*This Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Hazelnut Dream Cake is truly a cake for a celebration. Layers of super-moist chocolate cake are filled with homemade nutella, frosted with smooth chocolate Italian meringue buttercream, drizzled with rich chocolate ganache, and topped with a crunchy chocolate hazelnut truffle.
Most of you probably don’t know this, but back in the day I used to be a maker of wedding cakes. And by back in the day, I mean in my earlier twenties. I loved making intricate, fondant covered masterpieces covered in sugar paste flowers and marzipan pearls.
Over the years, my love for wedding cake making has dissipated significantly. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cake. I love pretty cakes. I love eating cakes. I would eat a cake here, I would eat a cake, there, I’d eat a cake anywhere! But my love for spending endless hours covering cakes in fondant delicacies has given way to an appreciation of simple, buttercream covered single tier cakes. They’re easier to assemble, elegant in they’re single-level simplicity, and if I’m being completely honest, much more enjoyable to eat (fondant isn’t exactly in my top 5 favorite foods. Or 500).
This Chocolate Hazelnut Dream Cake is my idea of the perfect cake. If I am going to make someone a celebratory cake of my choosing, this is the one I will pick. It is incredibly good. My favorite chocolate cake layers are stuffed with Nutella (you can use store bought or you can make your own) and then covered in the greatest frosting of all time. Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream. It’s sweet and salty and smooth and melts away into nothing within two seconds in your mouth.
Scroll past the recipe for a few notes!
- One recipe Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (or you can use store-bought Nutella or similar)
- 8-10 Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (I used Fererro Rocher)
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
- 2 cups Unrefined Cane Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Eggs (XL), room temperature
- 1⅓ cups Buttermilk, room temperature
- ⅔ cup Coconut Oil, melted
- ¾ cup Hot Water
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- 2 cups Fine Raw Cane Sugar
- 6 Egg Whites, room temperature
- 3 cups (6 sticks) Salted Butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
- FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- ¾ cup Dark Chocolate Chips
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- FOR THE CAKE:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush 3, six inch round cake pans with melted coconut oil and line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper. Brush the parchment with melted oil, as well. Set aside.
- Place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, and buttermilk. Add mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Add the hot water to the cake batter. Whisk until smooth and combined.
- Divide the mixture between the prepared baking pans.
- Bake cakes in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until tops are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (moist crumbs attached are ok).
- Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the egde of the cakes and remove from pans. Wrap in plastic wrap and place on a level surface in the freezer.
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- FOR THE GANACHE:
- TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
- Remove cakes from freezer and peel off the parchment rounds on the bottom of each layer.
- Place one cake on a cake stand or serving plate.
- One recipe Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (or you can use store-bought Nutella or similar)
- 8-10 Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (I used Fererro Rocher)
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
- 2 cups Unrefined Cane Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 2 Eggs (XL), room temperature
- 1⅓ cups Buttermilk, room temperature
- ⅔ cup Coconut Oil, melted
- ¾ cup Hot Water
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- 2 cups Fine Raw Cane Sugar
- 6 Egg Whites, room temperature
- 3 cups (6 sticks) Salted Butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
- FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- ¾ cup Dark Chocolate Chips
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- FOR THE CAKE:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush 3, six inch round cake pans with melted coconut oil and line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper. Brush the parchment with melted oil, as well. Set aside.
- Place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, and buttermilk. Add mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Add the hot water to the cake batter. Whisk until smooth and combined.
- Divide the mixture between the prepared baking pans.
- Bake cakes in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until tops are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (moist crumbs attached are ok).
- Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the egde of the cakes and remove from pans. Use a serrated knife to make sure each cake layer is level. Wrap in plastic wrap and place on a level surface in the freezer.
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- Fill a saucepan with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium/high heat. Place a metal or glass bowl on top of the pan. Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl and whisk constantly for several minutes, until the mixture is hot to the touch and sugar has completely dissolved. When you rub the mixture between your fingers it should be smooth, not grainy.
- Pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and whisk on medium speed for several minutes. Once the mixture has cooled down completely, whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- With the mixer running on medium speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, until all the butter has been added and mixture is thick and creamy. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and mix in until evenly distributed.
- FOR THE GANACHE:
- Place chocolate chips and butter in a small saucepan. Heat on medium, stirring constantly once the chips begin to melt, until you have a smooth, pour-able mixture. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
- Remove cakes from freezer and peel off the parchment rounds on the bottom of each layer.
- Place one cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread a layer of chocolate hazelnut spread over the cake, making it level. Place another cake layer on top and spread chocolate hazelnut spread over it so that it is smooth and level. Place the last cake layer on top of the nutella spread, bottom side up.
- Add a crumb coat of frosting to the cake to make the whole cake smooth and even.
- Frost the cake with the remaining frosting, reserving about 1 cup of frosting. Smooth the top and sides of the cake out with a bench scraper or off-set spatula. Since the cake layers are frozen, the frosting should firm up quite quickly. When the smoothed frosting is cold, add a few swipes of chocolate hazelnut spread randomly around the cake. Smooth the spread out with the spatula, giving the cake a tone on tone watercolor look.
- Drizzle the chocolate ganache over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides a little bit. Place in the fridge.
- When the ganache has set, remove from fridge and place the remaining frosting in a piping bag fitted with a Large French Star Tip. Pipe rounds of frosting around the top of the cake, two high.
- Top each frosting mound with a truffle.
- Refrigerate until service.
NOTES:
*This cake is easiest to assemble when the cake layers are frozen. When you spread the buttercream on the cake and begin to smooth it, the frosting will begin to firm up, making is easier to smooth evenly and to swipe the Nutella on the outside of the frosting for a streaked effect.
*When making the frosting, make sure that your sugar is completely dissolved into the egg whites before whipping. If the sugar is still grainy it will throw off the texture and you will not be able to achieve stiff enough peaks.
*Let this cake sit out at room temperature for an hour or two before cutting, if it’s being refrigerated prior to service. The Nutella may be hard to cut through if it’s been chilled too firmly. Use a hot, wet knife to cut the cleanest slices!
