown in color. This enhances the flavor of all ingredients and you should never leave this out.
- Chocolate: I highly recommend using good quality couverture baking chocolate chips or chocolate bars (I use callebaut) to ensure the best flavor. Couverture chocolates are made of cocoa butter as compared to regular compound chocolates which are made of saturated fats like oil.
FAQ
Whether you’re making a layer cake or a single layer cake, flat tops are always desirable. The reason why cakes dome that your cake pan heats up much faster than the rest of the cake causing the edges to set before the cake has risen fully, and as the rest of the cake cooks the centre rises and creates a dome. To avoid this from happening you want to protect the edges of your cake pan. To do this, you can wrap cake strips, foil, or a damp cloth around the edges of your cake pan. Be careful with the damp cloth as it might start burning after it completely dries out. This trick will ensure you get flat tops always!
In order to evenly frost your cake, use a cookie scoop to add the prepared frosting on top. Start by adding around 1 large scoop or ½ cup of frosting on top of the first layer. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly on top of the cake. Form a ring of frosting around the edge of the cake and fill Nutella in between. Spread it evenly. Top with the other cake layer. Add around another or ½ cup of frosting around the cake using an offset spatula. This will be the crumb coat of the cake. Make sure not to put too much pressure and remove crumbs from the cake. Refrigerate for around 30 minutes to allow the crumb coat to set on your cake. Add around another ½ to 1 cup of frosting around the cake using an offset spatula to form a thick layer along the edges of the cake. You can use a bench scraper or an icing scraper to smooth out the walls of the cake. Smooth the top and edges using an offset spatula to form sharp corners. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for another 20 minutes to let it set. Top with chocolate curls.
I don’t know everything but I’m pretty sure you’ll barely have a single crumb of this best ever tiramisu layer cake left over. If you do, store any extra cake tightly covered in the refrigerator to keep the tiramisu cream frosting cold. A cake dome or plastic cake carrier will keep it fresh for up to 6 days. To freeze individual slices, plate them and cover tightly with two layers of plastic wrap. When the craving strikes, simply defrost a slice at room temperature and grab a fork! You can also freeze the cake layers, individually wrapped, for up to 3 months. Remove the layers from the freezer and whip up a fresh batch of the tiramisu cream and frost the cake as you normally would. Good news! If the layers are frozen, you can skip the crumb coat.
1. Melt chocolate & butter in the microwave on 30% power until smooth.
2. Pour onto a baking pan and using an offset spatula, spread chocolate as thin as possible.
3. Place in the freezer for 3-4 minutes or until firm. Use a spatula or scraper to scrape the chocolate off the 4. pan and make curls. If the chocolate begins to soften too much, pop it back into the freezer for a couple of minutes.
4. Once curled, place the pan back in the fridge until ready to use. Transfer the curls to your dessert using a spatula.
1. Preheat oven and prepare a baking sheet. Place 8oz. hazelnuts on the sheet and roast for 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Remove from the oven and let cool.
3. Gently rub the nuts with a kitchen towel until the skin comes off.
4. Place hazelnuts in a food processor and process until they start to liquefy.
5. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/3rd cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Mix until well combined.
6. With the food processor running, drizzle in 2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
7. Add in 1/4th teaspoon salt and process for 5 seconds.
8. Add in 1/4th cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and process until it all comes together.
9. Store at room temperature for upto 2 weeks.
TIPS TO MAKE THE BEST Chai Hazelnut LAYER CAKE:
- Use room temperature ingredients. You know the drill my friends. For a smooth, lump free batter be sure your eggs, milk and yogurt are all room temperature. For best results, take your ingredients out of the fridge the night before you bake the cake. Cold ingredients do not emulsify well and can lead to a lumpy, bumpy batter and a cake that bakes unevenly. By beating together room temperature eggs with the sugar, you’ll create a fluffy, moist cake that is still sturdy enough to hold plenty of frosting but also will be light and fluffy like a sponge. For best results, leave your ingredients out the night before you bake the cake.
- Do not over mix your batter. This cake comes together with just one bowl and four ingredients only. Don’t be tempted to over mix your batter once you’ve added in the dry ingredients into the wet or you will end up with a dense crumb. Once you have added the dry ingredients, gently fold them together using a rubber spatula until no streaks of flour remain.
- Prep your pans. A little prep goes a long way. For perfectly baked layers, line the bottom of each pan with a circle of parchment paper and then grease the sides of the pan with nonstick baking spray. I like to use a baker’s spray that has a touch of flour in it for clean cake edges and a quick, easy release.
- Weigh your cake layers. To ensure your cake bakes up into two even layers, weigh your cake pans with the batter inside and adjust accordingly so that each layer contains an equal amount of batter. For flat, perfectly even layers, use these cake strips around the outside of each cake pan. They work like a charm every time.
- Do not over bake. No one likes a dry cake so keep an eye on your oven. Every oven runs differently but my cakes baked up in 20 minutes. The cake is done with the edges of the cake begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs remaining. Cool the cakes completely on a wire rack before frosting.
