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These Giant Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Mousse Cakes are incredible! The extra-large chocolate shells are studded with hazelnuts and filled with layers of chocolate cake and rich hazelnut mousse.
Happy World Nutella Day! This one food holiday I always look forward to. I’ve celebrated it for the past several years, so by now I have a healthy little collection of Nutella-based desserts on the blog, and I’m always looking to top myself and go a little bigger than the year before. Five years from now I’ll be sculpting a life-sized bust of Lionel Richie out of Nutella…just you wait.
That was a little ambitious for this year, though, so I stuck with my original idea: making giant Ferrero Rochers! This idea has been kicking around in my head for months, and I am so thrilled that I finally got to play around with it!
In case your life is sad and devoid of meaning and you aren’t familiar with Ferrero Rochers, they’re a small chocolate candy made with a wafer shell, Nutella filling, and a whole hazelnut in the center. They’re covered in a bumpy, hazelnut-studded chocolate layer and they are, in a word, delightful. They are also, in another two words, freaking addicting, and if I were to use three words, I would say they are way too small. Let’s fix that, eh?
Regular Rochers are about an inch wide and are a solid two-bite snack. My Rochers were closer to 5 inches wide, and easily served two to four people, depending on levels of hunger and the amount of room available in the ole dessert stomach.
Although they’re look-alikes, they’re not quite taste-alikes. Traditional Rochers are mostly filled with Nutella, and while I am on record as being a Nutella fan, the thought of cutting into a giant chocolate ball and having several cups of Nutella ooze out onto the plate was…unappetizing. So while these are Rochers in appearance, once you get past the chocolate shell, they’re actually filled with layers of cake and mousse.
Three layers of moist chocolate cake, to be precise, and three layers of hazelnut-speckled chocolate-hazelnut mousse. Swooning yet? I’ll admit it: I swooned a little too. This is pretty much my dream dessert combination, and the fact that it comes encased in a solid chocolate shell is the icing on the cake…or the chocolate around the cake, if you will.
Making these was a little time-consuming, but it’s not actually difficult. Getting the right equipment is at least half of the battle! I originally bought a silicone half-sphere chocolate mold, but once I really looked at it I realized that having 3-inch chocolate balls just seemed too small. By that point it was too late to order a different chocolate mold online, so I ended up using two 4-inch half-sphere cake pans. They worked fairly well, but if you’re going to be buying something new for this project anyhow, I would recommend getting chocolate molds instead of cake pans—you’ll jut have an easier time unmolding them.
Here’s a cheap 4-3/8-inch chocolate mold, and here’s a more expensive but sturdier 3.9” chocolate mold.
Aaaaand here’s the play-by-play. You’ll make the chocolate half-spheres and bake the chocolate cake in advance. Once the mousse is made, it’s just a matter of layering the mousse and cake in alternating layers in the half-spheres, then gluing them together with chocolate. Paint a layer of chocolate flecked with hazelnuts all along the outside, and you’re done!
For maximum similitude, I wrapped my mega Rochers in gold foil and set them in large paper baking cups. I found the foil at my local cake supply place, which sells it in rolls or by the yard, and it has a nice embossed pattern on it. (I believe this is the same foil I used.) You don’t need specialty foil, though, and if you can’t find gold, you can use regular silver foil or even gold cellophane.
This is such a fun idea, and of course you can use the same technique to fill the chocolate balls with all sorts of different cake, frosting, curd, and mousse fillings!
Merry World Nutella Day to all, and to all a good night.
Giant Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Mousse Cakes
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 6 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4.75 oz granulated sugar, (2/3 cup)
- 5 oz brown sugar, (2/3 cup packed)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz buttermilk, at room temperature, (1 cup)
- 4 oz sour cream, at room temperature, (1/2 cup)
- 2 tbsp water , or brewed coffee
- 7.8 oz all-purpose flour, (1¾ cups)
- 3 oz unsweetened cocoa powder, (1 cup)
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
For the Chocolate Shells and Assembly:
- 2 lbs chocolate candy coating melts
- 4 oz toasted hazelnuts, skinned, coarsely chopped, about 1 cup
- 4″ spherical chocolate molds, can substitute spherical cake pans instead
For the Hazelnut Mousse:
- 9 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- 12 oz heavy cream, divided use
- 11 oz Nutella , (1 cup)
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp unflavored powdered gelatin, (2 1/2 packets)
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 oz toasted hazelnuts, (1/2 cup), chopped
Instructions
To Make the Chocolate Cake:
- Line a rimmed 18×13-inch half sheet pan with parchment or foil, and spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Add the butter and both sugars to the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat them together on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix it in.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and water (or coffee, if using). In a different bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, add a quarter of the sifted flour mixture. When the flour streaks have almost all disappeared, add a third of the liquid to the mixing bowl. When that’s incorporated, continue to add the drys and wets in an alternating pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.
