Best Ever Chocolate Nutella Layer Cake

A couple of days ago, I made an ever-so secret birthday cake for one of my housemates. Chocolate, naturally: the cast iron crowd-pleaser of cakes. Searching for the perfect recipe, I came across this. 

Of course I was a bit hesitant at first, as hmm, chocolate cake with Nutella- been there done that. But as I read through her description about how light and smooth and satiny the frosting was and gorgeous the cake looked in the photos, I knew I had to give it a go. But I think the final decision maker was the fact that I could make the frosting/icing using my food processor. Whoohoo! It just can’t get any easier than that! The sour cream in this frosting nicely balances the sweetness of the Nutella and dark chocolate and icing sugar. This is a keeper for sure!

And the chocolate cake recipe? It might just be the best chocolate cake I've ever had. And you know I've had my fair share of chocolate cake. I still love Maria's Ultra Moist Chocolate cake and that would be my first choice for a quick and delicious single layer cake with no icing, but I think this is my definite go to recipe for a rich, moist chocolate cake perfect for layering and frosting.

I’m not kidding when I say this is the cake that will make you a star. It will become your secret weapon for dinner parties and special occasions and you'll never look at another chocolate cake recipe again. JJ

An update; my latest cake with this recipe for another friend's birthday...

Best-Ever Chocolate & Nutella Layer Cake

Recipe Source: Sweetapolita

Yield: One 3-layer, 7-inch round cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 1/4 cups (285 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/3 cups (470 grams) superfine sugar
• 3/4 cup (90 grams) dark Dutch-process cocoa powder (I use Cacao Barry Extra Brute)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (12 grams) baking soda
• 2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (8 grams) salt
• 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) buttermilk
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) brewed coffee or espresso
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

• 4 1/2 cups (565 grams) confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (340 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (280 grams) Nutella (or other hazelnut spread)
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) full-fat sour cream
• 11 ounces (330 grams) best-quality dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

For the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare three 7-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and parchment rounds.
2. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sift all dry ingredients, including sugar. Combine eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla in a measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork.
3. Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients mix for 1 minute on medium speed (you may need the plastic splash-guard that comes with mixer). Divide batter evenly among prepared pans--each pan should contain about 600 grams of batter.
4. Bake the first 2 layers for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Continue to bake until toothpick or skewer comes almost clean (a few crumbs), about 5 more minutes. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes. Repeat with remaining layer, and then gently invert onto racks until completely cool.

For the Chocolate Frosting:

5. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until smooth and glossy, about 1 minute. The frosting will be very soft. Refrigerate the frosting until it thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.

Sweetapolita’s Notes:

• If you don’t have 7-inch round cake pans, you could also use 8-inch cake pans. The layers will just be ever-so-slightly shorter.
• Because the frosting has sour cream in it, it’s best to refrigerate this cake if it hasn't been gobbled up after a day. Keep refrigerated at that point, and serve at room temperature (although it tastes pretty great cold too).

To make the little sugar flowers I used for decorating the cake, I followed the tutorial here. Its really quite simple and you can make ahead of time and just store in clean, dry and air tight plastic ware until showtime!