• Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the middle of the oven.

Chocolate Cakes

• In a medium mixing bowl add in the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa. Whisk to combine.
• Then in the center of the bowl add in the soft butter, eggs, vanilla, sour cream and espresso.
• Beat until smooth on medium high speed, starting on low and then increasing. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
• If you have three 8" pans you can bake 1/3 of the batter in each one at the same time. If you only have one, bake 1/3 of the batter and keep the other 2/3 covered in the fridge. Bake the next two after the first cake is done.
• Spray your cake pan (or pans) with a nonstick baking spray and pour in the cake batter. Smooth out the top, then bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 5-10 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If baking all at the same time it may take a little longer to bake.
• Leave to cool for 10 minutes before flipping the cake(s) out. Let it cool and then wrap it up and store at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake.

Baked Pears

• Peel your pears. Then cut them in half lengthwise and remove the core and stem with a spoon.
• Line a baking dish big enough for all 6 halves with parchment paper. Lay the prepared pears cut side down into the dish.
• Bake at 350 F for 30-45 minutes until fork tender. They shouldn't brown much. The amount of time they need will depend on how ripe the pears are.
• Once baked, leave the pears to cool and store in an airtight container until ready to use. If you make them in advance, store them in the fridge until ready to use.
• When ready to use, dice the pears into 1/2" chunks! *If you watched my video you'll want to chop them a bit smaller than I did.

Chocolate Pastry Cream

• In a heat safe mixing bowl, add in the chopped up chocolate and place a fine metal sieve on top.
• In a medium sauce pot whisk together the sugar, salt, and starch. Pour in the milk, vanilla, and egg yolks and whisk to combine.
• Place the pot over medium low heat and whisk while cooking until softly bubbling and thick. Continue to cook for about 1 minute once it has started bubbling.
• Turn off the heat and pour the mixture through the sieve into the bowl with the chocolate.
• Let it sit for 1 minute, then whisk the chocolate into the pastry cream until fully melted and smooth.
• Cover the surface with a sheet of plastic wrap and leave it to cool completely to room temp. If making in advance, store it in the fridge!

Candied Hazelnuts

• Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and set aside.
• In a large shallow pan, add in approximately half of the white sugar, all of the brown sugar, and the cinnamon. Stir together with a wooden spoon.
• Add in the water and stir again. Place over medium high heat and bring to a gentle boil.
• Once it starts to bubble all over, add in the hazelnuts and stir to coat. Reduce the heat slightly – it should still be bubbling.
• Continue stirring and cooking until all of the liquid has cooked out. It will look as though the sugar is dry and crumbly.
• Slightly reduce the heat again – depending on your stove it should now be around medium or just below.
• The sugar will start to caramelize and liquify as it heats and you continue to stir. Once about half of the sugar has turned into caramel, sprinkle the remaining sugar over the hazelnuts and stir together. Cook for about 30 seconds until the new sugar is mixed in but not caramelized.
• Immediately pour the candied hazelnuts onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Separate the hazelnuts with two utensils and leave to cool fully.
• Once cooled, finely chop the candied hazelnuts and set aside until ready to assemble.

Assemble

• Level off the top of all three cakes.
• Place the layers on a baking sheet and brush each with 1/3 of the milk.
• Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a large flat plate or tray that the cake will fit on.
• Place the bottom layer of cake onto the parchment paper, cut side up.
• Loosely set the metal cake ring around it. Cut a piece of acetate that is the length of one full circumference of the cake plus another half the cake. Wrap the bottom layer of cake with the acetate inside of the metal ring, allowing the acetate to overlap.
• Tighten the metal cake ring so that the acetate and cake ring are snug around the cake.
• Scoop half of the chocolate pastry cream over the cake and use the back of a spoon to level it out. Then evenly spread out half of the chopped baked pears over the top of the pastry cream.
• Sprinkle half of the candied hazelnuts over the pears and top with the middle layer of chocolate cake. Repeat with the remaining amounts of filling and top with the last layer of cake. Press down gently.
• Cover the top with a sheet of plastic and place it in the fridge to set overnight.

Frost

• In the bowl of a stand mixer (I think a hand mixer will work too, it will just take ages but I've never tried it), add in the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine.
• Place a medium sauce pot half way full with water onto the stove. Bring the water to a simmer.
• Set the mixing bowl with the egg whites and sugar over the bowl of simmering water and turn the heat to low. The water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the mixing bowl.
• Whisk the egg whites and sugar constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved into the egg whites. To check and see if the sugar has dissolved, pinch and rub some of the mixture in between your fingers and feel if you still feel any of the sugar granules, if not you’re good to go. If you do just keep cooking a bit longer.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the water. Leave it to cool off for about 10 minutes.Using your mixer, whip the egg white mixture first on medium and then on high speed until fluffy, shiny and stiff.
• Turn off the mixer and if you have it, use a kitchen blow torch to completely torch the surface of the meringue.
• Whip again until completely mixed, then repeat the torching 3 more times.
• The bottom of the bowl should have cooled off at this point but if not, place the bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes.
• Once cool to the touch, turn the mixer to medium high speed and add in 1″ blocks of butter at a time whipping until all of the butter has mixed in. It will deflate a little bit at the beginning, that’s ok! Also it may start to look split or runny at some point, don’t stress just put the bowl back in the fridge to cool down for a bit and then keep whipping and adding in the butter.
• When almost all of the butter has been added, the mixture is going to look funny, just keep whipping and it will smooth out.
• Once all of the butter has been added, take the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the edges. Pour in the espresso powder and vanilla bean paste and whip again on medium high until just combined. While the mixer is running slowly pour in the cold heavy cream and whip until combined.
• Take the chilled cake out of the fridge, remove the cake collar and acetate ring. Frost the cake however you want! I piped the cake with the extra frosting and topped it with a simple chocolate ganache and cut pears.
• Serve immediately or within the hour. Otherwise place the cake back in the fridge until 30 minutes before you plan to serve.