Chocolate Nutella Cake Recipe

This chocolate Nutella cake is a real treat for all chocolate lovers out there. This cake is made with basic ingredients with not too sweet Nutella buttercream frosting.

And the best part? It’s incredibly simple to make! No need to stress over complicated steps or hard-to-find ingredients.

Just a handful of everyday ingredients and basic tools is what you need to make this moist, fudgy chocolate Nutella cake.

Are you excited? Let’s dive in!

Also, try my chocolate mousse cake or mini chocolate cake.

Why will you love this chocolate Nutella cake recipe? 

1. It's a treat for chocolate lovers.
2. Easy to make and foolproof recipe.
3. Perfect for any occasion.
4. Filled with not too sweet Nutella buttercream frosting.
5. Rich, creamy, and soft.

How do you make a chocolate Nutella cake recipe? 

As always, let us understand the overview before diving into step-by-step recipe.

Sr. No.	Steps
1.	Make a 6-inch chocolate cake.
2.	Prepare Nutella buttercream frosting, and chocolate ganache.
3.	Fill, frost, and serve.

Chocolate Nutella cake ingredients

Here is the list of ingredients for chocolate cake.

Chocolate cake ingredients

All-purpose flour – Use plain flour of any of your favorite brand. This is the base of our recipe that gives structure to the cake. Do not replace it with any other flour. (Self-rising contains leavening agents, cake flour contains less gluten, which will make it very light, so it won’t hold by itself).

Dutch-processed cocoa powder – This is the star ingredient of our chocolate base. This provides that deep, and intense chocolate flavor which regular cocoa powder can’t give.

Baking powder – Works as a leavening agent, helps the cake to rise.

Baking soda – Another rising agent. reacts with cocoa powder and helps the cake rise.

Salt – We need just a pinch to balance the sweetness. Also, it brings out the flavors nicely. Do not skip it unless using salted butter.

Unsalted butter – Use regular unsalted butter of any brand. Make sure it is at room temperature so that it mixes with other ingredients nicely. It is ok to use salted butter if that is what you have it in the pantry but skip out the salt entirely.

Sugar – This provides the sweetness, of course. Use regular caster sugar or granulated sugar, both work fine.

Oil – Use any flavorless oil along with the butter to make moist and tender chocolate cake. Please do not replace it with butter.

Vanilla extract – Just a half teaspoon but it will bring out the chocolate flavor and gives nice sweet aroma to the cake.

Egg – Use a large free range egg. This acts as a binder and adds moisture to the cake. Make sure it is at room temperature. If you forget to remove it from the fridge, then just put in a glass of tapped hot water for 5 minutes and you are good to go.

Milk – This adds rich dairy flavor. Use any brand of milk which is 3.25%. It is ok to use 2% or skim milk but it will affect the flavor little bit.

Hot water - This will bring out the chocolate flavor. Please do not skip.

Nutella Swiss meringue buttercream frosting

Please take a look at the ingredients for Nutella Swiss meringue buttercream frosting here.

Chocolate ganache ingredients

Semi-sweet chocolate chips – Use high quality semi sweet chocolate. here I am using chocolate chips. You can also use real chocolate, but make sure it is finely chopped before pouring the warm cream.

Heavy cream – This is also referred to as heavy whipping cream, double cream, or double cream. Make sure it is with at least 35% fat percentage.

Any substitutes? 

Sugar – Replace sugar with allulose or monk fruit sweetener in a 1:1 quantity.

Tools needed

1. Weighing scale – to precisely measure ingredients.
2. Measuring cups / spoons – to measure ingredients.
3. Mixing bowls – to make cake batter.
4. Baking tins – to bake the cakes. I have used 6-inch in this recipe.
5. Hand beater – to beat and combine ingredients.
6. Parchment paper – to insert into baking tins.
7. Toothpick – to check the doneness of the cake.
8. Rotating table – to frost the cake.
9. Piping bag / piping tip – to decorate the cake.
10. Spatula – to spread the frosting between the cake layers.

