Nutella Cake with 2 Ingredient Frosting
The best nutella cake made of vanilla cake layers with a nutella swirl and a two ingredient nutella frosting!
Story time! When I was pregnant with Beckham, I made these strawberry nutella cream puffs and then they grossed me out (pregnancy problems) and now two years later, I still can’t even look at those cream puffs. In fact, I wanted nothing to do with Nutella at all for the past two years.
Why did I tell you this story?! Because now I’m pregnant again and I’M CRAVING NUTELLA! I had my mom make me nutella crepes the other day and now I made a nutella cake.
& let me tell you… this nutella cake>>>other nutella cakes. I don’t why everyone pairs nutella with chocolate. There’s already chocolate in nutella and adding more is just going to over power it so I paired my nutella with vanilla. I even took the sugar out of the frosting so the nutella can really take the reigns here.
Oh, and that swirl gets a little crispy when it’s baked in the cake! You’re welcome friends.
How to make nutella swirl cake
To make my nutella swirl cake I used my favorite 6 inch vanilla cake recipe as the base. To make the swirls, I poured half the batter into the cake pans and then drizzled some warm nutella over the cake batter. I repeated that one more time for each cake pan and then used a butter knife to marble it.
How do you know when the cake is done baking
This cake took just a couple minutes longer to bake than the plain vanilla cake so make sure to check anywhere from 35-40 minutes. I like to test the doneness of the cake by pressing gently on the center and if it springs back, it’s done. If that spot stays squished down, give it another couple minutes of baking before you check again.
How to make 2 Ingredient Nutella Frosting
This frosting is quite literally the easiest frosting in the world. If you didn’t already guess it, the two ingredients are butter and Nutella. I was going to make a basic American buttercream and then add a little bit of Nutella to it but then I thought, well Nutella is already sweet, why do I need the extra sugar? You don’t need the extra sugar, my friends.
And the best part, the frosting is suuuuppperrrr silky and soft and it doesn’t crust like American buttercream. Win win, if you ask me.
vanilla cake with nutella swirl nutella swirl on top of nutella frosting
What do I do if the frosting is too soft?
The frosting can be a little too soft to frost the cake right away so just pop it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. If it needs longer than 10 minutes in the fridge, make sure to scrape the edge of the bowl every so often because the frosting that’s touching the bowl will get colder much quicker than the frosting in the center of the bowl.
Once the buttercream feels firm enough enough to frost the cake, go ahead and assemble. If the cake is ever feeling unsteady or wobbly, refrigerate for 20ish minutes before proceeding.
CAN I MAKE THE CAKE OR FROSTING AHEAD OF TIME
If you make the cake layers 1 day early, you can wrap them in plastic wrap and leave them at room temperature. If it’s more than 1 day, to preserve freshness, wait until the cakes are ALMOST completely cool (just slightly warm still), wrap them in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer bag, squeezing all the air out and freeze them. Thaw overnight at room temperature.
If you make the frosting ahead of time, cover it and leave it at room temperature and re-whip it to give it some life and fluff back.
How to store nutella cake
The finished cake can be stored at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerated for up to a week.
HOW TO STORE CUT CAKE
If the cake has missing slices, press a sheet of plastic wrap against the open part of the cake. Again, it can be stored at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerated for up to a week.
HOW TO STORE INDIVIDUAL SLICES
Place slices of cake in an airtight container and store at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate for up to a week.
To freeze slices, wrap each slice in plastic wrap, then place them in an airtight container and then place the container in a freezer bag, squeezing out all of the air. Freeze for 2-3 months and thaw at room temperature overnight (you can remove one slice at a time).
If you have any questions just comment down below and if you make this cake, make sure to tag me @baranbakery on instagram! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did and as always, happy baking and have a blessed day!
Love, B
Yield: 8-10 slices
Nutella Cake Recipe
Three layers of vanilla cake with a nutella swirl and frosted with 2 ingredient nutella buttercream!
