This is my favourite layer cake! If I had to make one cake for every occasion for all my life, this cake would be THE cake. Fudgy chocolate cakes filled with vanilla cream cheese frosting and topped with creamy Nutella buttercream. I can promise you that you will love this cake (as long as you are not allergic to Nutella). No words can describe how good it is.
Do you like chocolate chunks in fillings? Add some chopped chocolate in the vanilla filling. I had some Snickers this time but have tried with other chocolate too. The recipe is inspired from this blog, but the blog is sadly not active anymore. I made this cake maybe 7 years ago for the first time, and it’s my most famous cake. I made it two days ago and will make it again in the end of October, on my birthday.
With this recipe, you wil get loads of Nutella buttercream. Enough to pipe out the decoration all over the cake. If you are not going to use too much buttercream for piping a border or any other garnishing, make less of it. I would say make 1/4 less, so 300 g cream cheese and 150 g butter and Nutella.
If you want another layer cake with almost the same fudgy chocolate cakes, try my Dulce de leche layer cake with fresh berries.
Recipe for my favourite layer cake with Nutella (Nutellatårta)
- 3 dl flour
- 3.3 dl sugar
- 2 dl cocao powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate
- 0.6 dl natural tasting oil (I use canola oil)
- 1.8 dl milk
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1.9 dl cold coffee (not too strong)
- 2 eggs
- 2 dl whipping cream, chilled
- 300 g cream cheese, chilled
- 1.5 dl icing sugar
- 0.5 tsp vanilla powder
- 6 tbsp dulce de leche
- 1 snickers bar, chopped (optional)
- 200 g salted butter, room temperature
- 1.5 dl (200g) Nutella, room temperature
- 1.3 dl icing sugar
- 400 g cream cheese, chilled
- 50 g dark chocolate, chopped
- 0.5 dl whipping cream (or more)
Chocolate cakes:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour four round baking pans (15 cm) and place some parchment paper in the bottom of each pan. I made four thin cakes but if you want, you can make three thicker. You can also use three larger pans to make thinner cakes, but the final result will not be a high cake like this.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and whisk together. Pour the batter into the baking pans and try to distribute them evenly. I like to weigh the pans with batter to be sure to get equal thick layers.
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Try with a toothpick to see if it comes out dry.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool a few minutes before taking them out from the pans. Let cool completely before putting together the layers.
Filling:
Whip the whipping cream until thick.
Whip together the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla. Add the whipped cream and quickly fodl it together with a spatula. Dont overmix. Mix in the chopped snickers.
Nutella buttercream:
Whisk the butter, icing sugar and Nutella together until smooth and fluffy (approx. 5 minutes). Add the cream cheese and quickly mix until smooth. Don’t overmix.
Chocolate ganache (optional):
Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the milk until just before it starts boiling, and pour over the chocolate. Let it rest for 5 minutes, and then mix it with a spoon. If it’s to thick for using as a drip, add more whipping cream. If it’s to thin, just wait and let it cool down.
Putting together the cake:
If the cake layers are uneven, you can cut of the top to make them flat.
Spread a thin layer of dulce de leche on the first layer of cake. Add 1/3 of the filling on top of that and spread out. Add the second layer of cake and do the same thing. Add the third layer of cake and repeat same procedure. Top with the fourth layer and start covering the cake in buttercream. Save some buttercream for garnishing. Let chill for a while before you add the chocolate ganache.
Use the ganache to cover the top and eventually creating a drip effect. Put the cake back in the fridge until the chocolate solidifies. Pipe out rest of your buttercream in any desired shape. Congratulations! You just made the most yummy cake ever!
Serve 10 minutes after taking it out from the fridge. You don’t want it too soft.
This cake is perfect! Don’t change anything haha!
