Hazelnut Raspberry Cake

Line a 9” x 13" metal rectangular pan, with a bit of butter and then one long rectangle of parchment paper that goes up two sides and across the bottom. See tips for notes on a round cake!

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla and almond extracts.

Use the paddle attachment to beat on medium high speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing completely before adding the next. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl in between each egg.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl again. 

Pour in the almond flour, all purpose flour, and baking powder and mix again on medium speed for about 30 seconds until combined. 

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then rotate 180 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes. The edges should be a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center, should come out clean. Do not over bake this cake or it will become dry!

Place the baked cake on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes. Then lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment paper onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Set aside while you prep the other elements.

If using fresh raspberries, simply rinse the raspberries. Then pour them onto a big plate or sheet pan and use the back of a fork to mash them up. They shouldn't be a smooth purée just broken up.

Heat the heavy cream in the microwave or a sauce pot on the stove until steaming. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and cover with a lid (could be anything just to keep the heat in). Let it sit for 1 minute.

After a minute has passed, remove the lid and use a whisk to whisk the chocolate and cream together until smooth.

Add in 50 grams of soft butter and whisk again.

Set aside, whisking every 5-10 minutes so that it cools evenly and doesn't form a skin.

Place a medium sauce pot half way full with water onto the stove. Bring the water to a simmer.

Set the mixing bowl with the egg whites and sugar over the bowl of simmering water and turn the heat to low. The water shouldn't touch the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Whisk the egg whites and sugar constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved into the egg whites. To check and see if the sugar has dissolved, pinch and rub some of the mixture in between your fingers and feel if you still feel any of the sugar granules, if not you're good to go. If you do just keep cooking a bit longer.

Once the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the water. Leave it to cool off for about 5 minutes.

Using your mixer, whip the egg white mixture first on medium and then on high speed until fluffy, shiny and stiff.

The bottom of the bowl should have cooled off at this point but if not, place the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes.

Once cool to the touch, turn the mixer to medium high speed and add in 1" blocks of butter at a time whipping until all of the butter has mixed in. It will deflate a little bit at the beginning, that's ok! Also it may start to look split or runny at some point, don't stress just put the bowl back in the fridge to cool down for a bit and then keep whipping and adding in the butter.

When almost all of the butter has been added, the mixture is going to look funny, just keep whipping and it will smooth out.

Once all of the butter has been added, take the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the edges. Pour in 150-200 grams (start with 150 and add more to taste) of the room temperature hazelnut butter and the vanilla bean paste. Whip again on medium high until just combined.

Lay a piece of parchment paper on a quarter sized baking tray or any tray you have that will also fit in your fridge.

Peel the parchment off of the cooled cake if you haven't already. At this point were going to cut the cake in half across the equator, the cut should go from one long side to the other and parallel to the short sides. (hamburger style of you know what I mean). Then each of those halves, into two layers. I know the cake seems thin but trust yourself, it will work!

If you have zero faith in your layer cutting capabilities, simply level off the top. Then, cut the big cake into 3 equal rectangles instead of two. You will just have a taller skinny cake with thicker cake layers but it will still be equally as delicious!

Place one of the bottom layers onto the parchment lined tray, cut side up. Fill a piping bag or a zip top bag (with one corner cut off) with 1/3 of the hazelnut buttercream. Pipe a border on the bottom layer of the cake all the way around the edge, do this twice one on top of the other to build up a bit of a wall. Then pipe a little zig zag squiggle of buttercream within the wall, it doesn't need to cover the whole thing.

Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to smooth the inside butter cream into a thin even layer that connects to the wall that we piped.

In a second piping bag or zip top bag (with one corner cut off), add in the chocolate ganache. Pipe another zig zag over the buttercream but within the wall. Again it doesn't need to cover the whole surface. Use a second spoon to smooth out the ganache, it's ok if it mixes with the butter cream a little. If the ganache is too stiff let it warm up somewhere warm or place the bowl over a bowl of hot water until it is back to spreadable consistency.

Use a fork to scoop 1/3 of the defrosted raspberries over the chocolate. Leave the excess liquid behind if you used frozen raspberries and disregard if using fresh mashed raspberries. Distribute the raspberries as evenly as possible over the chocolate ganache.

Then place one of the top layers of cake on top of the raspberry layer, cut side down. Press down on the center of the cake layer gently until it is level and well secured with the "wall" of buttercream that we piped.

Repeat the filling layers and stacking two more times until all of the cake has been stacked.

Scoop the remaining buttercream on to the top of the cake. Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to smooth the butter cream over the top and on the sides being careful not to catch any cake crumbs or other fillings.

Smooth out the edges as desired with a bench scraper and place it in the fridge to chill and set for at least an hour.

It's ok if there is extra buttercream and chocolate ganache you can use them for decorations!

Simple flowers or candles always look beautiful!

I recommend serving this cake at room temperature or just slightly chilled, so once it has set in the fridge, take it out to decorate and then serve or simply set it out about 20-30 minutes before you plan to serve it.

To cut the cake use a thin sharp knife to cut it into slices. Then cut the 1" slices into thirds or half depending on your preference! Be sure to clean the knife between each cut.