Hazelnut Cake with Stracciatella Frosting and Dried Cranberries

This is the ultimate go-to cake when you want to impress your guests on a special occasion.

Author: Daniela Lambova

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

For the stracciatella frosting:

▢ 2 cups/ 500 g mascarpone
▢ ⅞ cup/ 200 ml heavy cream, cold
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ 3,5 oz/ 100 g dark chocolate
▢ 1 cup / 120 g powdered sugar
▢ ½ cup/ 70 g dried cranberries

Instructions

Hazelnut layers:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 17-18 cm cake pan with a circle of baking paper. Grease well the inside of the pan, including the paper.
In a medium bowl combine cake flour, baking powder and salt.
Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until fine crumbs form: about 1 minute. It is ok to have few bigger chunks.
In a large bowl beat together melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and beat again at a high speed for 2-3 minutes, until foamy. Add the vanilla extract and the yogurt, mixed with the baking soda. Beat again at a lower speed, just until absorbed.
Little by little add the flour mixture, mixing with a rubber spatula until just combined. At the end fold in the ground hazelnuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove the pan from the oven. Let the cake base cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Transfer to a wire rack. Allow to cool until room temperature, before assembling the cake.

Stracciatella frosting:

Line a rectangluar baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Pour the melted chocolate over the baking paper. Using a kitchen brush or a spatula, spread the chocolate evenly into the paper so that it forms a thin layer.
Place the pan in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
In a large bowl beat together the mascarpone cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar until fluffy.
In another bowl whip the heavy cream until thick and creamy.
Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture.
Remove the pan with the chocolate from the fridge. With your hands crumble the sheet of paper so that the chocolate breaks into small pieces. Try not to touch the chocolate so that it doesn’t melt. Transfer the chocolate pieces into the mascarpone mixture. Mix gently with a spatula until the chocolate pieces are evenly distributed in the frosting.

Assemble the cake:

Using a serrated knife cut horizontally the cake base in three equal layers. Place one layer on a serving plate and spread on top ½ of the dried cranberries. Cover with frosting. (you can also spread the frosting and sprinkle the cranberries on top, if it's easier).
Place another layer on top and continue the same process. After the third layer is placed, cover all the cake with the remaining frosting.
Decorate with dried cranberries, whole and/ or ground hazelnuts and chocolate sprinkles.

Notes

Make sure the whipping cream is cold and with over 30% fat content.

Store the cake 3-4 days in the fridge, covered. You can also freeze it sliced in airtight containers for up to 2 months.

You can bake this cake faster and easier in two 7 inch/ 18 cm pans. Then cut each layer into two or assemble the two layers without cutting them. Consider that in this case you will probably need 7-10 minutes less for baking.

During the last recipe revision in 2025 I lowered the quantity of the powdered sugar in the frosting to 1 cup/ 120 g. If you prefer to eat desserts that are not too sweet, you can decrease it even more, up to ½ cup/ 60 g.

For more recipes visit: daniscookings.comFollow @daniscookings in Instagram