Hungarian Chocolate And Hazelnut Cake (Esterhazy Torte)

Esterhazy Torte! This ultra-indulgent Hungarian Hazelnut and Chocolate Layer Cake is an absolute treat! Also known as Esterhazy Torte, it’s made up of soft layers of hazelnut dacquoise, a silky-smooth hazelnut praline chocolate pastry cream, and is topped with a chocolate and vanilla glaze. And if that wasn’t already indulgent enough, it’s coated in hazelnuts.

Nick’s favorite thing about Esterhazy Torte…

I absolutely adore how delicious this cake is. It’s not overly sweet or grossly rich. But rich in flavour! My favourite thing however is how soft and melt in your mouth it is. So delicious and each layer is a pure delight.

What does Esterhazy Torte taste like?

Esterhazy Torte, so yum! There’s a gorgeous marriage of toasted hazelnut and silky smooth chocolate. Your fork just melts through each layer. The tope is glazed with a sugar glaze and covered in toasted hazelnut on the outside.

What are the ingredients I need?

• Hazelnuts – If you can’t find skinned hazelnuts, see notes at the end of the recipe on how to make your own skinned hazelnuts.
• Granulated sugar – also known as regular white sugar.
• Salt – I used fine salt.
• Glucose syrup – corn syrup will also work.
• Bicarb soda – also known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda.
• Caster sugar – also known as superfine sugar.
• Cocoa powder – I used unsweetened cocoa powder.
• All-purpose flour – also known as plain flour.
• Corn starch – also known as corn flour.
• Eggs – I used large eggs.
• Milk – I used full cream. Skim and plant based milk will also work.
• Butter – make sure it’s chilled and make sure it’s cubed for the pastry cream. Make sure the melted butter is cooled slightly before making the glaze.
• Vanilla Extract – Always use good quality vanilla extract when baking, it makes a huge difference. I have a great recipe here for it if you’d like to try your own!
• Powdered sugar – also known as icing sugar

Let’s go through each step.

Hazelnut Praline

1. Preheat your oven to 160C / 325F. You’ll be using a lot of hazelnuts in this recipe. It’ll be 450g all up. Place all of the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
2. Allow to cool.

3. Place sugar, water, salt and 150g of toasted hazelnuts in a medium sized saucepan on medium high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
4. Add glucose syrup and mix until well combined.

5. Turn heat down to medium and allow to bubble away, stirring occasionally until it turns a deep golden colored syrup. It will reach 150 – 155C / 300 – 310F on a candy thermometer.
6. Once it reaches that color and temperature, turn the heat off and add the bicarb soda. Stir immediately until well combined.

7. Pour onto a baking tray and allow to set for 20 minutes until hard.
8. Break into smaller pieces and place in a food processor.

9. Process until it turns into a paste. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside until ready to use.

Chocolate Pastry Cream

1. Add the sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch and salt into a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine.
2. Add the egg yolks and whisk before adding all of the warmed milk and whisk until well combined.

3. Pour into a large saucepan and use a wooden spoon to stir on medium heat until thickened, about 6-8 minutes.
4. Take off the heat and add about 1/3 of the cubed butter. Stir until well combined.

5. Then add another 1/3 and repeat until its all in there. Then add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.
6. Pour into a medium sized mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

7. Once chilled, add to a food processor and process until super smooth, about 5 minutes. Make sure you scrape down at least once.
8. Add the hazelnut praline and process for 2 minutes or until well combined.

9. Place back in the bowl and chill until ready to use.

Hazelnut Dacquoise

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 150C / 300F (170C / 340F for no fan). Spray the bottom (not the sides) of four 22cm / 8-inch cake tins and line the bottom with baking paper. If you don’t have four cake tins, just use what you have and bake them one at a time. Set aside. Process hazelnuts – Add the remaining toasted hazelnuts (300g) into a food processor and process until they reach a fine crumb texture. Take out 150g of hazelnuts and set aside to coat the cake when decorating.
2. Combine hazelnuts and flour – Add the flour into the food processor and process until well combined and the crushed hazelnuts are evenly coated in the flour. Set aside.

3. Add the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
4. Whisk for 4 minutes or until thick and glossy. Add the vanilla extract and salt and whisk for another 30 seconds.

5. Add the vanilla extract and salt and whisk for another 30 seconds.
6. Add dry ingredients – Stop the mixer and add the hazelnut flour mixture. Use a spatula to gently fold through until well combined and no dry ingredients are visible taking care to pay attention to the bottom of the bowl as you’re folding, as that’s where they like to hide when they’re added to the meringue! The mixture will be thick. Add the mixture to a piping bag.

