A Very Daring Gateau

So here it is, the July Daring Bakers Challenge, a Filbert Gateau! Sounds fancy, huh?! Well, it kinda is, I guess. For the amount of work that went into making the cake, it's definitely not something you just whip up any given Sunday. So, it will have to go into the 'Special Occasion' file. Although, I'm not sure I'd make it again....at least not without some changes. The recipe was chosen by Chris at Mele Cotte and can be found at her site. It's from Great Cakes by Carole Walter. I appreciated the challenge of the recipe. It required me to make hazelnut (filbert) praline; which if you don't know, means making caramel. And me and caramel don't really like each other all that well. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE caramel. It just doesn't particularly like when I try to make it. And true to form, it took me two tries to get it right, but I did it...thanks to some great tips by fellow DBers. Also, in this challenge, I had to overcome my fear of chocolate ganache. Another love of mine that just doesn't love me back. This time the ganache worked well, so score one for me!
After all is said and done, the cake turned out well...I just didn't love it. It was very rich and too nutty for my taste. So, like I said...I'd make it again, but with changes. So, here it is (sorry the photos are a bit blurry):

I had four layers....three I used for the big gateau and the 4th I used to make this mini-cake for Karen & Smiley.