Nutella Cake
by Nigella. Featured in HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESSIntroduction
Not only is this one of the easiest cakes to make, it happens — joyously — to be one of the most delicious. My household is totally addicted!
Please don't feel obliged to rush out and buy a bottle of Frangelico, the most divinely declasse hazelnut liqueur, its monkish derivation signalled by the rope that is hung from the holy-brother-shaped bottle. I use hazelnuts bought ready-ground, but ones you grind yourself in the processor will provide more nutty moistness.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Not only is this one of the easiest cakes to make, it happens — joyously — to be one of the most delicious. My household is totally addicted!
Please don't feel obliged to rush out and buy a bottle of Frangelico, the most divinely declasse hazelnut liqueur, its monkish derivation signalled by the rope that is hung from the holy-brother-shaped bottle. I use hazelnuts bought ready-ground, but ones you grind yourself in the processor will provide more nutty moistness.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Yields: 8 slices
For the Cake
- 6 large eggs (separated)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 125 grams soft unsalted butter
- 400 grams nutella
- 1 tablespoon frangelico (or rum or water)
- 100 grams ground hazelnuts
- 100 grams dark chocolate (melted)
For the Icing
- 100 grams hazelnuts (peeled weight)
- 125 millilitres double cream
- 1 tablespoon frangelico (or rum or water)
- 125 grams dark chocolate
For the Cake
- 6 large eggs (separated)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 9 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
- 13 ounces nutella
- 1 tablespoon frangelico (or rum or water)
- 1 cup hazelnut meal
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (melted)
For the Icing
- 1 cup hazelnuts (peeled weight)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon frangelico (or rum or water)
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan/gas mark 4/350ºF. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico (or whatever you're using), egg yolks and ground hazelnuts.
- Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.
- Pour into a 23cm/9 inch round greased and lined springform tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack.
- Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upwards and the nuts are golden-brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so that they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others. Transfer to a plate and let cool. This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily. (Believe me, I speak from experience.) If your hazelnuts have skins on then after toasting in the frying pan transfer them to a slightly dampened tea towel and rub them while they are still warm to remove the skins.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cream, liqueur or water and chopped chocolate, and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake. Unmould the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.
- Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts. If you have used Frangelico, put shot glasses on the table and serve it with the cake.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan/gas mark 4/350ºF. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico (or whatever you're using), egg yolks and hazelnut meal.
- Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.
- Pour into a 23cm/9 inch round greased and lined springform tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack.
- Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upwards and the nuts are golden-brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so that they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others. Transfer to a plate and let cool. This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily. (Believe me, I speak from experience.) If your hazelnuts have skins on then after toasting in the frying pan transfer them to a slightly dampened tea towel and rub them while they are still warm to remove the skins.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cream, liqueur or water and chopped chocolate, and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake. Unmould the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.
- Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts. If you have used Frangelico, put shot glasses on the table and serve it with the cake.
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Show more commentsJust made this recipe! Instead of the chocolate icing, I improvised a whipped cream topping taken from Nigella’s Chocolate Cloud Cake. For 1 US pint or 500 ml of heavy whipping cream, put 1/2 tbsp vanilla essence, 4-6 tbsp Frangelico (really worth it!), 2 tbsp super fine cane sugar. Just taste test it - depending on your preference for nuttiness or sweetness.
Deliocious cake !!! I did not have enough hazelnuts, so used a mix of nuts - walnuts, cashew nuts and almonds. Tasted amazing and super easy to make...
I have made this cake multiple times over the years. It’s a favourite for any special occasion. It’s so moist, it can easily be served as pudding with cream. I’ve done it with and without the icing, and it’s just as nice without it. It rises considerably during cooking, but then sinks on cooling - it worried me the first time with how much it sank. It’s a fabulous cake and I highly recommend trying it.
Love this cake!! I made it for a colleague's birthday and decorated it with Ferrero Rochers as well as the hazelnuts, it looked great! I couldn't find the liquor so just used water and used ground almonds instead of ground hazelnuts but it still tasted amazing, very moist, chocolatey and rich :). I also divided the batter between 2 smaller cake tins and put a layer of the ganache in between and it was fine. Another I would say is it's maybe better to not whip the egg whites at the start as by the time you get around to using them they begin to separate (although it didn't seem to matter in the end).
This is a firm favourite amongst my group of friends and always requested for birthdays and parties. An easy recipe to follow and always a success!
Cake is absolutely divine. I just baked it today for Nutella Day (I baked it for the first time last week). The first time I baked this I froze 1/4 of the cake (still in my freezer waiting to be devoured!). And did the ganache with only 50 grs of chocolate and 50 ml of double cream plus 1 tsp of Francelico. This time I did the ganache with only 100 grs of chocolate and 100 ml double cream plus 1 tbsp frangelico. I don't think 100 grs of hazelnuts are needed though but I toasted them anyway as I like eating them as snacks. The cake is fine decorated with 50 grmas of hazelnuts. The cake tastes nicer the next day after being in the fridge overnight. Even one of my friends that is not big fan of chocolate said it was 'delicious'.
Just tried this cake for the first time. Was very doubtful about not adding any flour and almost added a tablespoon just to make myself feel better but decided against it as the final batter seemed just the right consistency. It rises beautifully (surprisingly) and tastes and smells like ferrero rocher. Didn't have any ground hazelnuts so tried ground almonds instead. It tastes fabulous. Will definitely make again.
done it twice, it's delicious! I love the crunchiness of the nuts but can't wait to try it with hazelnuts. My local shop doesn't have them so I've done the first one with walnuts and second with Brazil nuts since they ran out of walnuts. I didn't bother with the icing, I serve it with a custard whipped cream
Made this cake yesterday and it's amazing! The sponge is moist and the icing is devilishly good. I added a mashed up daim bar to the top with the nuts to add a bit of crunch. I also did as someone else suggested and iced round the sides of the cake which for me just finished it off. Went down a treat at my friends party and was demolished!
I love this recipe! I have just made this cake for the third time and it has turned out beautifully. The only problem is that the party I made the cake for was cancelled due to the snow this afternoon. So, I have a spare cake. Before you get in the car and come over!! this being January and my trousers being somewhat tight, I have decided not to eat it just yet! I am going to another party in a month, and I am hoping I can freeze this cake and take it there instead, as I don't have much spare time for baking at the moment. We have a seven week old baby, and to be honest I got my husband to do most of the work whisking and checking the oven! Do you think the cake will be ok to freeze? Can I freeze the ganache topping? Should we leave off the hazelnuts and go for a different topping, for example chocolate as the other comment suggests? Any advice gratefully received! F x
Love it! Simple,yet elegant and simply delicious! The moisture of the cake is unique and the combination of hazelnuts and chocolate is divine! Thanks Nigella!
So delicious! I couldn't find any ground hazelnuts so I used coconut flour instead and still turned out great!