I saw a very funny post on Facebook once that read “I cannot make everyone happy! I’m not a Nutella Jar!”. And it’s true. I can’t think of many people (except maybe one) who don’t even smile at the thought of eating Nutella, whether it’s on bread, on a waffle or on a spoon. I remember, when I was younger and had a far better metabolism, I spent nights in front of the TV, just me and my Nutella jar. As a food blogger and sworn “cuisinovia”, I had to make a Nutella Cake. If not to devour it, to honour this amazing, one of a kind, invention, mimicked by a lot but copied by none.

Ingredients for the cake

• 1/2 cup cocoa (60 grams)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 level Tbs Nutella (50 grams)
• 2 cups flour (300 grams)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250 grams unsalted butter (if you live in a country where butter comes in 227 gram packs, then use 227 grams. It won’t make much of a difference)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (325 grams)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup sour cream (60 grams)

For the Nutella syrup

• 1 Tbs Nutella (25 grams)
• 4 Tbs whole milk

For the Nutella ganache

• 2 Tbs Nutella
• 2 Tbs cream (35-40% fat)

To garnish

• 1/4 cup hazelnuts

Method

Butter and flour a 23 cm (9 inch) round cake pan with a hole in the middle.

Preheat oven to 160 C. Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Bake for 6 minutes until nicely roasted. Fold them in a kitchen towel and rub to get rid of as much of their skin as possible. Don’t worry if you have some skin left. Roughly chop in a food processor.

Increase oven temperature to 175 C. Mix the cocoa with the boiling water and stir until smooth. Mix in the Nutella. Leave to cool slightly.

In a bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with the flat beater until creamy and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla essence and beat until combined.

Add the sour cream and the Nutella-cocoa-water mixture. Beat until smooth. Lower the speed of your mixer and add the flour. Mix on low speed until batter is smooth. Don’t over beat.

Put batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Make syrup while cake bakes. Heat Nutella and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until smooth.

Take cake out of the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Invert cake on a serving platter. With a pastry brush, brush all over with the Nutella syrup. Leave cake to cool for 30 minutes.

Make ganache while cake cools. Heat Nutella and cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Leave ganache to cool until slightly thickened.

Pour ganache over cake. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. Cool completely and serve.

Note: If you like a richer cake, double the ganache.