6 layers of hazelnut meringue(dacquiose)

Layers of hazelnut butter cream in between

Layer of apricot jam over the top

Layer of white icing with chocolate spiderweb

Separate eggs and keep egg white for meringue and egg yolk for the butter cream

Set the oven 180C

Prepare 6 trays with baking paper.

Trace rectangles onto the baking paper to ensure all the meringues are even in size

Sift flour, cocoa, and icing sugar into a bowl.

Roast the hazelnut meal, cool and add to the bowl.

Whisk the egg white until medium peak. Start adding in sugar in three stages starting when the egg white is silky.

Fold the egg white into the dry mix .

Fill a piping bag with a small round nozzle with the meringue. Twist the top before piping.

Pipe 6 trays with even piping to cover the marked-out rectangles

Make them as thin and even as possible

Run a step pallete knife over the piping to even out the tray

Bake for around 10 minutes until touch set (not sticky)

The meringue should be firm but not hard.

Cool completely

Whisk the egg yolks and castor sugar over a double boiler on a low simmer (the water should not touch the bottom of the pan with the eggs in it)

When it thickens and reaches 68-70C remove from the heat and cool until 32C. Hand whisk again to mix once cool.

Beat the butter until it is creamy and slowly add the egg yolk mix into the butter.

Beat in between each addition

Ensure the butter cream is thick and creamy

Roast the hazelnut meal until it turns colour around the edges and they smell nutty

Cool and fold through the butter cream

Line a large tray with baking paper. Peel the paper off one dacquoise layer and place it on an upside-down baking sheet. Spread one portion of the hazelnut filling evenly over it. Add the next layer and repeat until all layers are stacked. Do NOT put filling on the very top layer — flip that last layer upside down so the flat side faces up. This gives you a smooth, even surface for the icing.

Place a sheet of baking on top, then set a flat tray over it. Add something heavy on top (like a pan half-filled with water) to help level everything out. Refrigerate for about 30 mins.

Warm the apricot jam

Warm the apricot jam and water together in a small saucepan until loose and spreadable. Remove the baking paper from the top of the chilled cake and brush a thin, even layer of the warm jam over the top. Return the cake to the fridge for 30 minutes.

Before you start, get your chocolate piping bag ready — you’ll need it immediately

Warm chocolate in the microwave in 30seconds intervals until smooth stirring in-between.

Make a paper piping bag and spoon the chocolate into the bag and roll down the top ensuring the seam of the bag is on the outside. Cut a small tip ready for piping.

By hand, mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice, adding hot water one teaspoon at a time until the icing is smooth and creamy but not runny. Mix vigorously for a couple of minutes.

Using a Pallete knife quickly spread the white icing over the top of the cake in one smooth pass.

Immediately pipe chocolate in lines across the wet icing from one side to the other. Then take a wooden skewer or the back of a butter knife and drag it up and down the lines. This creates the classic spiderweb pattern. Work fast before the icing sets!