Chocolate Nutella Cake

4.55 from 83 votes

Decadent chocolate layers with Nutella and Nutella buttercream filling & frosting! So good! You will love this chocolate hazelnut cake!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

2 cups white sugar (400g)
2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (322g)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa (lightly spoon into cup then sift) (82g)
2 teaspoons baking soda (10g)
½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
½ teaspoon 2g salt (2g)
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (226g)I cut the butter into 1 inch pieces onto waxed paper leaving on the countertop for 8 to 10 minutes it will still be quite cool when adding to the dry ingredients. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a few minutes
¼ cup vegetable oil (54g)
4 large eggs at room temperature (If in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water.)
1 cup milk (220g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
1 cup hot coffee, it can be instant or brewed (220g)

2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (226g)
1 cup Nutella Spread to make the buttercream {We bought a 26.5oz Jar so that we had additional Nutella for spreading on the layers} (280g)
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar (460g)
3 to 4 Tablespoons milk, more if needed to reach the consistency you like (45g-60g)
2 teaspoons 8g vanilla extract

Chocolate covered hazelnuts for the top of the cake
6B Piping Tip or your french tip/large star tip of choice for decorative accents.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans
In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk for 1 minute to blend.
Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk , oil and vanilla until blended.
Method is important when using the Reverse Creaming Method. With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add approximately ½ of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 ½ minutes at medium speed. Don't mix above medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
Slowly add the cup of hot coffee and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The batter will be very runny. Don't worry!
Pour into 3 prepared 8" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a rack and then turn out of the pans.
*Yields approx 9 cups of batter.
Making cupcakes? Check out our Classic Chocolate Cupcake Recipe (conventional method of mixing for fluffier cupcakes).

In the bowl of your mixer add the butter and salt, mix on medium speed until it is softened and smooth. Add the Nutella, mix until blended.
Gradually add the powdered sugar alternately with the milk. Add vanilla and mix on medium speed 4 to 5 minutes until smooth.
Makes almost 5 cups frosting

Place the first layer of cake on a pedestal or cake base.
Spread with Nutella, taking it to about ¼ inch from the edge of the layer. (I spread the Nutella to about a ⅛ inch thickness. Adjust to your liking, although if you want a thick layer of Nutella, you should pipe a dam of buttercream around it.
Follow with a layer of Nutella Buttercream. Add the second layer of cake followed by more Nutella spread and Nutella Buttercream.
Top it off with the third cake layer.
Fill in any gaps between the layers with frosting and frost the cake. We used a 6B french tip to create stars around the top edge of the cake which we topped with chocolate covered hazelnuts.