7. Use a spatula to gently fold through until well combined. Add the mixture to a piping bag.
8. Pipe the mixture into all 4 cake tins. Gently tap on your workbench 3 times. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Assembly

1. Line the bottom of an 8-inch (22cm) springform pan with baking paper.
2. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the cooled cakes to loosen them.

3. Add one layer of cake into the springform pan.
4. Use a piece of acetate measuring 25 1/2 inches (65cm) wide and 3 inches (8cm) high in the cake tin. The cake layer will help keep things in place.

5. Add 1/4 of the chocolate pastry cream and spread around evenly. You can do this using an offset spatula or a tablespoon that has been bent as shown in the video.
6. Add the next layer and repeat until all 4 layers have been used. Please note: you will have used 3/4 of the chocolate pastry cream and should have another 1/4 left.

Glaze

1. To make the vanilla glaze add the powdered sugar to a small bowl along with the melted butter and mix using a whisk until well combined. To make the chocolate glaze repeat the same process as above using the addition cocoa powder.
2. Pour the vanilla glaze on top of the cake and spread around.

3. Add the chocolate glaze to a piping bag and snip the end off. Pipelines on top of the glaze.
4. Use a toothpick or skewer to drag across the chocolate glaze lines. Place back in the fridge for 4 hour or overnight to set.

Let’s decorate!

1. Take the chilled and set cake out of the springform pan. Slowly unwrap the acetate.
2. Transfer to a serving plate using the baking paper at the bottom to help you.

3. Cover the sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate pastry cream.
4. Finish by covering in the remaining 150g of toasted and crumbed hazelnuts.

My Top Tips for Esterhazy Torte!

• Storage – This cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
• How to skin hazelnuts – For this recipe you’ll need skinless hazelnuts. If you cannot find store bought hazelnuts you can skin them by placing them on a baking tray and baking them on 160C / 325F for 20 minutes. Once baked, take out of the oven, and pour into a clean tea towel. Bunch up the towel, encasing the hazelnuts inside and rub the heel of your hand on top. This will help the already loose and oily hazelnut skin to rub on the towel and against the other hazelnuts in the towel. Undo the towel and pick out the skinned hazelnuts. Continue this process until all the hazelnuts are skinned. Some hazelnut skins are stubborn and won’t come off. They’re ok to use.
• Toasting the hazelnuts – To toast the hazelnuts, simply place them on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes on 160C / 325F or until golden in color. Keep an eye on them because they can burn easily. Alternatively, you can place them in a deep skillet and toast them on medium high heat until golden. Again, don’t take your eyes off them or they will burn!
• Eggs – You’ll be using the egg whites in this recipe to make the hazelnut dacquoise and the egg yolks to make the pastry cream.
• Warm milk – You want the milk to be warmed to about 50C / 100F.

Other Recipes You Might Like!

• Really Good Chocolate Cake
• Boston Cream Pie Cake
• Salted Caramel And Chocolate Cupcakes
• White Chocolate Mud Cake
• Vietnamese Ice Coffee Cake

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Hungarian Hazelnut And Chocolate Layer Cake (Esterhazy Torte)

This Hazelnut Chocolate Layer Cake features soft, airy hazelnut dacquoise, creamy chocolate pastry cream, and a crunchy praline coating for a perfect blend of textures.

Serves 8

4.5 from 39 votes

Author: Nick Makrides

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep: 2 hours hrs

Cook: 40 minutes mins

Cool: 4 hours hrs

Total: 8 hours hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Hungary

Calories: 1088kcal

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Ingredients

Chocolate Pastry Cream

• ▢ 500 g whole milk, not skim
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or Pure Vanilla Extract
• ▢ 40 g corn starch, corn flour
• ▢ 40 g caster sugar, superfine sugar
• ▢ 10 g Dutch processed cocoa powder, see notes
• ▢ Pinch of fine salt
• ▢ 4 egg yolks
• ▢ 80 g unsalted butter, cubed and cold
• ▢ 180 g dark cooking chocolate, finely chopped (see notes)

Hazelnut Praline

• ▢ 150 g toasted hazelnuts, see notes
• ▢ 210 g granulated sugar
• ▢ 125 g water
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt
• ▢ 55 g glucose syrup
• ▢ 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, bicarb soda

Hazelnut Dacquoise

• ▢ 150 g toasted hazelnuts, for dacquoise
• ▢ 100 g all-purpose flour, plain flour, divided
• ▢ 9 egg whites, room temperature
• ▢ 200 g caster sugar
• ▢ 7 g vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt
• ▢ 150 g toasted hazelnuts for coating the cake

Vanilla Glaze

• ▢ 75 g powdered sugar
• ▢ 60 g unsalted butter melted and cooled.

Chocolate Glaze

• ▢ 40 g powdered sugar
• ▢ 25 g cocoa powder, Dutch processed or natural
• ▢ 60 g unsalted butter melted and cooled

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Learn How To Make it! [VIDEO]

https://youtu.be/SMoIdRqxjYc

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Instructions

How to prepare a vanilla bean (if using)

• Use a sharp knife to cut the bean in half lengthwise. Then, use the sharp end of the knife to scrape out the vanilla pods from inside the bean. Add the milk, bean halves and scraped out seeds into a medium sized heavy bottomed stainless-steel pot. Heat on medium heat until warm, not hot. When you’re ready to use it, run it through a sieve as you pour it into the rest of the ingredients. Discard the vanilla bean.

Chocolate Pastry Cream

• Combine dry ingredients and eggs – To a medium sized heavy bottomed stainless-steel pot, add the corn starch, sugar, cocoa powder and salt and use a whisk to combine. Add the egg yolks and whisk until smooth.
• Add the milk – Slowly add the warmed milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, and whisk each time until all of the milk has been added. It’s at this point you can add the vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste if using.
• Cook pastry cream – Cook in the pot on medium heat. Use a whisk to mix continuously. Do not stop mixing or the pastry cream will become grainy. After about 3-4 minutes the mixture will begin to thicken. Continue whisking until the mixture begins to bubble. When it bubbles, stir for 90 seconds, then take off the heat. Cook it for up to 2-3 minutes if you want it to set thick enough to be used in between cake layers.
• Run through a sieve – Run the thickened pastry cream through a sieve into a medium sized mixing bowl to get rid of any lumps.
• Add butter – Add 1/4 of the butter and whisk until it’s melted and well combined. Repeat until all the butter has been added. You want to do this slowly, so the pastry cream doesn’t split.
• Add the chocolate – Add the cooking chocolate and whisk until well combined.
• Chill to set – Cover the surface of the pastry cream with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 5 hours. Overnight is best.
• Adding the praline – once set, add to a food processor along with all of the cooled praline and blitz until well combined and completely smooth. Pop it back into the bowl and in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

Hazelnut Praline

• Preheat a fan-forced oven to 160C / 325F (180C / 355F).
• Toast all the hazelnuts – You’ll be using a lot of hazelnuts in this recipe. It’ll be 450g all up and they’ll be used to make the hazelnut praline, cake and to coat the cake. I’ll let you know how much you need for each step through the recipe. To toast them, place all (450g) of the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. You may need to stir using a wooden spoon halfway through. Allow to cool.
• Caramelize sugar – Place sugar, water, salt and 150g of the toasted hazelnuts in a large sized saucepan on medium high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
• Add glucose syrup – Add glucose syrup and mix until well combined. Turn heat down to medium and allow to bubble away, stirring occasionally until it turns a deep golden colored syrup. It will reach 150 – 155C / 300 – 310F on a candy thermometer. Keep an eye on it as it can burn very quickly.
• Add bicarb soda and set – Once it reaches that color turn off the heat and add the bicarb soda. Stir immediately until well combined. It will puff up quite a bit which is why you want to use a large saucepan. Pour onto a baking tray and allow to set for 20. Minutes until hard.
• Process into paste – Break into smaller pieces and place in a food processor. Process on high speed until it turns into a paste. It may take a while and you will need to scrape the bowl down, but keep going on high until it’s a smooth paste. Once finished, pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside until ready to use.

Hazelnut Dacquoise

• Preheat a fan-forced oven to 150C / 300F (170C / 340F for no fan). Spray the bottom (not the sides) of four 22cm / 8-inch cake tins and line the bottom with baking paper. If you don’t have four cake tins, just use what you have and bake them one at a time. Set aside.
• Process hazelnuts – Add the remaining toasted hazelnuts (300g) into a food processor and process until they reach a fine crumb texture. Take out 150g of hazelnuts and set aside to coat the cake when decorating.
• Combine hazelnuts and flour – Add the flour into the food processor and process until well combined and the crushed hazelnuts are evenly coated in the flour. Set aside.
• Whip meringue – Add the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk for 4 minutes or until thick and glossy. Add the vanilla extract and salt and whisk for another 30 seconds.
• Add dry ingredients – Stop the mixer and add the hazelnut flour mixture. Use a spatula to gently fold through until well combined and no dry ingredients are visible taking care to pay attention to the bottom of the bowl as you’re folding, as that’s where they like to hide when they’re added to the meringue! The mixture will be thick. Add the mixture to a piping bag.
• Bake – Pipe the mixture into all 4 cake tins. Gently tap on your workbench 3 times to release air bubbles. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely. To take out of the tins, carefully run a knife around the edges and then turn over while the palm of your hand is flat against them to support them as they fall out of the tin. Stack them on top of each other with sheets of baking paper in between until ready to use.