- When the dry ingredients are nearly incorporated, stop the mixer. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and finish mixing the cake by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake the cake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool the cake completely before using.
- The cake can be made several days in advance and kept, well-wrapped and refrigerated or frozen, until ready to use. If you freeze it, make sure it’s partially defrosted before you use it so you can cut it easily.
To Make the Chocolate Shells:
- Make sure that your spherical molds are clean and dry. If you are using cake pans instead of actual chocolate molds, it might help to rub a very, very thin layer of nonstick cooking spray into the metal. It shouldn’t be greasy, but a very light coating can help the chocolate release.
- Melt 1 lb of the candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Let the coating sit at room temperature until it it cools down to just slightly warmer than room temperature. It should still be fluid but should have a thicker texture.
- Pour a few spoonfuls of chocolate into the bottom of a mold and swirl it around so that it covers the bottom and the sides evenly. Turn it upside-down and let any excess drip back into the bowl, so you have a thin and even coating on the mold. Place the bowl upside-down on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and repeat with your remaining molds. Refrigerate the tray to set the chocolate, for about 15 minutes, then freeze them for 2-3 minutes more to get the chocolate very cold. It contracts when it’s cold, and it should be easy to pop the chocolate spheres out of the molds once they’ve been in the freezer.
- To remove the spheres, gently flex the molds. If you’re using cake pans, it’s easiest to turn them upside down and very gently use one hand to coax the chocolate out. Since it is a thin layer, it can break if not handled carefully, so try to be soft. If it does break, you can always dab some chocolate in the crack and re-chill until set. The chocolate shell will be covered anyhow, so it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t look perfect!
- Repeat this process as many times as necessary until you have 10 half-spheres—this recipe makes 5 Rocher cakes total. If you have extra chocolate, consider making an extra sphere or two in case of breakage during assembly.
To Make the Hazelnut Mousse:
- Combine the chocolate, 3/4 cup of cream, Nutella, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring every 30 seconds, until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour it into a large bowl, and let it cool to room temperature, whisking occasionally.
- While you wait for the chocolate mixture to cool, prepare the gelatin. Whisk together the gelatin and the cold water in a small bowl, and set it aside to let the gelatin absorb the water. When the chocolate is at room temperature, microwave the bowl of gelatin for 15 seconds, until it is melted. Whisk the melted gelatin and chocolate together.
- Whip the remaining 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream to firm peaks. Fold half of the whipped cream into the chocolate, and once it’s incorporated, gently fold in the remaining whipped cream. Add the hazelnuts and fold them in last. Use immediately. The mousse will start to set soon after it’s finished, so do not try to make it in advance and then assemble the cakes later.
To Assemble:
- Cut a circle of cake that will fit in the bottom of one of the chocolate half-spheres. Press it into the sphere, then top it with a layer of hazelnut mousse and smooth out the top of the mousse. Cut another circle of cake that will fit on top of the mousse—this one will be a larger size. Press the circle of cake on top of the mousse, and if necessary, trim the top so that it’s level with the top of the shell.
- In a second chocolate shell, reverse the order: spoon some mousse into the bottom of the shell, and top it with a cake round. Place more mousse on top of that round, and smooth it so that it’s flush with the top of this chocolate shell. Now, when the shells are fitted together, they will have three layers of mousse and three layers of cake in alternating order. Melt the remaining 1 lb of chocolate coating and brush a thin layer around the edges of the spheres to seal them together. Rest the assembled ball in a bowl or in the cavity of a muffin tin (so that it is stable and doesn’t move) while you assemble the rest of the mini cakes.
- To finish them off, re-warm the remaining chocolate coating, if necessary, and stir in the coarsely chopped hazelnuts. Set them in the cavities of a muffin tin, and use a pastry brush to brush the nut-studded chocolate on top of the chocolate shells. You will probably only be able to really coat the top half of each shell with chocolate, so once that’s done, refrigerate the cakes to set the chocolate coating, for about 15 minutes. Once set, turn the cakes upside down and brush the bottoms with the chocolate-nut mixture, until the spheres are entirely covered in a layer of bumpy, nut-packed chocolate. If you want, you can scatter a few chopped hazelnuts on top so that a few of them show through the chocolate. Refrigerate the tray again to set the chocolate completely.
- To serve, wrap each cake individually in gold foil, and set in a paper baking cup. These keep very well, because the chocolate coating prevents the cake from getting stale, and the mousse keeps things moist. Well-wrapped, they will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
MEASURING TIPS
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Click here to learn more about baking measurements and conversion.
