Hard Crack Chocolate Shell Blueberry & Hazelnut Cake
DIFFICULTY: Medium
PREP + COOK TIME: 180 Minutes
Ingredients
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Ingredients ✴
Blueberry & Hazelnut Filling:
150g white chocolate, roughly chopped
⅔ cup cream
⅓ cup chocolate hazelnut spread
¾ cup mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 Tbsp each caster sugar & fresh lemon juice
Shell + Assembly:
100g good-quality dark or milk chocolate, melted
2 tsp neutral oil
2 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa
1 Tbsp caster sugar
100g lady finger sponge biscuits
Directions
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Directions ✴
Grease and nearly line the base and sides of a regular sized loaf tin with baking paper.
Filling: Add the white chocolate and cream to a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 90 seconds, then whisk together along with ¼ tsp fine salt, until smooth. Set aside in the freezer for 15 minutes to cool completely. Once cooled, add the hazelnut spread, mascarpone and vanilla. Using an electric whisk, beat for 30 seconds or so, until just combined and smooth (do not overbeat, it will split).
Add the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice to a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 8-11 minutes, until the compote is reduced and glossy. Set aside in the freezer to cool completely.
Assembly: Mix the melted dark chocolate and oil together until combined. Pour it into the prepared tin, then tilt the tin around, letting gravity do its work, so the chocolate spreads and coats all sides of the tin. Tip out any excess chocolate. Set aside in the fridge to set completely. Meanwhile, whisk the cocoa, sugar and ¼ tsp fine salt together with ¾ cup hot water, until combined. Set aside until ready to use (it should be cooled when you use it).
Spoon roughly half of the mascarpone filling into the base of the chocolate shell, spreading it out into an even layer. Spoon over roughly half of the blueberry compote. Next dip the sponge fingers into the cocoa soak, turning them several times to soak. Layer about six soaked fingers on top of the blueberries in neat rows. Repeat this process with the remaining filling, blueberries and soaked fingers (make sure there aren’t any large gaps on the final layer of fingers, otherwise the blueberry juices might leak out when you turn it out to serve). Set aside in the fridge to set for about 3 hours, or overnight.
When ready to serve, place a serving plate upside down on top of the tin. Securing the plate and tin with both hands, lift and invert the tin onto the plate. Gently lift off the tin and peel away the baking paper. Serve it dusted with some cocoa powder, if desired. Use a hot knife to slice the cake into pieces (or crack it up with a spoon!).