OLIVIA CAKE

The first time I made this birthday cake was for Olivia’s family party back in 2014. We had a smaller crowd this year and I had the opportunity to take some photos. The cake consists of two layers of white and 2 layers of chocolate piskóta. In between there are two layers of hazelnut dacquoise, two layers of chocolate ganache and two thin layers of chocolate buttercream. The top and the sides of the cake have a thin layer of chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache. I made a mistake with the second cake; I let the buttercream solidify before I spread the ganache on top. So it doesn’t have the lovely marbled effect, the mingling of buttercream with the ganache, that the first cake had. Next year!

OLIVIA CAKE

Note: to omit the dacquoise, increase the buttercream to 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, 3 cups icing sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa.

• Make the chocolate and the white piskóta, the hazelnut dacquoise, the chocolate ganache and the chocolate buttercream in that order.

White Piskóta:

6 eggs separated

6 heaping Tbsp sugar

6 heaping Tbsp cake flour

lemon zest, finely grated

Chocolate Piskóta:

8 eggs separated

8 heaping Tbsp sugar

5 heaping Tbsp cake flour

5 heaping Tbsp cocoa

Hazelnut Dacquoise:

1/8 cup + 2/8 cups sugar

1 scant Tbsp cornstarch

1/8 cup toasted, skinned, and ground hazelnuts

2 egg whites from small eggs, at room temperature

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Chocolate Ganache:

3 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/8 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces

Chocolate Buttercream:

1 cup soft unsalted butter

2 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup cocoa, sifted

TO MAKE THE WHITE PISKÓTA:

• Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and lemon coloured.
• Add zest to sifted cake flour.
• Stir the flour mixture into the yolk mix.
• Wash the beaters and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Gently fold egg whites into the cake batter.
• Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
• Pour in the batter and gently level the top.
• Bake at 350F for 23 minutes or until the middle springs back.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE PISKÓTA:

• Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and lemon coloured.
• Whisk the cake flour and the cocoa.
• Stir the flour mixture into the cake batter.
• Wash the beaters and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• Gently fold egg whites into the mixture.
• Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
• Pour in the batter and gently level the top.
• Bake at 350F for 35 minutes or until the middle springs back.

TO MAKE THE DACQUOISE:

• Lower the oven temperature to 300°F.
• Draw a circle on parchment paper about 1 inch smaller than the bottoms of the cake pans used for baking the cakes.
• Outline the circle with a felt pan.
• Place the parchment sheet, tracing-side down on a baking sheet and set it aside.
• Combine sugar, cornstarch and toasted, skinned, and ground hazelnuts in a food processor.
• Pulse one or two times. Set aside.
• Place the egg whites from small eggs in the bowl of a standard mixer.
• Beat at low speed until frothy.
• Add the vanilla extract and cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form.
• Add sugar at 1 Tbsp at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form and the mixture is glossy.
• Transfer to a wide, shallow bowl.
• Sprinkle one third of the sugar-hazelnut mixture over the meringue and fold in by hand.
• Repeat this two more times with the remaining sugar-hazelnut mixture.
• Scoop this mixture inside the parchment circle and smooth out the top.
• Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the dacquoise is dry and brittle to the touch.
• Turn off the oven and leave the dacquoise in the oven until it reaches room temperature, approximately 1 hour.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

• Chop the chocolate into small, matchstick-size pieces and place in a large stainless steel or heat-resistant bowl.
• Bring the cream to a rising boil and pour, all at once, over the chopped chocolate.
• Stir until the chocolate is melted and completely smooth with no lumps.
• Quickly stir in one or two pieces of the softened butter at a time, until completely dissolved.
• Set aside to thicken to a spreadable consistency.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM:

• Beat the unsalted butter with the icing sugar on high speed for 5 minutes until soft and frothy.
• Add the sifted cocoa and beat to combine.

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:

• Cut both cakes and the hazelnut dacquoise horizontally into 2 parts.
• Divide the chocolate ganache into 2 parts.
• Divide the buttercream into 4 parts.
• Next, assemble the cake layers starting from the bottom: 

1 part chocolate piskóta

1 part chocolate buttercream

1 part white piskóta

1 part hazelnut dacquoise

1 part chocolate ganache

1 part chocolate piskóta

1 part chocolate buttercream

1 part hazelnut dacquoise

1 part chocolate ganache

1 part white piskóta

• Cover top with 1 part buttercream
• Cover side with 1 part buttercream
• Cover top with 1 part chocolate ganache
• Cover top with 1 part chocolate ganache
• Place in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.