I will probably never make this but I love you for making this!
Haha, thank you Jennifer! I’ll take this particular bullet for the team.
*drowns in drool* I think…I agree…Ferrero rochers are too small. Or I think so now, after seeing this 🙂
Thanks June! I mean, who could be satisfied with a 2-bite candy these days?
Ferrero Rochers are way to small! I just never noticed it until now. And you made them even better by adding cake!!!
Thanks Natasha! So glad we see eye to eye about the necessity of embiggening Rochers. 🙂
This has to be one of the most swoon worthy desserts I’ve ever laid eyes on! I love that the entire cake is encased in a chocolate shell. Plus, I love that you even packaged your giant Ferroro Rocher just like the real ones. So darn adorable!
Thank you so much, Aida! They were definitely so fun to envision and make.
Marry me.
“Babysit me!”
Oh my god this is epic! You’re such a genius ☆
Thank you Amanda! Bonus points for sticking that nifty star in the comment–you’re a genius too!
Oh wow oh wo oh wow. Best. Cake. EVER!!
Thanks Laura!
What a fantastic idea! And so so delicious!
Thank you Medeja!
Be still my heart!
<3!! Thanks Kellie.
GAH! My brain! These are so freakin’ epic! As someone who worships at the alter of Rocher, I thank you for this…
Haha, I love that! I worship at the altar of Rocher too. Thanks!
Elizabeth you genius. Love love love these. Man forget 2-4 serving Id eat it all, alone!
Haha, we have that in common! Thanks Rochelle.
Oh my oh my, this is brilliant! Such a beautiful and innovative dessert! Well done!
Thank you Oana!
Wow! I love that you live Giant desserts too. Bigger is better when it comes to sweet treats isn’t it?!?!
Definitely! Less isn’t more…MORE IS MORE! Glad we see things eye to eye. 😉
Stunning, as always. Thank you for using imperial measurements and not just American cups in this recipe. So much more helpful to us In UK.
Thanks Joanne! My long-term goal is to have some sort of measurement converter built into the site for metric measurements too, but in the meantime I’m glad imperial is a bit helpful!
You have done some pretty amazing things, but I think this is my favorite. Incredible. You are a genius!
Thank you, Jackie!
You have made my day ! You are a genius, thank you. This is going to be hit for my next dinner party, or even for Valentine’s Day…..
Thank you, Lynne! I would love to see your version if you end up making it!
MIND.BLOWN! In love with everything about this! Was just brainstorming cake ideas to make for my Nutella-obsessed sister-in-law’s birthday this coming weekend and I think that this might just be IT! Also what a coincidence! I just made something really great using half-sphere molds too to celebrate World Nutella Day too.
Tasbih, Great minds definitely think alike! Your version was absolutely stunning, and I can’t wait to play around with the chocolate bomb idea in the future. I’m so glad you left this comment, because I plan on stalking your blog from now on!
You’re insane lol 🙂
MWAHAHAHAHA! *evilly twirls mustache*
GAHHHHH! Girl, you keeeeeelllll me with this craziness! I want to bury myself in that chocolate and eat myself sick! This looks amazing. Leave it to you to take it over the top! YES! I say YES!
Haha, do it, Kristi, DOOOO ITTTT!
This is just so over the top insanely awesome!
Thank you Lucy! Over the top is my middle name!
What the what! If Ferrero-Rocher has not provided you with mansion money for this genius idea, I think some calls need to be made.
Also, I’m loving your food styling choices! Gold polish, gold bling, check. That’s commitment right there (half the time my hand is going to be visible, I just take off my gross polish and go nekkid ’cause I’m lazy).
Dang it, I’m doing this all wrong! That’s how you know I’m in it for the love and not the money–I didn’t even try to hustle Ferrero Rocher. Next time, next time!
Wow! Absolutely amazing. Off to order cake pans and ingredients as I NEED to attempt this. Thank you so much for a great guide.
Thanks Emily! Please let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
This is insanely cool!!!!!!!
Thanks so much, Laura!
My friend made this for Valentines Day and she kept one for me to try, it was amazing… thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. I have added a small picture on my FB page and the link to your page 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/croquemaman
Thank you so much, Helene! I loved the picture and am thrilled to hear that they turned out so well! I appreciate the feedback. <3
Just gorgeous!! I love ferreros and always looking for desserts to add them in. Never thought about recreating them. Stunning presentation and I can imagine the flavor.
Thanks Tiffany!
hot damn!!!! looks amazing
Thank you Niciole!
Oh my Gosh. This gave me diabetes from just seeing it! I should probably try it some day! I’ll need test subjects, though. The thing is I love baking stuff, but I can’t stand too much sweetness. Why curse me like this, creator?
