So here's the recipe. It's beautifully easy and really delicious. One thing I will say is that I barely had enough frosting to cover the cake, so if you're one who loves frosting (like me, and probably all of us), then I would actually suggest doubling it. I also love love love decorating with frosting, so I just whipped up a small batch of buttercream frosting (¼ cup butter, enough powdered sugar to reach necessary consistency, vanilla extract, and food dye) and went bananas. I was going for a lace design on the side, but decided that would be too intricate for the consistency of frosting I was using and the fact that the frosting on the cake had already hardened up a bit, so I went for some simpler swirls, but I still think it looks pretty good. Enjoy!
Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream Frosting
Cake:
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ tsp. baking powder
- 1½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Frosting:
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Nutella
- 1¼ cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 2+ Tbsp. milk
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and adjust oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour two 9” cake rounds and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and whisk until flour is evenly mixed throughout. Add the boiling water last; the batter will be thin.
Distribute the batter evenly between the two greased cake pans. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool for about an hour, or put in refrigerator to hurry the process.
Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and Nutella together until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and continue to beat until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add milk as needed to thin out the buttercream to reach your desired consistency.
Assemble the cake: Place one layer face up on cake stand. Spread about ⅓ of frosting onto cake and evenly spread on top of layer. Place second layer on top and spread the remaining frosting on top and surrounding the sides of the cake. Decorate with buttercream frosting if desired (to make the pink frosting I combined butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and food dye).