Monday, January 25, 2016

Chocolate & Nutella Layer Cake Part 2

Hi Y'all!

I am back today with part 2 of the cake recipe I shared last week. The icing on the cake. :) 

This icing is luscious. That's the only word I have for it. I'm not even a huge icing fan, but this stuff is luscious. Of course, considering that it includes Nutella, sour cream, and melted dark chocolate, it's no wonder this is sooo good.




It's really easy to make too! If you have a food processor, you just throw everything in and pulse until smooth. Easy-peasy. If you don't have a food processor, a mixer will work just as well. Or if you want to get a good arm workout, grab a spatula and mix by hand! ;)

The entire process of frosting this cake does take about 1 and 1/2 hours, so make sure you have enough time set aside for this. Enjoy the photos below and see the recipe at the bottom of this post. :)



Start by taking a dollop of the icing and spreading it on the center of a cake board. This will 'glue' the cake to the board so that it doesn't shift.


First cake layer gets iced.


Second cake layer loaded up!


Once you place the third cake layer on, ice the top and sides of the cake. wrap in plastic wrap, & refrigerate for 15 minutes. This is the crumb coat & refrigerating it seals the crumbs in so that the rest of the icing goes on flawless.


Two more layers of icing and the cake is ready to be touched up and decorated. :)


 

Decorate the cake however you'd like. I used a star tip to decorate the edge of the top layer. I almost left if just like this because to me it already looked pretty enough :), but . . .


. . .then I decided to use some cake crumbs that were stuck to the parchment paper (the cake bottom I lost mentioned in last post, hehe) to sprinkle on the top. 


This cake is super moist, so the crumbs were clumpier than I envisioned them on top, but I still liked the contrast it added.


Now, it's time to cut yourself a slice after all of that hard work! ;)


Ahhh, look at that. Is there anything more beautiful? 


Dig in! ;)



Chocolate & Nutella Frosting

Ingredients

4 & 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 & 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup Nutella (or other hazelnut spread)
3/4 cup full-fat sour cream
11 oz. best quality dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly*
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt



    1. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until smooth & glossy, about 1 minute. The frosting will be very soft. Refrigerate until it thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.
    2. Put a dollop of frosting on a cake board. Place your first layer on the plate & spread 1 cup of frosting evenly across layer. Repeat with second layer. Put the final cake layer top-down. Cover the layers with plastic wrap and wiggle into place. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
    3. Frost entire outside of cake with a thin layer of frosting to seal in the crumbs. Chill until the frosting begins to firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with another thin layer of frosting, this time working to achieve smoothness. Chill for an additional 15 minutes. 
    4. Apply a third coat of frosting to the cake. You can use a frosting spatula dipped in hot water (will have to wipe clean and dip in water again several times) to smooth the icing or use a pastry comb for a pretty design on the sides. Decorate the cake as you wish with a star tip or sprinkles or whatever you fancy! :)
    5. Chill until the frosting firms up again, about 30 minutes.
    6. The cake will keep refrigerated up to 3 days.

* I use Ghiradelli's baker's chocolate


**Recipe from Sweetapolita.com**














2 comments: