This festive Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake is a decadent cake for any special occasion. Moist hazelnut chocolate sponge cake meets rich hazelnut cheesecake cream and more chopped hazelnuts!
Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Separate the eggs and whisk the whites with a pinch of salt. Mix the yolks into the butter.
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and ground nuts. Fold some of the dry mix into your butter mix and add a splash of buttermilk. Continue - taking turns between dry mix and milk - until nothing is left. Add the grated chocolate and stir to combine. As the last addition, fold the egg whites into the batter carefully.
Line a 9-inch springform and spread your batter in the mold using a rubber spatula. Bake at 170 C for about 1 h. Let cool completely and cut into three even layers.
Heat 200 ml of cream until hot to the touch, but not boiling, and add the nougat or hazelnut spread and chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool down to room temperature. Whisk the leftover cream adding the cream cheese - a tablespoon a time - and whisk until stiff. In a slow, thin stream, add the cooled nougat-cream whisking on low speed to combine. Whisk until just combined and fluffy.