Death by Nutella Cake 2.0

Ciao a tutti!! Some of you may recall my Valentine’s Day Post…Death by Nutella Cake. Layers of nutella brownie, nutella mousse, nutella glaze, melted chocolate and toasted hazelnuts. I knew I was a mad woman already, this cake just proved it more so. But the madness didn't stop there. Due to the popularity of this cake recipe, I knew I had something, I knew I had to do more…..and so I did.

Death by Nutella 2.0. That’s right, another version of the “famous” Death by Nutella Cake, but this time, I 2.0ed it, making it even more extravagant. I kept the nutella brownie, nutella glaze and nutella mousse, but I went it even further with this recipe by adding a hazelnut meringue layer, candied hazelnuts and making this recipe into individual cakes. Now, you can very easily make this recipe into one large cake, the same way the original Death by Nutella Cake was made, I just figured by making them into little masterpieces, the deeper I could indulge my madness.  So I give you, without further adieu, Death by Nutella Cake 2.0!!!!

ENJOYING MY CAKE!!!!

Death by Nutella Cake 2.0

Nutella Brownie

1 stick unsalted butter

½ cup cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar

½ cup nutella

3 ounces melted chocolate

2 eggs

½ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a round cake pan (9 by 1 ½ inch pan) and set to the side.

Melt 1 stick of butter and ½ cup of cocoa powder in the microwave, very slowly. You will want the cocoa to completely blend with the butter until it is smooth. When it’s silky, add ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup of nutella and 3 ounces of melted chocolate. Whisk in 2 eggs, add ½ cup flour and ½ tsp. salt. Fold. Make sure there are no lumps!! Pour into your cake and bake for 30 minutes.

When it is done, take it out of the oven and allow to cool for at least two hours. In the meantime, prepare the nutella mousse….

Nutella Mousse

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. espresso powder

1 tsp. hazelnut extract

½ cup nutella

In a medium size steel bowl, add 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tsp. espresso power and 1 tsp. hazelnut extract. Whisk until the espresso powder is dissolved. Add ½ cup nutella and using an electric beater, whisk until soft peaks form, this should take around 2-3 minutes. Do not overbeat though. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for two hours. Prepare the nutella glaze now..

Nutella Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ cup nutella

3 tbsp. milk

Add powdered sugar, nutella and milk to a medium size bowl. Whisk together until smooth. You can now prepare your hazelnut meringues…

Hazelnut Meringues

1 ¼ cup blanched hazelnuts

2 egg whites, at room temperature

1 cup of confectioners’ sugar

Pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts until finely ground, almost like a flour. In a medium size heatproof bowl, combine eggs, whites and pinch of salt. Set your bowl over, but not in, a pot with 2 inches simmering water and cook, whisk constantly until warm to the touch, it will take around 3 minutes. Remove the bowl for heat and using an electric mixer, beat on high until very thick and glossy. Fold in your hazelnuts.

Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Grab a pastry bag, fit with a medium sized round pastry tip and fill with the meringue mix.  Using the pastry bag, form the meringues into small circles, around 3 by 3, this mix should make around 6 meringues of this size. Bake until cracked on top, around 19 minutes. Allow to cool. Now make your candied hazelnuts…

Candied Hazelnuts

¾ cup blanched hazelnuts

2/3 cup sugar

¼ water

Begin by lining a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat your oven 350 degrees. In a medium size saucepan over high heat, combine hazelnuts, sugar and water. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent sugar from burning. Continue to cook until the sugar is caramel colored, around 7 to ten minutes.

Quickly pour the nuts on the parchment paper and spread out with a rubber spatula. Place in the oven for 3 minutes and then remove. Let the candied hazelnuts sit and cool until the sugar has completely hardened. Once it has hardened, break the candied hazelnuts into pieces, whatever size you like!

Assembling the Cake

Step 1- First start off with the cooled nutella brownie. Using either plating rings or cake rings (I use 3 by 3, you can of course use 4 by 4 or whatever size you like). Using a serrated knife carefully cut the brownie forms into two layers. Set one layer aside, leaving the other bottom layer right where it is!

Step 2- Take the nutella mousse out of the refrigerator and spoon onto the bottom brownie layer. It shouldn’t flow over the whole cake. Using a spatula spread over the brownie, leaving an inch or so of the edges of the brownie bare (when you put the final brownie layer on top, it will naturally push some of the mousse further.)

Step 3- Place one of your hazelnut meringues on top of the nutella mousse layer. Spread with another layer of nutella mousse.

Step 4- Carefully put the top brownie layer over the mousse layer. Pour some of nutella glaze over the brownie and top with some of the candied hazelnuts. Drizzle with a little more of the nutella glaze. Serve and enjoy! Buon Appetite!!