Please take a look at the tools for Nutella Swiss meringue buttercream frosting here.

Chocolate Nutella cake (step-by-step) recipe

Chocolate cake step-by-step recipe

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your pan. Coat the pan with either butter-flour ( just like the way I did for many of my cakes) or coat with oil and then a round of parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt).
3. Add unsalted butter, oil, and sugar to another mixing bowl.
4. Start beating with hand beater until it is light and fluffy. This will take around 3 to 4 minutes.

5. Now, add vanilla extract and egg. Beat again until well combined.
6. Add one-third of the sifted dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and beat until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
7. Alternate dry ingredients with milk and beat until it is just combined.
8. Scrape the bowl. Make sure you scrape it from the bottom to mix any remaining flour.

9. Now, add hot water, espresso powder, and beat again.
10. Scrape the bowl, and beat for just 30 seconds.
11. Pour the batter into a 6-inch prepared tin.
12. Bake at 350F or 180C for 20 minutes or until it loosens up from the sides and springs back if we lightly press from the top.

Nutella Swiss meringue buttercream step-by-step recipe

13. Add egg whites, sugar, and salt to a heat proof mixing bowl. 
14. Place the mixing bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the water does not touch the mixing bowl.
15. Whisk the mixture until it reaches a temperature of 160°F or until you do not feel grains of sugar in it.
16. Remove the bowl and whisk it using a hand beater until it forms a stiff peak.

17. Now, add bite-sized dollops of room temperature unsalted butter while beating continuously.
18. Repeat until all the butter is finished. Make sure the butter is well incorporated before you add another dollop of butter.
19. Once all the butter is added, add vanilla extract, salt, and Nutella.
20. Keep beating the Nutella Swiss meringue buttercream to remove any excess air. Fill in the piping bag fitted with piping bag.

Chocolate ganache step-by-step recipe

Please take a look at the step-by-step recipe for chocolate ganache frosting here.

Assemble and serve

21. Remove from the oven and perform toothpick test. Let it cool for few minutes or until you can touch the tins with bare hands.
22. Transfer it to wire rack to cool down completely.
23. Once cooled down, slice the chocolate cake into 3 chocolate layers and cover them in cling wrap and refrigerate them for 30 minutes.
24. Take out the cakes from the freezer and remove the cling wrap. Add a dollop of frosting on a board.

25. Place the first layer on it. Sprinkle some sugar syrup to ensure the cake stays moist longer.
26. Now, spread a generous amount of Nutella frosting on top. Smooth it out using a spatula.
27. Repeat above steps for all 3 layers.
28. Crumb coat the cake with Nutella buttercream frosting, and refrigerate it for 15 minutes.

29. Crumb coat with another layer of chocolate ganache frosting on the sides and top. Smooth out the edges with a spatula. Keep in the refrigerator again for 15 minutes.
30. Frost with chocolate ganache again from the top and the sides, and keep it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
31. Cut into individual slices.
32. Serve, and enjoy.

How to serve?

This cake is super versatile and can be served in many ways, making it extra special! Here are some of the ways I have tried in the past.

1. Plain - Serve it as is. Fill with buttercream frosting, frost with chocolate ganache and serve as is.
2. With a hot drink - Serve a slice with a cup of hot drink. It's my favorite way to enjoy.
3. Ice cream - Who does not like a slice of warm cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream? The cold ice cream and the warm cake combo is like a match made in dessert heaven.

Watch me making it (video)

https://youtu.be/KRvkyXbjISo

Storing and freezing instructions for the chocolate Nutella cake recipe

Just like my mini vanilla cake or mini red velvet cake, this cake can be stored at room temperature, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer.

Storing instructions

You can either store this cake naked (i.e., without frosting) or with frosting.

Store naked cake – First, cool the cake completely and then cover with plastic wrap. Then, store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 6 – 8 days.

