Football Cake
Hello sweet tooths!
If you have football fans at home, this cake is for you!
Whether it's for a birthday or a TV evening watching the World Cup, this is the dessert you need ;-)
This cake made with a hazelnut sponge and a praline whipped ganache will delight everyone's taste buds!
Make the celebration even more beautiful and festive by decorating your room with football-themed decorations – check out our football birthday category for that.
To make this cake for 12 to 15 people, you will need:
- 530gr of heavy cream
- 240gr of milk chocolate
- 1 gelatine sheet
- 30gr of hazelnut praline paste
- 9 eggs
- 225gr of sugar
- 200gr of flour
- 30gr of ground hazelnuts
- 2 tsp of hazelnut flavouring
- Rectangular football pitch wafer sheet
We will first make the base of the whipped ganache, as it will need to cool overnight in the fridge before being whipped.
Praline whipped ganache
To start, soak 1 gelatine sheet in a jug of cold water.
In a saucepan, pour 530gr of heavy cream, 30gr of hazelnut praline paste and mix everything together.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the squeezed gelatine sheet. Stir well so that it melts into the mixture.
In a large bowl, pour 240gr of milk chocolate.
Add the cream/praline/gelatine mixture in 3 additions, mixing well between each addition.
To get a smooth and homogeneous mixture, blend everything for 30 seconds.
Now that the ganache base is ready, cover it with cling film. Place the cling film directly on the ganache to prevent a skin from forming on the surface.
Place the ganache base in the fridge overnight before whipping it.
Now, we can move on to the hazelnut sponge.
Hazelnut sponge
To start, separate the whites from the yolks of 9 eggs. Place the whites in a large bowl so that we can whip them with a mixer.
Place the egg yolks in a small bowl to the side.
Pour 225gr of sugar into the whites.
Then whisk the whites and sugar at maximum speed. Don't worry if it takes a while to whip up.
If your eggs are at room temperature, your meringue will whip up much faster! If your eggs come straight from the fridge, it can take 10 minutes to whip up.
The meringue must be very very stiff! This is important, because if you don't whip it enough, everything will collapse when you add the egg yolks.
Preheat your oven to 150°C fan-assisted.
Pour in the egg yolks and add 2 tsp of hazelnut flavouring.
Whisk at minimum speed! This is super important! If you whisk too fast, everything will collapse. So take it gently!
Next, sift 200gr of flourwith a sieve.
I recommend following this step carefully, as if you don't sift your flour, you risk having lumps in the sponge.
Add 30gr of ground hazelnuts, then fold gently with a spatula to obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
There we go, our sponge batter is ready! For this recipe, use a rectangular cake tin, measuring 20 x 30 cm.
Spray it with release spray so that the sponge comes out easily once baked.
This spray is amazing – you won't need to butter or flour your tin anymore. A real time-saver!
Pour the sponge batter into the tin and bake for 45 to 55 minutes in the middle of the preheated oven.
Do not open the oven before 45 minutes of baking, as the sponge might collapse. So be patient!
After 45 minutes, check the baking using a knife. Insert the tip into the centre of the sponge. If it comes out clean, your cake is done. If batter sticks to it, place the sponge back in the oven for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
Once the sponge is baked, turn it out onto a cooling rack lined with baking paper.
Remove the tin and let the sponge cool at room temperature.
You can make it in advance if you wish. If so, wrap it well in cling film once it has cooled. It will keep for 2 days at room temperature.
You can also freeze the sponge for about 2 months, making sure to wrap it well.
Once all the preparations are done and cooled, we can move on to assembling.
Let's assemble!
Start by cutting the sponge into two equal parts. To get two equal halves, use a cake leveller. This tool is great for cutting sponges! :-)
Adjust the height of the wire and use a back-and-forth motion to cut the sponge cleanly.
Once the ganache is well chilled, we can whip it.
To do this, pour it into a large bowl, then, using a whisk at medium speed, whip it like a chantilly cream.
Be careful! It whips up very quickly so keep a close eye on it so it doesn't split.
From experience, a split ganache unfortunately cannot be saved! :-(
Set aside about 30gr of whipped ganache, we will use it for the decoration. Place it in the fridge while you continue with the preparations.
To make it easier to move the cake, I recommend placing it on a board.
We will now fill our sponge. On the bottom layer of the hazelnut sponge, spread about 3/4 of the whipped ganache.
Using a small spatula, spread the ganache evenly so that it covers the entire sponge layer.
Cover the ganache with the second sponge layer.
With the remaining 1/4 of ganache, cover the sides and top of the cake. For a neat finish, use a small offset spatula.
There we go, our cake is ready to be decorated! :-)
Decorations
Start by pressing chocolate sugar sprinkles around the sides of the cake.
No more than 2 hours before serving, place the rectangular football pitch wafer sheet on the cake.
Don't forget to remove the plastic sheet from the wafer sheet.
Be careful, wafer sheets don't like moisture. If you place it too early, it may warp and the result won't look that nice.
On the football pitch, place the players and the goals from our "football decoration" set.
For the finishing touch, fill a piping bag fitted with a 1M nozzle with the 30gr of praline ganache set aside earlier.
Pipe 4 rosettes in each corner of the cake.
To finish, place a football sugar decoration on each rosette.
Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve.
The cake is done! :-)
It will keep for about 2 days in the fridge, well wrapped in a box. It will still taste great, however the wafer sheet will look a little less pretty than on the first day.
To set a lovely football-themed table, you'll find everything you need in our Football category.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. :-)
Sophie
P.S.: All the equipment used can be found at the bottom of the recipe.
Related products
Cake leveller small 30 cm
Flavouring "Hazelnut" - 100g
Disposable Decorating Bags - 41cm - 24pc
Football field in sugar
250ml Non-stick Spray
Decoration "soccer"
Plastic graduated spoons
RUF Leaf Gelatine, 12 Sheets
Popcorn boxes "Soccer"
Sieves with 3 different mesh sizes
Sugar Strands "Chocolate"
Napkins "Football"
Plates "Football"
Cups "soccer"
Parchment paper sheets
Rectangular cooling rack
Angled spatula in steel
Hand blender - chopper 3 in 1
Soccer ball sugar decorations
Open star tip 1M
Rectangular silver cake board 35x30.5cm
Graduated measuring cup 1 liter
Hazelnut filling 200 g
Rectangular cake tin 30 x 20 cm, height 10 cm
Swiss white flour, 1 kg
Dough scraper light blue silicone, small
Whisk 30 cm
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Comments
Question de Coralie
By: Coralie P. On 2025-01-22Bonjour,
Je vais faire ce gâteau ce week-end et je me demandais si au lieu d'acheter de la pâte de praliné je pouvais faire la recette de praliné aux noisettes qu'il y a sur votre site et utiliser celui-là ? Est-ce que ce praliné sera trop liquide ?
Merci pour votre réponse et belle journée !
Replied by: Karin On 2025-01-22
Réponse à J'ai
By: Sandra R. On 2024-09-28fait la recette mais ma base n'était belle plate il y avait une bosse au milieu de quoi ça vient?
Je pourrais prendre la genoise du gâteau ferme (il va dans le même moule)
Merci
Replied by: Karin On 2024-09-30
Question de Maggie
By: Maggie D. On 2024-09-23Bonjour, est-il possible de faire une génoise au chocolat à la place de celle aux noisettes ? Quel serait les quantités et ingrédients pour le même moule ? Merci d’avance et belle journée
Replied by: Karin On 2024-09-24
Réponse à On
By: Sandra R. On 2024-09-02peut aussi faire avec le moule rectangle extensible ?
Replied by: Karin On 2024-09-02