Chocolate Hazelnut Praline Cake

Today’s chocolate cake is filled with praline pastry cream and covered in dark chocolate. This decadent confection comes from Maria Nelson of the food blog Pink Patisserie. The self-taught baker lives in Seattle with her two boys and husband. Nelson says her cooking inspiration comes from her Scandinavian grandmothers, so you’ll find lots Swedish recipes on the site like Swedish cinnamon buns and a Swedish cocktail called Mumma.

Now for her cake! The key to its deliciousness is the praline pastry cream hidden in every layer.

“There are two parts to the recipe, the first involves making a paste from hazelnut brittle (oh my goodness) then a coffee flavored pastry cream,” she writes. “Once the two flavors are married together, magic happens.”

Nelson takes the pastry cream and applies it between layers of richly dense chocolate cake. When she gets to the top she pours over melted dark chocolate. For decoration she tops it with flowering pink dogwood blossoms.

“This is definitely a celebration cake, and while a bit time consuming definitely worth your while,” she says.