Store frosted cake – I would recommend storing individual slices rather than the entire cake. First, slice the cake into individual servings and then freeze it until the frosting hardens. Then, cover it with cling wrap and store it in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to one week.

PS – If you frost the cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, always store in the refrigerator and take it out 30 minutes before serving.

In both cases, covering the cake with plastic wrap will protect the cake from outside odors.

Freezing instructions

ou can either freeze naked or frosted cake, just like you would store it.

Freeze naked or frosted cake – Cover the cake with cling wrap and freeze it in an airtight container, freezer-safe container, or heavy-duty Ziplock bag. For additional protection, cover it with aluminum foil. Do not forget to mention dates so you know by when you need to finish it.

I would recommend storing or freezing an individual slice rather than storing the entire cake, so that you can just remove the number of slices you want to enjoy rather than thawing the entire cake 🙂.

Thawing instructions

When you want to enjoy it, either thaw it in the refrigerator overnight or on the kitchen counter for a couple of hours, and you are all set.

In short,

Storing and freezing for naked cake

Sr. No.	Storage Type	Duration (days weeks/ months)
1.	Room temperature	2 to 3 days
2.	Refrigerator	6 to 8 days
3.	Freezer	2 months

Storing and freezing frosted cake

And

Sr. No.	Storage Type	Duration (days weeks/ months)
1.	Room temperature	1 to 2 days
2.	Refrigerator	5 to 8 days
3.	Freezer	2 months

Secret tips to make the chocolate Nutella cake recipe

• Read the recipe – I always recommend looking over the recipe at least once before starting. This is to ensure that you have all of the ingredients on hand or that you have enough time to take the components from the refrigerator so that they are at room temperature.

• Prepare the pan – Prepare the pan nicely so that the cake comes out in a single piece. You can check the guide for removing the cake from the pan without breaking. Trust me, it is worth going through it once.

• Room temperature ingredients – Use room temperature ingredients. Butter, milk, and egg from this recipe. This ensures it gets mixed easily with rest of the ingredients, resulting in smooth batter.

• Don’t overmix – After adding dry ingredients to the fat and sugar mixture, beat until it is just mixed. Overmixing will form gluten, resulting in a tough cake (which we don’t want, right?).

• Cool the cake – Do not fill or frost the cake when it is still warm. Frosting will start melting, cake layers will start sliding, resulting in a complete mess.

• Chill the frosted cake – I strongly advise chilling the cake before cutting to get a beautiful piece of cake. This recipe incorporates oil, so the cake will not be hard, and the ratio of chocolate to cream is 1:1, so the icing will also not be hard. You can easily cut the cake without using force.

FAQs

Can I use regular cocoa powder instead of dutch processed cocoa powder?

Yes. You can use regular cocoa powder but please note that it will not have that intense chocolate flavor. Also, reduce baking powder by half ani replace with with baking soda in addition to exiting quantity mentioned in the recipe.

Can I use regular chocolate instead of cocoa powder?

No, do not just replace cocoa powder with chocolate. It will add additional fat to the recipe which we do not want. We have enough fat already and dutch processed cocoa powder will provide intense chocolate flavor, plus, we are frosting this with chocolate ganache, which is pure bliss. So, don’t worry about the flavor. we have enough ingredients that yields a dreamy chocolate cake.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to drop a comment below, and I will be happy to answer them. 

Want to try some other cake recipes? 

1. Marble loaf cake.
2. Eggless tres leches cake.
3. Starbucks red velvet loaf cake.
4. Vanilla cake.

Let's chat in the comments

Over to you! Did you make the chocolate Nutella cake yet? If yes, tell me how it turned out in the comments below. If not, then what are you waiting for? You are missing out on something really yummy, fudgy, and delicious.

Do not forget to tag me (@dessertkatta) or use the hashtag #dessertkatta or #dessertkattarecipes if you post the pic on Instagram.

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