Anyways 😛 awesome recipe. It looks positively AMAZING; I’ll save it for later <3
Haha, thank you Mary! I wish I had your problem of not being able to stand too many sweets…unfortunately I like them a little TOO much, if you know what I mean. 🙂 Let me know what you think if you give it a try!
Just got myself a new hero 🙂 I LOVE ridiculous amounts of sugar on a regular basis! Go girl!!
Thanks Ana, and welcome! You’ll fit right in around here–glad to have you!
Would you be willing to make and ship?? My daughters 16th birthday is March 17th and her grandparents are interested in this for her but they want to purchase as they are on a work assignment in another state.
Hi Miranda, Thanks for the inquiry! Unfortunately I don’t sell any baked goods–I just provide the recipes. I hope your daughter has a great birthday!
I’m a vegetarian so can’t use gelatin. Can I skip it in the mousse or should I sub something for it? Thanks!
Hi Gigi, I’m not really familiar with vegetarian gelatin substitutes. You can skip it if you’ll be keeping the cakes refrigerated the whole time–without the gelatin it will be more like a chocolate whipped cream, so it won’t have as much body or staying power at room temperature. The other option would be to look for a vegetarian mousse recipe (there are some traditional French mousses, made by beating egg whites, yolks, and cream) and substitute that instead of the recipe given. Hope this helps!
OMG! This is like my dream come true!! Thank you for making this, I will try to remake it ASAP *_*
Did I already say THANK YOU?!! 😀
You are so welcome, and thank you for the comment! Let me know how it goes!
I am going to attempt these for our Christmas this year; my mom and I like to make homemade sweets for everyone in the family, and I think these will do well as additions to our men’s xmas stockings.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Oh man, that is such a brilliant stocking stuffer idea. I love it! Hope your family loves it too!
Any way we can make just one??? Cuz if I make 10, i WILL eat all 10…and then die of diabetes…just sayin’…
Hi Sana, You can cut the recipe in half to make 2, if you want. I don’t know if it’s worth the effort to make cake and mousse from scratch for just 1. If you wanted to take some shortcuts, you could use a cake mix and layer it with chocolate-Nutella whipped cream. It won’t be quite the same, but it’ll be significantly faster and easier than spending a half-day making one mini cake. 🙂
You didn’t put nutella because you thought globs of it coming out wouldn’t be appealing? But despite this I think if I ever made this I would DEFINITELY add a little bit of nutella here and there. This dessert would not be the same without it. Thanks for the recipe.. I can tell you put a lot of time into this.
Haha, a little Nutella is good, 4 cups of it oozing from a chocolate shell onto a plate seemed like a bit much. 🙂 There is Nutella in the mousse but I would never discourage you from adding extra to this dessert–I like the way you roll!
These look great! Nothing better than a big ball of Nutella :j But, I would suggest that you put 1 Ferrero Rocher in the middle of each to act as the nut that is in the center!
I love that idea! Ferrero Rochers improve everything!
I think I know what I want for my birthday. The only issue is where to put the candles…
Obviously you need to make a giant tower of these with one big birthday candle on top… 😉
I made a giant one for my daughters birthday. The cake and mousse is Faboulous.
I wanted to share the picture.
So glad you enjoyed it, Rupa! I loved the picture–thanks!
Hi absolutely live the idea. I want to make it for my husband on his birthday but I was wondering if I can make this the day before his birthday party or would the mousse get ruined? I plan on making chocolate moulds and cake the day before but am not too sure about the mousse.
After reading this article, It is very easy to make. We have prepared this cake many times, because our children love it very much. It is too tasty!!!!!!!!! we made it on last Sunday..
Thanking You!!!!
Aw that’s so good to hear! I’m so glad it worked out for you!!
How did you get the chocolate out of the sphere mould? I can’t release mine even after refrigerating/freezing it.
Hi Jillybeans, Sorry to hear you are having troubles with this. I just want to confirm that you are using candy coating and not actual chocolate? If you are using actual candy coating it is designed for this situation, especially if you are freezing it. It should release easily. Are your molds clean and dry before starting? That can cause it to not release as well if not. Let me know, I would love to hear how it goes!
All is good with the world now. I had to re-do because it wasn’t working. I was using tempered eating chocolate. Glad to see I was doing it right coz when I had to break to release it from the mould, the chocolate had lovely snap sounds as I crack it. Anyway, I had to cover my mould with foil then lightly spray oil then coat my chocolate. The Shell isn’t smooth but it’s ok as we’ll cover it with hazelnut anyways. But I have another question, how far in advance can i assemble this pls? And if assembled do I keep it in the fridge? Wrapped in gold foil??