I had two jars of Nutella in the pantry for some now long-forgotten project, and I came across them over the weekend while digging around looking for a sleeve of Saltine crackers. Saltine crackers were obtained and duly dispatched, but the Nutella whispered its sweet siren song from the depths of my canned and jarred goods: Ammmmmmmmmy…. Ammmmmmmmmmy……..
No good. They had to be gotten rid of.
And by what method did I decide to do this? Making an entire cake just to slather it in some deliciously fluffy Nutella meringue buttercream. And sharing it with my coworkers, of course.
The cake is my go-to for yellow cakes: bouncy and tender, and a great partner for all sorts of frostings and fillings. Including, as it were, Nutella.
The buttercream is the Swiss variety, but with the addition of melted semi-sweet chocolate and a ludicrous amount of Nutella. I had two jars, after all. Well, one jar plus what was leftover from the other one after tucking in a spoonful or five. Ahem.
NOTE: The photos show a square cake. But it was baked as a rectangular cake — I just kept a nice quarter of it for myself. Cake fee, you know. The recipe below is for the whole rectangular cake because I cannot be bothered to math it up for you to bake a square cake from the get-go. Soz.
Vanilla Cake with Nutella Meringue Buttercream
Equipment
- 9×13" cake pan
Materials
Yellow Cake
- 3 1/4 cups cake flour (425 g)
- 1 tbs baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups sugar (400 g)
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 6 large egg yolks (120 g) room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
Nutella Meringue Buttercream
- 8 large egg whites (250 g)
- 2 cups sugar (400 g)
- 3 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 2/3 cups 70% chocolate (400 g or 14 oz) broken into small pieces
- 2 cups Nutella (560 g)
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and move rack to upper third. Grease and line one 9×13″ rectangular cake pan.
- In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy on medium-high. This usually takes about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom.
- With the mixer on medium-low, add the egg yolks one at a time, followed by the vanilla bean paste. Scrape down the sides and bottom again.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture.
- When the last of the flour has been incorporated, scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixer bowl one more time. Beat on medium for about 20 seconds to fully mix everything.
- Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean in the center.
- Cool the cakes in their pans on a rack for 10 minutes before flipping them out and letting it cool completely on the rack.
- If you’re making the cakes ahead of time, wrap them in cling film after they’ve cooled and store in an airtight Ziploc bag in the fridge until assembly time.
Make the Nutella Buttercream
- Melt the chocolate using whatever method you prefer — double boiler, microwave, whatever! — and add in the Nutella. Set aside to cool so that it’s not screaming hot anymore, but still melted.
- Put egg whites and sugar into a large mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture loosens and warms up to 160°F.
- Pour the egg and sugar mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high until there’s no more heat escaping out of the top and the mixer bowl feels barely warm. This usually takes my mixer anywhere from 10-30 minutes.
- Once the bowl has cooled and your meringue is holding glossy stiff peaks, switch to a paddle attachment. With the mixer on medium-low, add the butter in one tablespoon at a time, allowing each addition to incorporate into the meringue before adding the next.
- When all the butter has been added and incorporated, add the melted chocolate and Nutella. Beat on medium for about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer to carefully scrape the sides of the bowl down at least once during the process. Your buttercream is now ready to use!
