~ Level: medium ~ Time: 2.5-3 hours ~ Budget: medium.
Chocolate lover? Nutella lover? BOTH?! Then you're in for a treat! This luxurious nutella cake will satisfy all your chocolate cravings in only a few bites. Extremely rich, gooey and decadent, you will taste the BEST chocolate cake you have ever had, and that is a promise. This cake has not only a great taste, but also great looks, ready to impress everyone you bake it for. So go a head and give it a shot!
Nutella Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
375g plain flour
400g white sugar
45g cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
180ml vegetable oil
225g nutella
1 tbsp vanilla extract
250ml buttermilk
250ml hot coffee
1 tsp sea salt
For the frosting:
340g butter, room temperature
400g icing sugar
45g cocoa powder
150g nutella
For the ganache topping:
100g dark chocolate
100ml heavy cream
100g hazelnuts, chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter 3 baking pans (20cm / 8inch).
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda with a whisk until combined. Then add the eggs, oil, nutella, vanilla extract and buttermilk. Mix well until homogenous. Lastly stir in the coffee and the sea salt and keep mixing until smooth.
Divide the batter over the three baking pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Use baking strips for uniform baking in each pan.
Let the cake cool down completely before taking out of the pans and before frosting.
Tor prepare the frosting, start with mixing the butter until creamy. This can be done by hand or with a stand mixer. Then slowly add the icing sugar, cocoa powder and nutella, and mix until all the ingredients are combined and the frosting is smooth.
Once the three cake layers are cooled down, you can start building. Start with a layer of cake, then spread out 1/4 of the frosting on top with a piping bag and an icing spatula. Place the next layer of cake on top and spread out another quarter of the frosting on top. Place the last layer of cake on top and spread out the third quarter of the frosting on the top and the sides. This layer can be thinner than the others. Place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To make the ganache, break up the chocolate and poor the heavy cream on top. Microwave for 1-2 minutes, checking and stirring every 30 seconds. Once the chocolate is melted and the mixture is homogenous, let it thicken for 10 minutes.
Take the cake out of the fridge, and use a teaspoon or piping bag to make drips along the top edge of the cake with the ganache. Once you're happy with all your drips, spread out the rest of the ganache on top of the cake. Put in the fridge again for about 20 minutes.
Take the last part of the frosting and spread a little bit of it on the bottom of the cake. Then sprinkle hazelnuts on it as decoration. Use the last part of the frosting to place it into a piping bag with a star shaped nozzle. Finish decorating the cake by making 6 or 8 tufts of frosting on top.
Wine pairing
This is a very sweet an rich dessert, which needs an even richer pairing. For this reason you can go for the ultimate full body red wine: Cabernet Sauvignon. Make sure it has aged long enough (4-5 years) so that the tannins are softened out, otherwise it will very likely have an astringent aftertaste.
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