Nutella Swirl Cake
In my repertoire of recipes, there are certain dishes that fit in to the "Go to" category, which means that they:
1. Are always a hit with everyone who tries them.
2. Are reliable and consistently good.
3. Can be prepared quickly and easily while still managing to be impressive.
This Brownie Pie, this Strawberry Cake, and this Rigatoni with Tomatoes and Eggplant are part of this list, as is this trusty Nutella Swirl Cake, first made for a dinner party when I was living in Bologna back in 2009. My Italian classmates were at the dinner, and so I thought it was a good cross between America and Italy – the cake recipe is decidedly American, while the Nutella made it appealing to the Italians at the dinner. Since then I have made it countless times over the years, and it has become a staple recipe, reliably delicious every time.
Though I usually put some thought into describing the results of the recipes on this blog, that's probably not necessary here -- all you need to know is that this is a fluffy, yellow butter cake topped with swirls of Nutella, and that is never, ever, a bad thing. If that's not convincing enough -- this cake is simple to prepare (a good starter cake if you’re a new baker) and requires no frosting or glaze, thanks to the Nutella which self-frosts the whole thing. This cake is quite versatile as well, a great dessert to whip up if you have people coming over, but also perfect for breakfast, snack, dessert, or tea. I must add as well that it was super popular with my colleagues on a Friday morning (there's nothing like a piece of Nutella cake to get through the final push until 5pm).
Looking for more every day cakes? Click here!
NUTELLA SWIRL CAKE
Makes 12 cupcakes or 1 8-inch round cake.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons, or 168 grams) butter, softened
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (225 grams) flour
1/4 teaspoon ( a good pinch) salt
2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking powder
1/3 cup (5-6 spoonfuls) Nutella (approximately)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit. If making cupcakes, line 12 muffin tins with paper liners or grease the cups with some butter. If making a cake, butter an 9-inch round cake pan. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated fully before adding another one. Beat in the vanilla. Next, in a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir it into the butter, sugar, and egg mixture until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thick.
Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full, or pour all the batter into the cake pan. Top each cake with a dollop (about two teaspoons Nutella per cupcake and about 1/2 cup dolloped on the cake batter) of Nutella. Swirl the Nutella in with a knife, making sure that it is well incorporated throughout the cake.
Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes and the round cake for 25-30 minutes. Test the cupcakes or cake with a toothpick -- if the toothpick comes out with a few crumbs attached to it and no batter, the cake is ready. This cake can dry out easily if over baked, so pay close attention to the cooking time. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
