The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
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Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

4.50 Mitt(s) 8 Rating(s)8 votes, average: 4.50 out of 58 votes, average: 4.50 out of 58 votes, average: 4.50 out of 58 votes, average: 4.50 out of 58 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5

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Level: Easy

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Description

This cake tastes like one of those wonderful Ferrero Rocher candies! (It even has the smooth a creamy chocolate hazelnut center!) This recipe is perfect if you’re looking to celebrate a special occasion or to satisfy another one of those Nutella cravings!

Ingredients

  • FOR THE CAKE:
  • 2 cups All-purpose Flour
  • ½ cups Unsweetend Cocoa Powder
  • 1-½ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • 1 stick Butter, At Room Temperature
  • 1 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 2  Large Eggs, At Room Temperature
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup Lukewarm Water
  • ½ cups Buttermilk
  • FOR THE CREAM:
  • 8 ounces, weight Mascarpone Cheese, At Room Temperature
  • ¾ cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1-¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 2-½ cups Nutella, Divided
  • 1-½ cup Chopped Hazelnuts, For Topping

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with water and buttermilk, beating on low speed until just combined; scape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium-high speed just until no traces of flour remain, about 30 seconds; do not overbeat.

Divide the batter evenly into 2 8-inch round pans that have been greased and floured. Bake for about 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

To make the cream, whip together cheese, sugar, vanilla, and heavy whipping cream with electric beaters until peaks form. I chill a stainless steel bowl in the freezer so it whips faster. Add 1 cup Nutella and beat until well blended.

Microwave the remaining 1 1/2 cups Nutella (for the inside layer) for 30 seconds or until it is easy to spread but not too loose that it will run off your cake. Spread evenly over the bottom layer of the cake and set in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the Nutella layer sets, spread a layer of chocolate hazelnut whipped cream over it. Top with other cake layer and frost the sides and top of the cake with cream. Top with chopped hazelnuts. Feel free to pipe a design around the top and bottom sides of the cake; you will have more than enough cream to do so!

6 Comments

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Kristy on 6.24.2014

This is my go to cake. I have never had any problems with the cream frosting. I always whip the mascarpone with the powdered sugar and vanilla until it is light and then whip the cream in and fold the nutella in by hand and it works great.
I also never serve it the day it is made. It gets much better if you let it rest over night!

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eatdrinkandbemerry on 5.1.2012

I’m so sorry to hear you’ve had so much trouble with the frosting. It has more of a whipped cream texture than a buttercream frosting so it is very delicate. I always use room temperature mascarpone cheese and nutella and a very cold bowl. (I actually put mine in the freezer and take it out just before I whip up the cream) I hope this helps! It’s such a wonderful frosting I’d hate for you to miss out on it :)

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Jeni Pittard on 12.23.2011

The frosting wouldn’t set for me, either. I tried adding more powdered sugar, but no luck getting it to thicken. I’m going to cut my losses and make a standard cream cheese frosting with cocoa.

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Patty Gardner on 7.16.2011

I had problems with the frosting, too. I wondered if I overbeat it. I expected the stiff peaks to take longer and all of a sudden they were stiff and then the frosting got grainy and hard to spread. I did my best, though, and ended up covering the sides of the cake with nuts, too – so it looked prettier. It still tasted delicious and I will try it again.

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nhangema on 7.3.2011

I had the same issue with the frosting! Any tips? I saw it start to form and then it just broke apart on me. I ended up going semi-homemade by mixing in the nutella to a tub of store-bought cream cheese frosting that I had.

8 Reviews

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Rebecca Bess on 7.17.2013

We love this cake recipe for birthdays and special occasions! So chocolate-y and yummy.

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Donna on 1.20.2013

This was not good at all. The cake recipe is very heavy and dense. I should have used my own home made chocolate cake recipe. And 1 1/2 cups of nutella was way too much in the middle of an 8 inch cake. I took it to a family dinner and no one liked it. I took the rest home and threw it out.

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Sugarfixation on 1.1.2013

YUMMY! Ever heard of those better-than-sex cakes? Well this could possibly take the cake!! I poured ganache over the frosting, then sprinkled on the nuts and topped with ferro chocolates. Everyone oohed and ahed then took a nap!!

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Cellgirl99 on 11.29.2011

This cake is TO DIE FOR. I used a chocolate box cake mix & spread a thin layer of melted nutella and topped with the whipped cream mixture. OMG the cream topping seriously is banana’s insane good. I had to literally force myself not to take anymore bites of it. My family went nuts & no lie probably 5 people if not more said it’s the best chocolate cake they’ve ever had. Thanks for sharing.

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rkbiggs on 8.2.2011

I made this cake this weekend for my husband’s birthday and it was amazing! It will definitely be my go to cake from now on!

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