Sunday 7 March 2010

Nutella Pound Cake

You can probably relate to this but you know when you come across a recipe and think, oh my gosh that sounds amazing, that’s exactly what I thought when I saw this recipe for Nutella Pound Cake. Could anything sound better? Especially for those of us who adore Nutella and like myself are guilty of eating it out of the jar with a spoon. The eager and excited baker in me couldn’t wait to make this cake and went into town just to buy the key ingredient, Nutella.

Unfortnately my much excitement was soon diminished when after adding the layers of batter and Nutella I realised there was way too much mixture for the size pan the recipe gives but it was too late to remedy. Of course as expected the mixture over-flowed. My next incident came when it was time to turn out the cake and half was left in the pan. Luckily I was able to rescue the half from the pan in one piece and do some first aid patch work. Unbelievably I read online about others having similar problem with this recipe and someone had posted about using grease-proof paper to bandage her cake while it cooled and it amazingly reattached the two halves. At this stage I was willing to give anything a go to salvage my cake and guess what? It worked!!

I won’t be defeated and I will be making this cake again but next time I will use my bigger loaf tin and also line the loaf pan. After its traumatic start this moist buttery cake swirled with luscious Nutella really delivered everything I imagined it would and more. The pics don't do the flavour or cake justice but we all have the odd baking disaster, you bake and learn!

Nutella Pound Cake

Ingredients
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups sugar
One 13-ounce jar Nutella

Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour. In a glass measuring cup, lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated. Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.

Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top. Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella. Top with the remaining batter. Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife. Do not overmix.

Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut the cake into slices and serve.

16 comments:

Chele said...

WOW!!! I was saving the last of my nutella for a really, really bad day at work but I'm thinking now that I should sacrice the last of my stash to make this for everyone ... or maybe just for me!!!!

Snooky doodle said...

oh I love nutella and this cake must be dream like )

Suelle said...

I've had similar problems with these sort of 'layered' cakes, when the flavouring layers don't stick to rest of the cake. I wonder if removing 1 cup of the cake batter, and mixing the Nutella into this, would make any difference?

Lucie said...

It looks wonderful Maria - even if it didn't turn out quite as you planned :) Yummy! Lucie x

Anonymous said...

Hi babes
I know you feel like this was a disaster but I can certainly say the troubles you had did not detract from the eating of it. The proof is there in the tin, or should I say in the fact the tin is empty!
Umm wonder what may turn up in there tomorrow :)
Love ya
Hubby

Sarah said...

YUM thanks for posting this :) I too was pulled in at the thought of nutella and pound cake! I will be sure to give this a go at some stage. Just hope I have a big enough tin..hehe

Anonymous said...

WoW that looks totally delicous!!!!

Petit Filoux said...

This sounds way too dangerous for me, I might be tempted to eat it all in one go!!

Nickki said...

WOW This looks amazing Maria, despite the issues you had with the recipe :-) My children love Nutella with a passion, they'd happily eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let them! They would go mad for this cake. That's another book added to my Amazon wishlist! :-)

Finla said...

Any thing with nutella i love and i am sure i will love this . Well about thepan sze it has happend to me few times too :-)

Sweet Treats by Dani said...

u could serve this in halves, quarters, or thirds, and i can imagine it would still taste excellent! :)

Choclette said...

Thanks for the bandaging tip. Since I started using silicone bakeware I don't generally get these problems anymore but I still do use traditional pans from time to time so will remember this. The cake sounds fantastic - I know quite a few people who would be more than happy to polish this off - however it looked!

Author said...

Delicious! But really, eating the nutella out of the jar with a spoon? What's wrong with your fingers? ;-)

The Girl said...

Thanks for your lovely comment on my last post.

Loving the look of this nutella cake - I'm like you, I eat it straight out of the jar, although sometimes I don't have time to reach for a spoon and stick my finger straight in. Gross. But sadly, true.

Diana's Cocina said...

My family love this pound cake. It is a must!

Helen said...

Ok I can honestly say this has become my favourite bake ever. My parents complain about getting fat! ha

The warning about it falling apart was great too, as I planned ahead and used baking parchment to line and lift out!

Also makes great buns if you have more than will fit in the tin. Can make a pretty swirl with the nutella. YUM!

Thanks