A Nutella brownie layer cake
Original recipes from Sally’s Baking Addiction and Flour Covered Apron
Whether you prefer it smeared across toast or straight from the jar, everyone loves Nutella. It’s already the inspiration behind countless chocolate-hazelnut treats, so how can you crank it up a notch for a Ferrero-lover? Pairing it with an equally decadent dessert seems like a good place to start.
Enter the Nutella brownie cake, my answer to a brownie buff's birthday cake. Substituting Nutella for chocolate and cocoa, this cake is neither a traditional brownie nor layer cake but a delicious amalgamation of the two.
For the base, I needed a brownie recipe that walked the line between indulgent and balanced. I landed on the Nutella brownie recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction for its Nutella swirl and sea salt flecked top.
For the filling, I went straight to the source, spreading an indulgent, gooey layer of Nutella out of the jar and onto the brownie layers. To add a contrasting texture and satisfying crunch, I toasted hazelnuts and scattered them in the centre and on top of the cake.
Needing a tangy element to add complexity, I added lashings of Nutella to the Flour Covered Apron’s cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Nutella brownies:
150 g unsalted butter, softened
200 g light brown sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
2 cups Nutella
1 tsp salt
190 g plain flour
½ cup Nutella
Sea salt flakes
Nutella cream cheese frosting:
115 g unsalted butter, softened
250 g cream cheese, softened
115 g Nutella
4 cups icing sugar
Toppings and fillings:
200 g Nutella
75 g hazelnuts, toasted, skins removed and roughly chopped
5 x Ferrero Rochers
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and line the bottom of two 22 cm round cake pans. Cut strips of baking paper and use to overhang the sides to easily lift the brownies out of the pan later. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Add the brown sugar and beat until creamed.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the eggs and vanilla, then beat on medium-high until combined.
Beat in salt and 2 cups of Nutella, then mix until fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Add the flour and mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Drop teaspoons of the remaining ½ cups of Nutella sporadically on top and use the tip of a paring knife to swirl the spread gently into the batter. Sprinkle sea salt on top.
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Allow the brownie layers to cool completely in their pans.
Once cooled, use overhanging baking paper to lift brownie layers from the pans.
Meanwhile, to make the frosting beat together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Add the Nutella and beat until well combined.
Gradually add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed, mixing until incorporated after each addition.
Increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth.
To assemble, dollop a spoonful of frosting onto a cake board and set one of the brownie layers on top. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the surface and pipe a ring of frosting around the perimeter of the layer to create a border.
Spread a thick layer of Nutella inside the ring of frosting, sprinkle with a light layer of toasted hazelnuts and top with remaining cake layer.
Crumb coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until the cake has crusted.
Add a final coat of frosting and smooth with an offset spatula.
To decorate, arrange remaining toasted hazelnuts and Ferrero Rochers on top of the cake.