- Do not hold back on the spices. I know, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and adding along some ginger, nutmeg and all-spice might sound a lot at first and leave you holding back from adding them. I get it that you’re sceptical. All these spices blend together to form what is famously known as chai spice. Trust me friends, they blend in so well in this chai buttercream and give it the perfectly cozy fall flavours you’re looking for!
- Use the very best quality ingredients. This hazelnut chai cake requires so few ingredients so be sure to splurge on the good stuff. I highly recommend using high quality couverture dark chocolate. I use Callebaut chocolate and it gives an extremely shiny and smooth look along with an incredible texture. Couverture chocolates also hold their shape at room temperature.
HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS FROM THIS RECIPE?
All of the recipes on the blog are thoroughly tested multiple times and carefully designed so that anyone can reproduce these delicious baked good in their own kitchen and enjoy them to the fullest. The only way to make this possible is when anyone can exactly replicate the measurements and temperatures.
- In order to standardise the way ingredients are measured, I highly recommend that you weigh them in grams. Volume measurements are nearly not as accurate and have a lot of scope for errors. To precisely be able to replicate the recipes, all you will need is a kitchen scale!
- Every oven heats up differently. Your oven might be over heating or under heating by around 50 degrees or more and you might not even know. In order to ensure that you are baking at the right temperatures, I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer!
If you would still like to bake using volume measurements, I mentioned those below. However, I primarily test my recipes in grams and cannot promise the best results if you do so. Trust me, once you’ll start using these tools you’d never want to go back!
I hope you’ll enjoy this Chai Hazelnut Layer Cake and don’t forget to bookmark this recipe for the holidays. These pretty & delicious layer cake would make the perfect delight to share with your friends & family!
Happy Holiday Baking! x
Print
Chai Hazelnut Layer Cake
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
Description
This Chai Hazelnut Layer Cake is the perfect cake for welcoming the changes of the season whether you’re a tea lover or not. The aromatic spices in a cup of chai are unreal and totally reminiscent of Autumn.
Ingredients
SPONGE CAKE:
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 200g (1 cup) granulated or caster sugar
- 125g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 74g (¼ cup) Nutella
CHAI BUTTERCREAM
- 345g (1½ cups) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 600g (5 cups) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves or cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon allspice powder
- 60ml (¼ cup) heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
CHOCOLATE CURLS
- 90g (3 ounces) semi sweet chocolate
Instructions
SPONGE CAKE
- Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line bottoms of two 8″ or 9″ cake pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment (this is the one I have), beat 6 large eggs for 1 minute on high speed. With the mixer on, gradually add 1 cup sugar and continue beating 8-10 minutes until thick and fluffy.
- Whisk together 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder then sift this mixture into fluffy egg mixture one third at a time. Fold with a spatula with each addition just until incorporated. Scrape spatula from the bottom to catch any pockets of flour and stop mixing when no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you will deflate the batter.
- Divide evenly between prepared cake pans (it helps if you have a kitchen scale to weight the pans). Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Don’t open the oven for at least the first 20 minutes.
- Let the cake cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan by sliding a thin spatula around the edges then transfer to a wire rack and remove parchment backing. Then run a knife around the edges and invert onto a cooling rack. Cool completely. Once cooled, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.
CHAI BUTTERCREAM
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy – about 2 minutes.
- Add confectioners’ sugar, spices, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute.
- Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder if frosting is too thin or another Tablespoon of cream if frosting is too thick. Taste. Beat in another pinch of salt if desired.
CHOCOLATE CURLS
- Melt chocolate & butter in the microwave on 30% power until smooth.
- Pour onto a baking pan and using an offset spatula, spread chocolate as thin as possible.
- Place in the freezer for 3-4 minutes or until firm. Use a spatula or scraper to scrape the chocolate off the pan and make curls. If the chocolate begins to soften too much, pop it back into the freezer for a couple of minutes.
- Once curled, place the pan back in the fridge until ready to use. Transfer the curls to your dessert using a spatula.
ASSEMBLY
- In order to evenly frost your cake, use a cookie scoop to add the prepared frosting on top. Start by adding around 1 large scoop or ½ cup of frosting on top of the first layer. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly on top of the cake.
- Form a ring of frosting around the edge of the cake and fill Nutella in between. Spread it evenly. Top with the other cake layer. Add around another or ½ cup of frosting around the cake using an offset spatula. This will be the crumb coat of the cake. Make sure not to put too much pressure and remove crumbs from the cake. Refrigerate for around 30 minutes to allow the crumb coat to set on your cake.
- Add around another ½ to 1 cup of frosting around the cake using an offset spatula to form a thick layer along the edges of the cake. You can use a bench scraper or an icing scraper to smooth out the walls of the cake. Smooth the top and edges using an offset spatula to form sharp corners.
- Chill the cake in the refrigerator for another 20 minutes to let it set. Top with chocolate curls.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Layer Cakes, Chai spice cake, Nutella Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chai hazelnut layer cake, chai spice layer cake, nutella layer cake, hazelnut chai layer cake
Tried this and the ratios of egg to flour, sugar, and baking powder in the sponge ends up with a strange egg-heavy cake…not sure if there’s a missing step to incorporate the vanilla and Nutella in the actual sponge? May try it again because I love the idea of the cake, but in practice, for us, it was a bit of a fail.