Putting it together

• Line the bottom of a 22cm / 8-inch springform pan with baking paper.
• To layer the cake – Add one layer of cake into the springform pan. Cut out an 8cm / 3-inch high piece of food grade acetate measuring 65cm / 25.5-inches wide and place it in the cake tin wedging the bottom of the acetate in between the first cake layer and the cake tin to help keep it in place. Add 1/4 of the chocolate pastry cream and spread around evenly. You can do this using an offset spatula or a tablespoon that has been bent as shown in the video.
• Continue layering – Add the next layer and repeat until all 4 layers have been used. Please note: you will have used 3/4 of the chocolate pastry cream and should have another 1/4 left which you will use to coat the cake.

Glaze

• Vanilla glaze – To make the vanilla glaze add the powdered sugar to a small bowl along with the melted butter and mix using a whisk until well combined.
• Chocolate glaze – To make the chocolate glaze repeat the same process as above using the addition cocoa powder.
• How to add the glaze – Pour the vanilla glaze on top of the cake and spread around using a spoon or offset spatula. Add the chocolate glaze to a piping bag and snip the end off. Pipe lines on top of the glaze. Use a toothpick or skewer to drag across the chocolate glaze lines. Place back in the fridge for 4 hours to set, overnight is best.

Let’s decorate!

• Take the chilled and set cake out of the springform and transfer to a serving plate using the baking paper at the bottom to help you.
• Coating the cake – Slowly unwrap the acetate. Cover the sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate pastry cream. Finish by covering in the remaining 150g of toasted and crumbed hazelnuts. Placing your cake on a turn table to decorate it makes this a much easier process.

Notes

Dutch processed cocoa powder – is an unsweetened cocoa powder which has been treated with alkaline and potassium carbonate to neutralize the acidity that is naturally found in cocoa powder. It’s darker in color and strong in chocolate flavor.

Dark cooking chocolate – I used dark cooking chocolate for this recipe. Specifically, the Nestle cooking buttons which are designed to be easily melted and used for baking and desserts, but any cooking chocolate that can be found in the baking isle of your supermarket will work. Just make sure it’s good quality.

Storage – The assembled cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.

Freezing Cake Layers – You can make the dacquoise cake layers ahead of time and freeze them. Once cooled, wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag. They can be frozen for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to use them, thaw overnight in the fridge before assembling. This will help save time when preparing the cake!

Acetate – Acetate helps create smooth sides and can be found at baking supply stores. For this cake you’ll need to use a piece of acetate measuring 8cm / 3-inches in height and 65cm / 25.5-inches wide. If you can’t find a pre-cut acetate strip of this height, you can just do what I did and trim it to size.

How to skin hazelnuts – For this recipe you’ll need skinless hazelnuts. If you cannot find store bought hazelnuts you can skin them by placing them on a baking tray and baking them on 160C / 325F for 20 minutes. Once baked, take out of the oven, and pour into a clean tea towel. Bunch up the towel, encasing the hazelnuts inside and rub the heel of your hand on top. This will help the already loose and oily hazelnut skin to rub on the towel and against the other hazelnuts in the towel. Undo the towel and pick out the skinned hazelnuts. Continue this process until all the hazelnuts are skinned. Some hazelnut skins are stubborn and won’t come off. They’re ok to use.

Toasting the hazelnuts – To toast the hazelnuts, simply place them on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes on 160C / 325F or until golden in color. Keep an eye on them because they can burn easily. Alternatively, you can place them in a deep skillet and toast them on medium high heat until golden. Again, don’t take your eyes off them or they will burn!

Eggs – You’ll be using the egg whites in this recipe to make the hazelnut dacquoise and the egg yolks to make the pastry cream.

Warm milk – You want the milk to be warmed to about 50C / 100F.

A note on measurements – this recipe is offered in weight measurements. This is in an effort to offer the most accurate way to get the best results. Cup measurements simply aren’t accurate enough for a recipe that needs precise measurements and cup sizes differ depending on where you are in the world. Here is where you can learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales

Nutrition

Calories : 1088kcal

Carbonhydrates: 93g

Protein: 19g

Fat: 69g

Saturated Fat: 24g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g

Monounsaturated Fat : 36g

Trans Fat : 1g

Cholesterol: 158mg

Sodium: 462mg

Potassium : 674mg

Fiber: 10g

Sugar : 61g

Vitamin A: 867IU

Vitamin C: 4mg

Calcium: 173mg

Iron: 4mg

Nutrition Disclosure

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