Back by popular demand, I received another order for a Nutella Crunch Cake. I used the same tried and true recipe as last time, but mixed up the presentation. What that really means is that I slathered the cake in hazelnuts, coated the sides with chocolate chips, dolloped Nutella all over the place, and sprinkled a little sea salt on the top 😀
Chocolate Cake:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup strong black coffee, hot
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Nutella Buttercream:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups chopped, toasted hazelnuts
Prep Time:15 minutes
Bake Time: 15 minutes
Cool Time: 1 Hour
Assembly Time: 45 minutes (30 minutes of cooling for crumb coat)
Servings: 6-8
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 6-inch round cake pans, and line/grease the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.
Begin by making the chocolate cake batter. In a very large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for an additional 20 seconds (the batter will be thin).
Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs). Cool the cakes (in the pans) on wire racks for 20 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
While the cakes cool, make the frosting. Beat the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes. Add the Nutella and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the vanilla and heavy cream. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it has all been incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional two to three minutes, until light and fluffy.
For the cake assembly, frost each layer of cake, and top with toasted, chopped hazelnuts. Add a very light sprinkle of sea salt on top of the hazelnuts. Once the layers are all stacked, apply a thin crumb coat, and let the cake sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. Frost as desired with remaining frosting. I decided to coat the sides of the cake with chocolate chips, dolloped (warmed) Nutella around the edge of the cake top, and sprinkled a little sea salt on the top.
