Nutella Chocolate Cake

Once upon a time, I was born. Once upon a different time, many moons later, I spent a not insignificant amount of time watching cooking shows, baking shows, cooking competitions, baking competitions... don't even get me started on the documentaries. Suffice it to say I like to fiddle around in the kitchen. The union of these two events has resulted in the tradition of baking my own birthday cake every year. The rules are: no box mixes, no repeats, and it has to be level 110 fabulous. This year came down to Nutella or Oreo cake, but I finally landed on the Nutella. It didn't *quite* go off without a hitch, but man... it's good. Really good. It's also rich. Really rich. Even eating it solo, no one could stomach more than half a slice. But unanimously, that half was deemed to be delicious. It also looks very fancy. One must confess to feeling a bit like a Great British Baking Show contestant when adding the final touches. The frosting turned out a little patchy because I left it too thick, but overall, I'm going to call this year a success!

Ingredients:

Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup vegetable oil 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup water

Nutella frosting

2 cups salted butter
1 cup shortening
2 cups Nutella
10 cups powdered sugar
5-6 TBSP milk or water

 Chocolate ganache

 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Ferrero Rocher candies

Directions:

1.  Prepare four 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides.
2. Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add vanilla to boiling water and add to mixture. Mix well. 
3. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 300 F for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. I only had 2 pans, so I baked them in 2 batches with about 1 1/2 cups of batter per pan. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely. 
4. Make icing while the cakes cool. Beat together butter and shortening until smooth. Add Nutella and mix until incorporated, then slowly add half of the powdered sugar. Add 2-3 TBSP of milk or water and mix until smooth, then add remaining powdered sugar and continue beating. Add more water or milk until the frosting is the right consistency. 
5. Once cakes are cool, remove cake domes with a large serrated knife. Place first layer of cake on a plate or cardboard cake circle. Add about 3/4 cup of frosting and spread into an even layer. Repeat for the next two layers. Top with final layer of cake, then frost the top and outside. 
6. To make the chocolate ganache, place the chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Microwave the heavy whipping cream just until it starts to boil. Pour over the chocolate chips and let sit for 2-3 minutes, then whisk until smooth. 
7. Drizzle the chocolate ganache around the edge of the cake, then pour the remainder on top and spread evenly. It's easiest to do this with a squeeze bottle. Allow the ganache to solidify a bit, then pipe the remainder of the frosting around the top edge of the cake and top each swirl with a Ferrero Rocher candy.

Source: Life, Love and Sugar