Daring Bakers are NUTS about Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream!

The Daring Bakers are at it again! This month's delectable treat--a Filbert Gateau based upon a recipe in Great Cakes by Carole Walters. Chosen by the lovely chosen by Chris of Mele Cotte. This is my fifth (!) DB challenge!!

Although there was a collective grumble around the world about that dastardly buttercream frosting, we sighed and jumped in.

A chocolate-hazelnut cake was the result. Mine was treated to a coating of homemade pear jelly and a good sousy dunking in pear cognac.

Finding time to make it was my biggest challenge this month--July is filled with vacations! So I split the cake in half to make a 6 inch version, and happily the many components were easy to make.

What I learned from this challenge:

• Pears and chocolate continue to be a fabulous combination!



• The hazelnut praline paste is just a finer grind of nut caramel, something often used to top cakes at my house.



• Using a smooth ganache coating isn't hard at all--if you boil the cream and pour it over chopped chocolate. Other recipes I've used melt the chocolate in the heating cream--always tricky for me.



• I can never get the sides of a cake smooth, no matter how I try!



• I struggle baking (and decorating) during a heatwave.



• Somewhere along the way, reducing a recipe or using my own method to replace another stopped being intimidating.



• We continue to dislike European style cakes. We each had a small sliver and exclaimed how delicious it was, and then shared a bowl of blueberries.

To see more fabulous Daring Baker's creations or get the recipe, click on the DB avatar. Can't wait to see what is up next!!