Who doesn’t love chocolates? This square cake is super intense with chocolate flavour by whipped chocolate ganache and layered with hazelnut mousse & chopped hazelnuts. This recipe is heaven for someone who loves chocolate but if the description seems like too much chocolate to handle you can replace the ganache with whipped cream. Now the thing about trifles is it is never really meant to be layered up with perfection. It is supposed to be a glorious mess. All you need to do is toss things around and if they land perfectly then good on you but not necessary. I have given a chocolate cake recipe down below. But you can use a cake that you already have, brownies or any chocolate cake recipe you are fond of.
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
150 ml buttermilk at room temperature
125 ml hot water
2 eggs beaten
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
For the Hazelnut Mousse
8 ounces toasted skinned hazelnuts
1 tbsp. oil
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
8 ounces cream cheese
For the Whipped Ganache
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
To Decorate
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Toasted hazelnuts, chocolate flakes
How To Make the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Combine all the dry ingredients with an electric mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until all the ingredients are combined. Mix the batter for 2 minutes with the medium speed. Mix for 30 seconds more with high settings until you get a silky-smooth mixture. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake it at 180C about 25 minutes. Let it cool completely. Once cool, cut the cake into small 1-inch cubes.
DIY mousse : Place the toasted hazel nuts in the bowl of a food processor and turn the processor on. Turn it to powder and then combine with oil. Beat it until it turns to a buttery texture. Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, then transfer it from the mixing bowl to another bowl. In the same mixing bowl, combine the hazelnut butter and the powdered sugar and mix on medium speed until well-incorporated. It may turn quite stiff. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and cream cheese. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream to lighten the hazelnut mixture, then add the rest and gently fold everything together.
Whipped cream ganache, in a bowl put the chocolate, and pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan. Simmer the heavy cream. And then pour it on to chopped chocolate and let it melt the chocolate. Then whisk it all together. Press a layer of cling wrap on top of the chocolate. Leave the ganache in room temperature for at least an hour to make it cool and thicken. If not refrigerate for 30-45 minutes. Then whisk it until it looks like frosting.
To Decorate, Whip the 1 cup of heavy cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Add a layer of cake cubes in the bottom of a large glass bowl. Spread a tablespoon of hazelnut butter on the top of it. Pour half of the whipped ganache on top of that, and spread it out, then top it with a layer of toasted hazelnuts. Repeat the layers, adding cake, hazelnut mousse, whipped ganache, and chopped hazelnuts. Finish with a layer of cake, then top the cake with the whipped cream. Decorate the top of the trifle with additional hazelnuts, chocolate shavings & wafers.