First Catered Wedding
I got commissioned to make my first wedding cake! It was for a dear friend’s older sister. I asked her and her fiancee to choose three flavors for a tasting so they could narrow it down to the final flavor. They decided on hazelnut cake with salted caramel Italian meringue buttercream and hazelnut praline crunch; a Russian Napoleon cake; and a coconut tres leches cake. Can you guess which flavor they chose?
Hazelnut Cake
If you guessed the hazelnut cake, congrats, you’re correct! I’ve never made a hazelnut cake before. However, I soon found out that it’s a bit challenging to attain a strong hazelnut flavor. I tried searching for hazelnut extract (which actually exists), but could not find it in any store for the life of me. Odd considering Oregon is known for hazelnuts.
They way I chose to incorporate the hazelnuts was by adding hazelnut flour and browned butter. Browned butter has a delicious nutty aroma which I thought would help bring out the flavor of the hazelnuts. I then brushed the cake layers with a Frangelico simple syrup. Frangelico is an Italian hazelnut liqueur that has an initially strong hazelnut flavor which mellows out to a more subtle vanilla-like taste. Per request of the bride, I added a hazelnut praline crunch in the filling, which is a brilliant idea on her part. I’m not a big fan of hazelnuts, but that praline crunch made me a convert.
The cake on its own has a subtle hazelnut flavor. It really relies on the syrup soak and the crunch to bring out the hazelnut taste. For the frosting, I would HIGHLY recommend making the salted caramel yourself instead of buying it from a jar. If, however, making homemade salted caramel intimidates you like it did me for many years, buy good quality salted caramel. The artificially-flavored caramel syrup just doesn’t pack nearly as much of a flavor punch.
Wedding Day
Yesterday was the day of the wedding, so once I got off work, I headed straight over to the venue. It was at the bride’s grandparents’ house out in the country and the setting was absolutely beautiful. We were blessed with a gorgeous warm autumn day. Once I arrived at the house, I got straight to work in the kitchen. Everything went pretty smoothly. I made five layers of cake, making the fifth one in case of an emergency. I’m sure glad I did because I broke one of the layers and almost broke the backup… The only problem I ran into was that the kitchen windows caught all of the afternoon sun and my frosting and caramel started to melt! So I hurriedly frosted the cake and added the salted caramel drip and rushed it straight to the fridge to set. Did it look as I was hoping it would? No. Did it look awful? I don’t think so.
I was so self-conscious of the cake as I brought it out to the dessert table. Fortunately, later in the evening, I overheard several guests commenting on how beautiful and delicious the cake was which absolutely warmed my heart.
I was so honored to make this wedding cake. However, I am happy I am finished with cake-making for the time being haha. In the nights leading up to the wedding, I would wake up from dreams of my salted caramel burning!
Although the cake I made was a four-layer 12″ cake, the recipe posted is for a three-layer 8″ cake. I hope you enjoy!
Blessings on your home and table, ~Natalie
Hazelnut Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting
Serves 12
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 3 cups cake flour*
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup hazelnut flour**
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup hazelnut coffee creamer
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
Salted Caramel Italian Meringue Buttercream (from Gretchen’s Bakery):
- 7 egg whites
- 5 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature and cubed
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups salted caramel (recipe below)
Hazelnut Praline Crunch:
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup toasted hazelnuts
- pinch of salt
Salted Caramel (from Sally’s Baking Addiction):
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, room temperature
- 3 teaspoons salt
Frangelico Syrup:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup Frangelico (or another hazelnut liqueur)
Directions:
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 8″ cake pans and line with parchment paper circles.
- In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, melt the butter and continue to cook until it has browned; stir occasionally. You know when it’s done when you begin to smell a delicious nutty aroma. Drain off the solids at the bottom of the pan and let the mixture cool.
- In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat together the brown sugar and egg yolks for 5 minutes until light in color.
- Beat in cooled butter mixture, sour cream, vanilla extract, egg whites, and hazelnut coffee creamer.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, hazelnut flour, and cinnamon.
- Beat in half of the flour mixture, followed by the milk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture.
- Divide cake batter evenly among pans. Let bake 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Carefully remove cakes from the pans and level the tops with a leveler or a large serrated knife.
- Brush tops of cakes with Frangelico simple syrup.
Frangelico Simple Syrup:
- Combine sugar, water, and Frangelico in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a gentle boil. Let simmer around 10 minutes until sugar is completely melted and the alcohol taste has cooked out. Allow mixture to cool completely.
Salted Caramel:
- Spread sugar evenly in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Whisk constantly. Sugar will begin to clump and melt. This can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Continue whisking until all the sugar has melted and turns a light-medium amber color. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until fully combined. Whisk in heavy whipping cream until fully combined. Pour into a bowl and let cool.
Italian Meringue Buttercream:
- In a stand bowl with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- While the egg whites are mixing, place sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat. Let mixture boil until a candy thermometer registers 240°F.
- Pour mixture in a slow, thin, and steady stream into egg whites. Mixer should remain on high while this is happening. Be careful not to let the syrup touch the whisk attachment and be careful not to splash any of the hot liquid on yourself.
- Continue to whisk on high speed until the bowl is completely cool to the touch. This can take up to an hour.
- Beat in cubed butter a piece at a time. The mixture may turn a bit soupy, but just keep the mixer running on high speed and it should come back together.
- Stir in desired amount of salted caramel to taste. The flavor will be subtle, not strong. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use. If the frosting solidifies, place it back in the mixer and mix on medium-high speed until fluffy.
Hazelnut Praline Crunch:
- Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Let mixture cook until it turns a medium amber color. This may take 5-10 minutes, but be sure to carefully watch the mixture. I filled my downstairs with smoke and set off the smoke detector because I wasn’t monitoring it.
- Remove from heat and stir in salt and hazelnuts.
- Spread on a foil-lined rimmed cookie sheet.
- Once cooled, break into chunks and then chop into pieces.
Assembly:
- Spread ~1 cup of frosting on top of one of the cakes. Sprinkle with hazelnut praline crunch. Drizzle tops of praline crunch with salted caramel. Add the next layer.
- Repeat this process one more time.
- Frost the top and outsides of cake with frosting.
- Drizzle some of the salted caramel around the outside edge and down the sides of the cake.
- If desired, sprinkle remaining hazelnut praline crunch on the top of the cake.
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