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
35 minutes
Additional Time
3 hours
Total Time
4 hours 35 minutes
Ingredients
Nutella Swirl Cake
- 2 1/4 cups (270 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup (300g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (118mL) vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (170g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (177mL) milk, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (147mL) Nutella, slightly warmed
Nutella Buttercream Frosting
- 1 1/2 cup (340g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (294g) Nutella
Topping
- Nutella
- handful of chopped hazelnuts
- pinch of sea salt flakes
- 1 sheet of edible gold foil
Instructions
Nutella Swirl Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F/177C convection (325F/163C conventional) and grease and line three 6 inch cake pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until they're evenly distributed.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and the granulated sugar for 2 minutes. Add the oil and continue beating for a minute.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until each egg is fully incorporated. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat just until combined.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, turn the mixer on low speed and then pour in the milk, followed by the rest of the dry ingredients.
- Use half of the batter to fill each cake tin, about 7oz in each, then drizzle nutella on top of the batter. Place the rest of the batter on top of the nutella swirl and repeat with another drizzle. Use a butter knife to swirl the batter and nutella back and forth.
- Bake for 35 minutes. When the cake is fully baked it will release itself from the edge of the pan and it will spring back if you press on the center of it. Invert the cakes onto a wire rack or tea towel and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
Nutella Buttercream Frosting
- Place the room temperature butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and use the whisk attachment to beat the butter on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes, until the color turns to a pale yellow, scraping the edge of the bowl half way through.
- Add the Nutella and mix on medium-high speed. Scrape the edge of the bowl and beat again until the butter and Nutella are fully combined and smooth.
- If the buttercream feels too soft, refrigerate for 10 minutes and then use a spatula to scrape the sides and mix it again. Repeat until the buttercream feels firm enough to frost the cake.
Assemble
- To frost the cake, place the first cake layer on a flat surface and use 1/4 of the buttercream to frost the first layer. Drizzle more Nutella on top of the buttercream and repeat with the second layer.
- Place the third layer of cake on top and smooth any buttercream that squished out on the edges of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes, or until the cake feels firm enough to frost (make sure it's not wobbly)
- For the crumb coat, place 1/4 of the buttercream on top of the cake and use an offset spatula to smoothly spread it evenly throughout. It doesn't have to be perfect. Refrigerate the cake for at least another 15-30 minutes, or until the frosting feels set.
- Place the rest of the buttercream on top of the cake, use an offset spatula to spread the frosting around and then use a turn table and a cake scraper to create a smooth finish on the cake.
Decorate
- Use a piping bag with a tiny circle tip to drizzle nutella on top of the the cake. Top with chopped hazelnuts, sea salt flakes and gold foil.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 890Total Fat: 62gSaturated Fat: 33gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 153mgSodium: 331mgCarbohydrates: 76gFiber: 3gSugar: 49gProtein: 9g
Nutrition information may not be fully accurate.
Super
Hi there,
I am making a tall cake(6 layers) and wanted to use this Nutella buttercream filling, as my son loves Nutella. I need the cake to be white on the outside, so I was thinking only using this buttercream between the layers.
1. Would you use it in addition to the vanilla swiss merengue buttercream between the layers or just on its own?
2. Would the cake be as stable with this buttercream as with swiss merengue buttercream?
Looking forward to making it, thank you for such a wonderful idea!
Hi Ana,
This buttercream is softer than the swiss, so it won’t be as stable as with the swiss.
However, it can still be used to stack 6 layers if you keep the temperature down (refrigerate every couple of layers for about 15-30 minutes).
Another option is to do a border of swiss buttercream on each cake layer and use this one as a filling. That would be the most stable 🙂
I hope it all works out and happy birthday to your son!
Hi! I want to make a three layer cake with 8-inch pans, what do you recommend?
I would double the recipe! Try not to fill the cake pans more than 3/4 full, might have a little bit of left over batter
This is beautiful! And I really appreciate the instructions for storing individual slices, in case there are any!