Smoky, salty, sultry butterscotch sauce is whipped into silky French buttercream then layered with chocolate hazelnut dacquoise discs and vanilla chantilly cream. Some extra butterscotch drizzle and cocoa dusted hazelnuts finish it off. Did you get all that?! This cocoa hazelnut dacquoise with smoked butterscotch French buttercream is unforgettable, elegant, and has all the flavor with texture to make it next level good.
This chocolate hazelnut dacquoise cake was actually inspired by a Starbucks Smoked Butterscotch Latte. A friend of mine told me about it and said I should do something with smoked butterscotch. Challenge accepted. I saw his smoked butterscotch and raised him rich, velvety crème au beaurre with all the textures and flavors to make him cry! And send me a new challenge, of course!
This recipe make a 3 layer 9 inch dacquoise cake. I made mini ones and then tiny ones for the girls with plain whipped cream.
Hazelnut Dacquoise
I woke up this morning craving a dacquoise cake. Yes, my mind runs on Dessert thoughts the second my eyes open . But this isn’t just a dessert. This is pastry at its finest. If you haven’t had dacquoise then you are in for a life changing dessert! These dacquoise layers are airy, crispy, nutty, cocoa kissed meringue discs that hold just the right bit of inner chew.
This dessert is a bit time consuming and has a few steps to it. However, the dacquoise takes a couple hours to cook at a low temperature. That gives you time to make the Smoked Butterscotch French Buttercream and the vanilla bourbon Chantilly. *Note that the drops of bourbon are optional.
Read through the directions all the way before getting started.
Smoked Butterscotch French Buttercream
The smoked butterscotch sauce is insane. It’s sexy and bold while having a kick of smoky tones and sweet vanilla bean.
French buttercream, or crème au Beaurre is hands down my favorite kind of buttercream. It is so rich, silky, and flavorful while still being so light and whipped. This type of buttercream is used with egg yolks. The opposite of Italian Meringue Buttercream, which used egg whites.
So how do you get smoky flavor into butterscotch? You can actually do it two ways, depending on how much smoke flavor you want. First, a touch of liquid smoke will do it. Or smoked sea salt is the other way. The liquid smoke adds a punch of smokiness while the sea salt is going to give you a more subtle smoke along with saltines. OR use a touch of both for even more smoky depth.
To make this you will first make a butterscotch sauce while some egg yolks are whipping to aerate. The difference with this French Buttercream and a more common method of making it is that instead of drizzling in hot sugar syrup you’ll be using the hot butterscotch sauce. To ensure proper temperature, use a thermometer. The sauce needs to reach 238 degrees before you add it.
Additionally, save extra sauce to drizzle on the finished dacquoise. Or save it for an ice cream topping. I also made chewy butterscotch candy out of the leftovers.
Make sure to zoom in to see the vanilla beans in that drip of smoked butterscotch sauce!
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Assembly
To assemble the layers, place a disc down and pipe out the French buttercream and chantilly cream as desired! Traditionally, dacquoise uses two or three layers.
Thank you for making this Chocolate Hazelnut Dacquoise With Smoked Butterscotch French Buttercream and Vanilla Chantilly!
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For more pastry recipes, check out the following.
Choux Au Craquelin With Praline Pastry Cream
French Napoleons With Caramelize White Chocolate Cream
Nutella Swirled Brioche Feuilettee
Chocolate Hazelnut Dacquoise With Smoked Butterscotch Hazelnut Dacquoise
Smoky, salty, sultry butterscotch sauce is whipped into silky French buttercream then layered with chocolate hazelnut dacquoise discs and vanilla chantilly cream
Ingredients
Chocolate Hazelnut Dacquoise
- 6 large egg whites
- 2/3 cup ground hazelnuts
- 2/3 cup ground almonds
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Smoked Butterscotch
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon smoked sea salt
- 2 drops liquid smoke for extra smoky flavor!
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
French Buttercream
- 6 large egg yolks
- 2/3 cup smoked butterscotch sauce
- 1 cup butter unsalted, room temperature
Vanilla Bourbon Chantilly Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1/2 teaspoon bourbon optional
Instructions
Chocolate Hazelnut Dacquoise
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Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Use cake pans or tart pans as a guide to draw three 9 inch circles on 3 pieces of parchment paper. Then flip the paper to line baking sheets. Adjust oven racks so they are evenly spaced apart.
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In stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, begin beating the egg whites with salt on medium speed. As it gets foamy, gradually add granulated sugar. Then turn up to medium high and allow to beat until stiff peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.
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Meanwhile, whisk together your nut flours and cocoa powder. If you grind the nuts yourself, then you should sift them to remove any large lumps, but make sure you measure out the proper amount of the finely ground flours to use.
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Once the meringue is ready, fold in the dry ingredients in two additions. Be gentle and careful not to over-mix and deflate the egg whites.
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Then fill a piping bag fitted with a 1A round tip. Pipe out circles, starting from the middle and spiraling out. Use the drawn circles as guides. Use an offset spatula to smooth, if desired.
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Bake 2 hours 15 minutes.
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Then cool before filling.
Smoked Butterscotch
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In a medium saucepan, set over medium low heat, melt the butter with the brown sugar.
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Then whisk it frequently for 3-4 minutes, until it reaches a foamy stage that looks like wet sand.
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Then drizzle in heavy cream and whisk to combine. Watch out for the sputtering. Add liquid smoke, if using.
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Cook about 10 minutes, until it gets to 238 degrees F. Whisk in salt and vanilla bean extract.
French Buttercream
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Whisk the egg yolks with a stand mixer on medium high until aerated. It will get pale and fluffy and doubled in size.
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Then drizzle in 2/3 of the butterscotch sauce, reserving the rest for topping. Let it whip for at least 8 minutes, until mixture has cooled and bowl is not warm.
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Slice butter into tablespoons. Begin adding by the tablespoon, giving a moment to incorporate after each addition.
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Then allow the mixture to beat for at least another 8 minutes, until fluffy and silky.
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Remove to a piping bag.
Chantilly
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Use a stand mixer. Put cold cream into a bowl with sugar and vanilla OR bourbon. Then beat until stiff peaks form. Remove to a piping bag.
Assembly
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Put a disc onto a plate or cake platter.
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Then pipe the chantilly and French buttercream as desired. Repeat. Finish with last disc. Then either dust the top with powdered sugar, leave naked, or use any remaining creams. Chill until ready to serve.
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